Step inside a 60-year-old rancher that was for sale recently on Spokanes South Hill, and you might think youve stumbled upon a romantic rendezvous, rather just another real estate listing.


A saxophone solo flows from the stereo in the family room, and its mellow melody makes its way to the dining area, where a table is set meticulously for two. Beyond the table, a row of windows looks out over a flowery front yard.


With these and other subtle touches, Jill Treacy has set the table for a home sale, not an evening for two. The veteran Spokane real estate agent also is a certified staging professional, someone who prepares homes to go on the market by adding, removing, and rearranging furniture and dcor to make a home more attractive to prospective buyers.


Most people make up their mind within five minutes about whether they like a house, says Treacy, who works as a partner in the Bill Richard Real Estate Group, of Keller Williams Realty here. Its all about setting the mood.


The use of stagers has become more common in the Spokane real estate market in the last year, real estate professionals here say. Those who use them say that staged homes sell faster and for more money than they would otherwise.


Realtor Bill Richard says that with Treacy as a partner in the real estate group, all of the homes he markets for sale now are staged. Those staged homes typically sell within three weeks and for more than initial market analysis had suggested. He says the South Hill rancher sold within three weeks for the full $300,000 asking price, but likely wouldnt have gotten within $50,000 of the asking price in the condition it was in before Treacy staged it.


Richard says many prospective home buyers are afraid of making a mistake when buying a new home and are looking for a reason not to buy a home. Buyers feel more comfortable in a clean, nicely decorated, staged house and are more likely to get emotionally attached to a home quickly.


When you get that emotion turned around, they become afraid of losing that home, he says.


Some real estate professionals havent embraced the concept yet, though. Kathy Bixler, a Realtor with Tomlinson Black South Inc., says she hasnt used a stager and doesnt plan to do so.


Ive seen staged homes, and I think theyre great, but some look overstaged, she says. If its totally neutral, its like, Does anybody live here? I could be all alone on this, but I think the buyer likes to see who lives in the house.


Treacy is the only stager in Spokane who has been accredited as a staging professional through StagedHomes.com, a Concord, Calif.-based company that offers classes on staging and holds the federal trademark to the term, stage. As part of the real estate group, she earns part of the commission on homes sold.


While Treacy is the only certified stager here, others in the Spokane market, however, have been providing similar services in recent years and have seen demand for those services grow.


Bitsy Peffer, a longtime real estate agent with Spokane-based Coldwell Banker Northwest Group Inc., began offering staging services about two years ago. She says she now is staging about two homes a week.


Demand has gone way up for staging, Peffer says. Theres a real trend starting here.


In the current hotyet tightmarket, where more people are becoming Realtors but the number of homes on the market is low, she says some agents are buying staging services and using them as part of their marketing to garner more listings.


Peffer says she charges $50 an hour for staging services, with a $100 minimum. In some cases, other Coldwell Banker agents pay the fee and include her staging as part of their services. In other instances, homeowners enlist her servicestypically after receiving a reference from an agentand pay her themselves.


Wendy Ross, of Spokane, says she operates as a stager part time and cleans homes the rest of the time. She says she staged seven homes last month and has noticed demand increasing for those services.


It has started to get a lot busier, she says.


While theres increased demand for such services, Treacy doesnt think theres enough demand here yet to support a stand-alone staging company. She says, however, that she and Richard are monitoring demand closely and likely will form a separate partnership to start a staging business in the future.


Staging fundamentals


Those involved in staging say there are a number of little secrets for preparing a home to be shown for sale. A large part of the process, they say, typically involves removing a lot of clutter and many of a homeowners personal possessions.


Treacy says, How you live in a house and how you sell a house are two completely different things.


The removal of some furniture and personal items accomplishes a couple of goals, Treacy says. Rooms will have fewer items in them, so theyll appear larger than they would if they were cluttered. Also, family pictures and other knickknacks that could serve as distractions or turn-offs to buyers are taken out of the equation.


Peffer says, If a personal picture is out, somebody is leaning over looking at it. Theyve been distracted. Your job is to keep them focused.


Treacy says she typically keeps some personal pictures scattered around a house to provide a homey feel.


As a side benefit of staging, Richard says, some home sellers are 50 percent to 70 percent pre-packed after their home is staged.


In some instances, Treacy brings in small items or pieces of furniture to act as focal points in a room. At times, shes able to use items that were already in a home, but not well-placed.


Most of the time, she says, a home can be staged without spending much money on additional items to place around a home. She says she has turned old tablecloths into window valances and has brought in tree branches to create a corner plant display.


With staging as part of the process of preparing a home to sell, Richard says it can be anywhere from a week to five months after an agent contract is signed before a for sale sign goes in the front yard, depending on the individual seller.


He says it might be more work for both an agent and a homeowner on the front end, but with homes selling faster, You dont have to be on point as long once youre ready.