Behind the scene

The job cost just under $7,000, which included the rental furniture for up to 60 days. Minch staged the front porch, living room, kitchen, dining room, sun room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms in the main house and a guest cottage with a bedroom, office area and bathroom. Teak furniture was brought in to stage the poolside patio area. (See before and after photos at www.movingmountainsdesign.com/index.php?link=silverlake.)

"Due to the character of this particular house," she said, "we decided to stage it in what we call 'Anthropologie' style. We understood the type of buyer that would be looking to purchase a home in that price range and that neighborhood, and we customized the staging to be appealing to them."

Think it's a fluke? Minch's company staged a 1926 Spanish colonial in San Marino that was listed at $5.78 million in January. The home, designed by California architect Roland E. Coate, had not been on the market since the early 1950s -- and, according to Minch, needed upgrades.

The power of staging

Even with the Coate cache, it looked to be a hard sell. A contractor made the needed plumbing and electrical upgrades, and Minch's firm brought in furniture for the public rooms on the ground floor -- entryway, dining room, living room, foyer, powder room, butler's pantry, kitchen and sun room. Minch also staged a twilight open house for brokers with banquet tables and strings of lights in the trees. The cost for the staging: $8,500. Ten days after the home was staged, the seller was entertaining multiple offers. Selling price: the full $5.78 million.

Connie Tebyani, a stager based in Moorpark, offers her own batting average as a testament to the power of staging: Of the 15 homes she has staged within the last six months, the average time on the market was 10 weeks after she staged them, and they fetched an average of 95% of their list prices. Not bad for a market where homes can linger for months and buyers rarely make offers -- even low-ball ones.

Tebyani's business, Platinum Home Staging, recently tackled a lakefront property in Westlake Village that had sat vacant for more than a year. Staging included bringing in furniture, accessories, bedding, and plants for the living room, dining room, master bedroom and patio. (See before and after photos at www.platinumhomestaging.com/Leeward.html.)

It closed escrow with a cash offer at almost full price -- $1.2 million -- less than six weeks after it was staged.