Show time: getting your home ready for its close-up

When Michael Waterfield wants to boost the appeal of a home, he adds a dash of red.

"It's the colour of passion and the colour of emotion and the colour of love," says Mr. Waterfield, who figures that those churning emotions will help potential buyers to bond with the house and even pay more for it.

Mr. Waterfield's company, First Impressions, is part of a growing industry that helps homeowners to get their properties ready for sale.

The days of letting prospective home buyers tread past 20 pairs of shoes in the front hall or see the toaster on the kitchen counter have all but vanished. Many sellers are "staging" their homes to get the highest price possible in the lofty real estate market of 2007.

And prospective homeowners are carefully scrutinizing the results: Buyers are heavily influenced by curb appeal when they choose a house, according to the results of a survey released last week by Home Depot Canada.

Not surprisingly, lawns and gardens make the most noticeable first impression: 46 per cent of prospective buyers said that landscaping was the first thing they noticed when they pulled into the drive, according to the survey.

Seventeen per cent of respondents said they first noticed the windows, and 10 per cent said the exterior paint job caught their immediate attention.

The findings suggest that keeping the windows clean and the paint fresh is important, says John Defranco, merchandising director at Home Depot Canada.

When prospective buyers enter a house, the first thing to draw their attention is the floors, the Home Depot survey found.

"Flooring wears differently depending on the material and the amount of traffic in the room," Mr. Defranco says. "Hardwood is especially easy to refresh for resale because it can be refinished and stained to look like new."

People who don't have the time or budget to install new hardwood can find a quick and economical fix with easy-to-install materials such as laminate, bamboo, cork and vinyl, he adds.

After flooring, the priorities listed were lighting, with 24 per cent of respondents saying their eyes are first drawn to lights and fixtures, and paint, with 16 per cent noticing the colour and condition of the walls.

Looking at individual rooms, the overwhelming majority of Canadians rank the kitchen as most important, says Mr. Defranco. At the same time, 37 per cent of respondents said the kitchen must have been renovated within the past two years for them to seriously consider purchasing the house.

Moving outside again, 40 per cent of respondents said that a deck or patio was the most important backyard feature to consider in a prospective home.

The survey of 1,500 Canadian women was conducted by Leger Marketing. The maximum margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Mr. Waterfield believes that making a home feel light, bright and airy is paramount. In one cramped, dark Toronto home, he is using fresh blue paint in the area leading from the house to the backyard pool.

By picking up on the blue of the pool, he says, he's extended the length of the house and made it feel bigger.

He also notes that many people like to approach the windows in a house or condo, so he tries to avoid blocking them with furniture.

At the Toronto-based home-staging company Home Steps, Carol and Randy Heimpel say their objective is to have potential buyers remember the house, not the things in the house.

The first thing they urge clients to do is declutter and depersonalize. Mr. Heimpel says that even those simple moves require a dramatic switch in the mindset of the owners.

"Imagine already that the house is not yours," he tells sellers.

In the kitchen, Ms. Heimpel advises the sellers to remove everything from the counters except for the essentials. For some homeowners, that's extremely difficult to do, she says.

"In their lifestyle, everything is essential."

But when Ms. Heimpel arrives with her objective eye, she may add back in the coffee maker and microwave and little else.

The stagers also strive to make the home seem comfortable and accommodating. In one small house with no defined dining area, Ms. Heimpel created one by putting a tall table with bistro chairs in part of the living room. To keep it tied together, she also chose a wood finish for the tall table that fit in well with the coffee table and other wood furniture.

And, since it's impossible to guess which colours a future owner might prefer, it's best to paint the walls in neutrals, they say.

Mr. Heimpel points out that a vivid purple room might be beautiful to the homeowner, but prospective buyers are just as likely to be struck by how badly the colour will clash with their furniture.

"Most people walk in and it hits them pretty hard in the face because they're not accustomed to it," he says of a bold colour.

Ms. Heimpel says that homeowners are often amazed at the transformation they achieve simply by clearing the decks of clutter and cleaning the home until it sparkles.

"It often happens that once they see how good their place looks, they reconsider moving."

(prepared by Carolyn Leitch/Globe and Mail)