(PHOTO CAPTION for sic150320.jpg: In this Group Privacy Housing plan, owners occupy the first-floor space. Their homes have two-car garages, and occupants have exclusive access to the front yards and private side yard patios. Renters occupy two or three units on the second floor of each home, with exclusive access to the rear yards. They enter via a set of individual stairways and balconies. Apartment parking is to the outside of the homes, closed off from the owner-occupied units.)

Apartment people and homeowners tend not to like each other.

Renters think owners look down their noses at them. And owners? Well, they often believe tenants aren't nearly as invested in their communities as they are, or that renters are one or two rungs below them on the economic ladder.

But what if there was a way in which the two could mutually co-exist? A way in which they could live side-by-side, on the same parcel of land, but without ever bumping into each other?

Doug Webb, 51, of Group Privacy Housing in Columbus, Ohio, believes he has an answer to those questions. He's come up with innovative, patent-pending plans that allow apartments and houses to be built on the same property without their residents ever crossing paths -- a development where renters and owners never encounter each other, or even each other's automobiles.

In one design, the owner units occupy the first floor of a group of two-story buildings, and the apartments occupy the second floor. The owner units feature front and side yards, while the apartments above have backyards. Each element has its own parking areas, and the driveways of each never intersect with the other. A tall courtyard wall provides a physical barrier between the apartment yards and owner-unit balconies and side yards, providing the owners with privacy not only from their apartment neighbors, but also from their fellow owners.

Hence the name Group Privacy Housing.

In another design, the owner units occupy either one or two floors and have full front, rear and side yards. The apartments are built under the owner units, below grade, and use below-grade corridors to reach their parked cars. Again, the owners and renters never encounter each other.

In yet another arrangement, the plan is flipped, with three apartments on the second floor above the owner units. Here, all the renters are connected to a corridor that exits to the parking area. And as in the first design, each community -- the owners and the renters -- has its own entrances.

In still another configuration, the owners have two floors, one below grade and the other on-grade, while the apartments occupy the second floor. The owner units have front patios and backyards, while the second-story apartments use either interior or exterior stairs to reach their parking spaces. Again, complete privacy.

Altogether, Webb says he has seven or eight basic variations of his Group Privacy concept, each with three main elements: an egress, or discharge, system; separate parking lots; and windows arranged so that renters can't view their owner neighbors.

"It took a long time to come up with the first embodiment," says the designer, who joined his father's homebuilding company in 2007, after selling his pontoon-building company.

It wasn't long before he realized that the cost to build a single-story ranch house was a lot higher per square foot than two-story plans. "When you add a second floor, you don't have any more land development, roof or foundation costs," the fledgling builder soon learned. "The most inefficient product we build is a ranch."

So Webb set about trying to come up with a better mousetrap.

Webb says his designs work with practically any type of housing, from duplexes to fourplexes, from townhouses to four-story buildings. Some have full yards, some have just front and backyards, and others have only front yards.

Another unusual facet of GPH's plans is that they are sold as single-family homes. In other words, the buyers of the owner units would also own the rental units above or below their living space.

More expensive than buying just a normal single-family home? Certainly. But Webb claims the income from one rental unit is likely to cover most of the owner's principal and interest payments. And with two or three apartments, the rent may even be enough to cover property taxes, insurance and owner association fees -- with something left over to put in your pocket.

"Our arrangements generate substantial income for homeowners without altering their living experiences," he says.

Webb also maintains that thanks to the rental income, the all-in-one purchases are easier to finance than a standalone house. "Typically, 70 percent of the appraised rental revenue is added to the buyer's personal income for qualifying for financing," he says.

Only time will tell whether the former boat-builder is on to something. But he won't be building any of GPH's plans himself. Rather, he intends to license them to a single builder in a market.

No takers so far. But under the licensing agreement Webb is offering, builders who share his vision will have a type of monopoly in their respective markets. "No one else will be able to use our plans," he promises.

Sellers who have balked at their agents' suggestions to "stage" their homes and make them more attractive to would-be buyers should listen to Ruvell Martin, an ex-NFL football player and now a real estate agent in Charlotte, South Carolina.

Martin and his wife, Michelle, sold an investment property on the very same day it was staged. They had three offers, each above the couple's asking price.

The Martins bought the property with the intention of flipping it soon after renovations were complete. But the empty house sat on the market for more than 60 days, and nothing. The most common feedback from visitors was that the bedrooms were too small.

They were going round and round about lowering their asking price when Joan Inglis, a real estate agent who also owns professional staging company Carolina Spaces, suggested they try to bring the place back to life before taking that step.

The Martins agreed, and Inglis furnished several key rooms in the house. In the aforementioned bedrooms, she added king and queen beds, nightstands, dressers and chairs to show they were plenty large. Inglis brought in the furniture on a Saturday morning, and by that evening, the sellers had a contract. The deal closed 30 days later.

"We went from no offers to three," says Martin, an agent with Costello Real Estate. "It was a real good experience and now I recommend it to my clients."

He says he was "a little skeptical" of claims about how quickly staged houses usually sell. But now, he's sold himself. "Furnishing the house gave visitors a place to sit down and relax, so they could spend more time in it," he says.

The Martins' experience with staging is now backed by new research from the National Association of Realtors, which found that sellers who opt to help potential buyers visualize themselves in their homes sell at higher prices than the competition.

Staging is the art of putting your home's best foot forward. It goes beyond freshening the paint, decluttering and throwing open the curtains for daytime showings (or turning on all the lights for nighttime ones). Done right -- usually by a professional stager or sometimes a savvy agent -- the process allows you to emphasize your home's best features and minimize its worst. It might involve furnishing a house or condo you've already moved out of so that it's not sitting empty, or removing furniture in a property that's still occupied to make the place look more spacious.

Sometimes, the house needs to be updated with new flooring, countertops, light fixtures and landscaping that will make it more appealing to today's buyers. Or perhaps all that's needed is to rearrange your furniture or supplement it with additional pieces.

According to NAR's findings, 37 percent of sellers' agents surveyed said staging raises the value of the property by 1 to 5 percent. But nearly a quarter -- 22 percent -- put the gain somewhere in the 6-10 percent range. And 12 percent said the dollar value of a staged home jumps from 11 to 20 percent.

The percentages concerning higher sales prices were somewhat lower among agents who represent buyers. Whatever the increase, though, just 4 percent of the respondents believe staging has no impact whatsoever on the home's ultimate selling price.

Other key findings: Almost half the agents -- 46 percent -- said buyers who see a house online are more likely to visit it if it is staged. And 28 percent said buyers are more likely to overlook a staged property's faults.

The survey did not say whether staged properties sold any faster, but anecdotes like Martin's abound. Ann Waters, an accredited stager who owns Naples Home Staging in Southwest Florida, says a $4.5 million condo she staged sold within two days after she worked her magic. Ditto for a $200,000 house.

According to Accredited Home Staging, which teaches staging courses, 95 percent of staged houses sell in 11 days or less (on average), compared to 90 days for non-staged properties. AHS also says professionally staged houses sell for 17 percent more than other places.

The median cost of home staging, according to the NAR survey, is $675. Generally, 4 in 10 sellers pay stagers before the house officially goes on the market. But 10 percent are allowed to pay after the house is sold, and 3 percent of the agents' realty firms pay for the service, leaving no cost for the seller.

Inglis says to plan on spending 1 to 3 percent of the home's list price on professional staging -- at least $3,500 for a $350,000 property, for example. If you want to do the work yourself, a consulation can be much cheaper: Inglis' rates start at $250 for such a meeting, depending on the size of the property.

Waters' fees vary with the clients' needs. If the house is empty, she charges anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. The rate is lower if the home only needs a few key furniture replacements or edits. For each new client, she compiles a detailed report on how to use their existing furnishings to appeal to the most buyers. The clients are then free to implement her recommendations as they see fit.

Inglis, on the other hand, maintains that the job is best left to professionals.

"It is rare for owners with an emotional attachment to their home to complete their own staging project without professional assistance," she says. "You want a professional stager, not someone who watches HGTV for ideas."

Independent home inspectors will go over a house from stem to stern, looking for problems from the roof to the basement. But if the inspector doesn't also check for meth, an unsuspecting buyer could be in for a world of hurt.

Meth is short for methamphetamine, a highly dangerous, illegal and addictive synthetic drug that can affect the brain and central nervous system. The drug can be made from easily obtainable household goods, and, as this column pointed out last week, if it has been manufactured in the house you are considering -- or even just smoked there -- the entire place could be contaminated.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to spot a so-called "meth house":

-- Check with law enforcement. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (dea.gov) operates the National Clandestine Laboratory Register, a database of addresses that include properties where meth labs have been found.

Don't stop there, however: As the register points out, the federal list is far from complete. So check with your state and local law enforcement authorities and health departments, too. Many have similar databases that list houses within their borders where illegal drug activities have been found. West Virginia, for example, has a state registry listing the addresses of nearly 1,000 properties with clandestine drug pasts.

In Oklahoma, where lab seizures have increased every year, local law enforcement agencies can confirm that a chemical seizure took place and provide the name of the hazardous material contractor who did the cleanup. The contractor should have a list of what chemicals were present.

If the property isn't on any list, however, "that doesn't mean it doesn't have a problem," according to Joseph Mazzuca of Meth Lab Cleanup of Athol, Idaho. Based on his company's own internal statistics and those from law enforcement agencies he works with throughout the country, Mazzuca estimates that "millions of properties are potentially contaminated."

According to a 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office, the number of "lab incidents" peaked in 2000 at 24,000 nationwide, then declined sharply to about 7,000 by 2007. But as of 2010, the number was back up to more than 15,000. Even so, Mazzuca says thousands are not reported, especially in states like Georgia, where there are no regulations on the books.

-- Talk to the neighbors. The folks next door, or even down the block, are likely to know what kind of shenanigans have taken place in the house. About seven in 10 cases Meth Lab Cleanup handles come from tips from neighbors.

Even if they don't know exactly what was going on, neighbors can often tell you about any unusual comings and goings, loud noises late at night, or frequent fights among occupants or visitors -- all pretty good signs that something was amiss. Ask specifically if the police have often been called to the house.

-- Look for telltale signs. Chances are, the house has been cleaned up for resale. According to Mazzuca, though, only 23 states regulate the decontamination of meth houses. And even in some of those that do, "nobody is enforcing the laws." In Arkansas, for example, local police are supposed to put stickers on the door and notify the state authorities, "but that doesn't always happen."

Even if the walls have been painted and the carpet changed, that's not enough to get rid of the contamination. And there are still red flags that should set your antennae to wiggling.

Odors are one warning sign. If the place smells of urine or unusual chemical aromas such as ether, ammonia or acetone, it could be contaminated. Ditto if your eyes or throat burn when you enter the place. Also beware if there is an overwhelming smell of air freshener.

Other indications of contamination include chemical stains on toilets and bathtubs, propane tanks with fittings that have turned blue, and trash with a large amount of household products such as paint thinner, lighter fluid, drain cleaners and cold tablet containers.

-- Beware troubled properties. Foreclosures tend to have a higher incidence of contamination from illicit drugs. Mazzuca says about 70 percent of the 1,500 sites his company handles every year are bank-owned homes.

If the house is being sold "as-is" -- as many foreclosures are -- look for signs of neglect. Users are more likely to put their money into drugs than upkeep, says Garth Haslem, aka "The Home Medic," a Utah-certified meth contamination specialist.

One red flag is heavy staining on the carpet, walls or ceilings. Another is doors and doorframes that have been abused and damaged. "Meth users can gain superhuman strength, and with that comes superhuman anger," according to Haslem. "The meth habit often shows physical clues on the bedroom doors, the front door or the door to the garage."

-- Testing. Haslem also warns that just because the house doesn't exhibit any of these signs doesn't mean it is free of problems. So if any of the above causes concern, or if you simply want to be certain there is no contamination, you can purchase an easy-to-use meth testing kit from your local hardware store for about $50. "When in doubt, do the test," he advises.

The tests provide lab-verified results. If meth is present, either walk away or hire a certified meth decontamination specialist to determine the level of contamination and what it would cost to rectify. You can usually find such professionals under the term "environmental" in the phone book and online, or your state may maintain a list.