Home Staging

When you're giving a gift, do you just hand over an unwrapped box with what looks to be an inexpensive, last minute purchase and hope for the best? Maybe you do, and let me tell you a secret: in private, the person you gave it to is finally admitting to themselves that you're kind of cheap. Or worse.

Staging a house is similar. When you stage a home for sale, you're attempting to wrap it up in a nice bow for several reasons. To make it seem like the buyer is getting their money's worth; to justify the price; and to make the home sellable, to name three.

But what if you left it as is? You cleaned the floors and swept the upholstery, but it's still the house you're moving out of. The game plan is to make the home look more than presentable; it has to be a place the buyers must live in. They won't be happy until they're in the living room with glasses of wine. Staging will only build on the promise of a sale.

At the bottom of the housing market you have to take every opportunity to sell for the asking price; or at least near it. When you have a home worth $340,000 and it sells for a buck-fifty, something is off. Granted, there are certainly factors involved that aren't being considered here. But that is a very, very low bid.

What are a few things you can do to help your cause? Let's start in the living room. One thing you can do is to take things off the wall that scream "I LIVE HERE!" And for the love of mankind, clean it up! From personal experience, I can tell you that there is nothing more disconcerting than looking at a place with soda cans that have cigarette butts, bobbing like fishing poles in what looks like toilet water. Yes, and take down the funny photo of your family that glares at people from off the wall.

Another tip: be creative! It's fun to think. I don't have fun often, but it's a blast when I do. Take neutral printed fabric and cover up any boxes that are lying around. They can imitate end tables and bedside stands. Take the dust jackets off books and color code the spines, leaving the bookshelf looking like a piece of modern art.