"Staging'" your home

In a slow market, it's particularly important to get a house ready to sell quickly. How do you help a client get their home in shape for showing it to prospective buyers?

Every seller wants her home to sell fast and at the maximum price. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks.

Fix any visible problems that might be a red flag for potential buyers, including repainting stained walls. Cover damaged kitchen or bathroom floors with inexpensive peel-and-stick vinyl floor tiles — if a more expensive change seems out of the question. Repaint public rooms that will garner a lot of a buyer's attention, including the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Clean up the exterior of the house, added potted plants, repair damaged walkways, and put a fresh coat of paint on the front door. Rent a storage unit and get rid of about half the furniture and most of the personal items. When showing the property, turn on every light in the house and tune radios on each floor to the same classical music station. Suggest that the owners refrain from doing much cooking (baking sweets is a good idea, however) and put good-smelling soaps in all the bathrooms.

Use this small checklist to make your home look the best.

* Make minor repairs to fences and auto sprinklers
* Baths and Kitchens shown extra clean
* Use pleasant air scents; turn on lights
* Make minor repairs if needed
* Remove debris, keep lawns mowed
* Shampoo highly soiled carpets

It is always better to consider the weather during the selling process so temperatures inside can be adjusted accordingly. In hot weather, turn on ceiling fans or air conditioning to keep your home comfortable. In winter, warm rooms create a cozy environment. Fresh flowers, clean shiny windows, and even soft music can give your home a welcome ambiance.

Curb appeal is essential because sometimes potential buyers will drive by a property for sale before setting up an appointment to see it. When landscaping is free of weeds, walks are swept, and lawns mowed and green, sellers are demonstrating pride of ownership; in other words, they are showing a potential buyer that they have taken good care of their home. If the outside looks a mess, then it creates doubt that the seller has been conscientious about upkeep inside the home.

Home staging is nothing new; many sellers for years have been advised by their real estate agents to Stage their homes, and it's extremely popular in major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, New York or Chicago. Hot or cold markets, staging works. But for vacant homes, slow-moving markets or particular price-point categories such as upper-end homes, staging is crucial.

Television shows such as HGTV's Design to Sell are filled with excellent staging advice and keeps coming up on cable TV.