Home staging professionals help prepare a home for resale by eliminating clutter, adding or re-arranging furniture and adding accessories to spruce up your home.

Home staging makes your house look bigger and brighter and allows the buyer to picture themselves living in your home. Staging experts say well-staged homes sell faster and for more money. The cost for staging a home typically depends on a variety of factors, including whether you will stage all rooms of the house or just a few.

Home staging tips:

• Do a walk around your property, inside and out, and make an inventory of things like peeling paint, scuffmarks, loose hinges, dripping faucets, etc. Then, fix the little things. A drippy faucet, though inexpensive for you to fix, may turn off a potential buyer. As well, if you’re repainting, use neutral colors.
• Put away personal touches, such as family pictures and collectibles, so buyers can picture their things in your home.
• Remove the clutter from closets, cabinets and countertops. Everyone wants more storage space. By thinning out these areas, you will make them look more spacious. If you have serious clutter, hire a home organizer to help you consolidate.
• Don't over-invest. Now is not the time to put on the deck or kitchen you always planned. Ask your realtor for advice on improvements that won't cut into your profit.
• Make plans to leave pets at a friend's home when you have showings. Dogs can scare potential buyers. Use air fresheners to get rid of pet smells and keep litter boxes and pet feeding areas tidy.
• Put cars, bicycles and trash cans in the garage. Keep your driveway and front porch clear of clutter. You never know when a potential buyer might be driving by.
• As you leave the house before a showing, turn on lights in all the rooms so that when a potential buyer comes in, they get the full effect.

Find a home staging professional:

• Check references: Check consumer reviews on Angie's List and ask for before and after photos of past work. Some real estate agents will even pay for some of the staging costs in order to sell a home faster and for more money.
• Are they accredited? Accredited Staging Professionals (ASP) www.stagedhomes.com maintains a code of ethics. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) www.iahsp.com provides stagers by region.
• Interview the home stager: Ask questions to determine how he/she works. Inquire about costs. Does the stager work alone or with a team? Find out if the stager has his or her own inventory or will be renting furniture.
• Be prepared to change your décor: Home stagers typically de-clutter and remove your personalized items. Be ready for your home to look different. Also, if there’s something you want to protect in your home, your best bet may to store it.
• Be prepared to disguise your lifestyle: Home stagers are focused on getting your house sold and may ask you to make some changes you didn’t expect. For example, the smell of smoke can turn buyers off. Your home stager may ask you to stop smoking and work on ridding your house of a smell you can’t even detect. Don’t take it personally; follow the advice.