Want to sell your home quickly and for top dollar?  "Staging" can help.  "Staging" is presenting your home in its best and most appealing light to the majority of home-buyers.

Here are some "Tips" that you can use to help present your home in its best and appealing light.

1. "Curb Appeal"

They say you can only make one "first impression," and people usually form their first impression within 20 seconds.  What potential buyers see when they drive up to your house will be their first impression. 

This is a good place to spend a little extra time and money.  Plant flowers, trim bushes, weed, pick up leaves, repaint, replace tarnished house numbers get a brand-new neutral doormat.

2. Pick "Neutral" Paint Colors

Neutral colors sell.  Try to convey an image of quality and neutrality.  Potential buyers walking through your home want to imagine themselves as the owners.  If you use select paint colors they would never select, you've just turned them off.

3. "Fix" items needing repair

Got a dripping faucet or a cracked tile?  Get them fixed before you put your house on the market.  This type of deferred maintenance will send the wrong message to potential buyers.

4. "Clean"

Keep your house Clean!  Also consider having a cleaning service clean your house weekly while it's up for sale.

5. Eliminate "Clutter"

Remove furnishings, objects and personal items that don't add to the setting, as potential buyers won't be able to identify with.  Clutter makes homes seem smaller and disorganized. 

Under-furnished homes let the buyer's imagination fill rooms with  their own belongings.  Buying a home is an emotional decision, and you want potential buyers to make an emotional connection with your home by being able to "see" themselves in it. 

6. "Lighting" affects your buyers' emotions

Lighting is a crucial design element for happiness, so turn on the lights when showing your home.   Also Realtors and Buyers don't like going into a dark home.

A house that has a nice "glow" to it will attract buyers.

7. Keep temperature comfortable

Buyers like temperatures around 70 degrees in the winter and 67 degrees in the summer, so turn up the thermostat in the winter and turn it down in the summer.