Center Stage

There are some strategies for staging your home that have been tried and true! Take a buyer's point of view.

1. Declutter: Sounds obvious but every surface should be as clear as possible --toiletries under the sink, photos put away.

2. Get rid of the ughly: If outdated or worn, remove or replace.

3. Empty the garage: When garages are so full of your excess, it makes them look small. Get rid of or move to rented storage space.

4. Clean: Needs to be "Q-tip clean" around sinks, corners, carpets, window treatments. Clean!!

5. Lighten up: Clean the windows, pull back the curtains, paint dark rooms lighter colors, add higher voltage on your lamps and lights.

6. Go shopping in the home: Move things from room to room if they work better in another room making the rooms for the use they were intended. We live in a house differently than when we sell a house!

7. Accessorize: Put in "moveable color" once you have cleared out a room. Throw pillows, candles but not too much.

8. Look for curb appeal: The outside is important as well as inside. Got to get the buyers through the front door! Remove dead plants, weed flowerbeds, trim the bushes so you can see the house. Go across the street to look at your house and see if you would be excited to go inside!