Before Staging a Home, Take These Prep Steps

In this buyer's market, it's crucial for sellers to do everything they can to improve their home's appearance. Staging a home is one way to attract buyers, says Caroline Farnsworth, a sales agent for Keller Williams Midtown Direct in Maplewood, New Jersey. But before you can even think about staging a home for sale, Farnsworth says, you have to take some important prep steps.

By way of example, she tells the story of a home in Maplewood that should have been an easy sell. The house was well-kept and located in a desirable New York City suburb. And the asking price of $250,000 was on the low end for the upscale neighborhood. When the owners asked about staging the home, Farnsworth had to deliver some bad news: The house wasn't ready for staging.