Faced with a huge amount of unsold homes, many would-be sellers are struggling to make their properties stand out in today's real estate market. But while the economic head winds are beyond property owners' control, they can dramatically improve their chances of making a sale by devoting attention to an often-overlooked corner of real estate marketing: home staging. "The goal [of home staging] is for the buyer to mentally move in. "If they cannot mentally feel and see themselves living here, you've lost them."

Get them inside. The first thing a prospective buyer notices about a home is not the living room but the front yard. "A lot of people think staging is the inside only". "[But] we've got to stage the outside to get them inside." So cut the grass, trim the hedges, rake those leaves, sweep the sidewalks, and power-wash the driveway. And make sure you don't have too many potted plants scattered around he property. "Nothing dead," ....."You'd be amazed how many people have dead plants in their yards."