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By Karen McConnaughey

We’ve heard all the stories. We have one friend whose house has been on the market for three years, another who came on a program in February 2009, staged and sold her house in March and was living down here by April. We also had one alumnus from Canada who had an auction at which she sold her house, her car and her furniture!

We’ve also heard every word for a slow market there is: slumping, depressed, slowing down. Whichever term you choose, it doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that people still buy and sell. The market hasn't come to a crunching stand still. You simply adjust to the market. Those who don't will get squished. You've got to be aggressive and make your home stand out like a shining star among the hundreds of others on the market. Whether you plan to hire an agent or you want to sell your home yourself, there are strategies to sell quickly and for more money in a depressed market.

 From everyone we talked to, the number one best thing you can do if you’re looking to sell your house is to stage it properly. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks.

And, yes, “Staging” has definitely become the new trendy buzz word…you know why? It works. First, let’s going over the benefits of staging your house:

• It forces you to think like a buyer. Adopting this perspective early on will help you in many ways when preparing your home for the market.
• It forces you to organize and de-clutter. When you stage your home, you will also get a head start on packing to move.
• It increases the likelihood of a sale. Professional home staging techniques can give you an extra edge in selling the home quickly.
• It reduces the home's time on market. You know it’s true…the less time your house is on the market, the better. This is a definite edge in a buyer’s market.
• It helps justify the asking price. In a market that leans toward the buyer, you need everything in your favor to justify the asking price.
• And, last but not least, staging can be fun! It may sound like all work and no play at first. Granted, you will certainly be putting some elbow grease into the process. But staging a home can be a creative process as well, and many people find they enjoy it once they've begun.

The First Rule should be obvious. So many people cannot disassociate themselves from their “house!” This is your mantra now that you want to sell:

"This is not my home; it is a house—
a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.”

Don't look backwards—look toward the future.

Here are some more ideas:

• Curb appeal is vital to attracting buyers: If the outside isn’t appealing, buyers aren’t even going to schedule a viewing. Walk outside and try to take a good, hard, objective look at your curb appeal…would it make you want to see the inside? Definitely rake the leaves, mow the lawn, and make the landscape attractive. Clean out the rain spouts and gutters. Bring out the color of walkway pavers using a stone sealer. Plant regional flowers that are in bloom during the season in which you’re selling. Did you also know that yellow evokes a buying emotion? I didn’t! Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Marigolds are inexpensive.
• Create a Mood: Light a fire in the fireplace. Set an elegant dining table (no flat ware…do you know some people steal it!?). Make it romantic by placing two champagne glasses on a nearby table. Turn on soft music. Turn on the water fountains…especially useful for drowning out traffic noise. By the way, you may not want to light candles or have aromatherapy going on, because some buyers are allergic. And, if you’re into that old saw about baking cookies, make sure you leave them on the counter for people to enjoy. There’s nothing worse than smelling cookies and not getting one!
• A master bedroom should appeal to both sexes: Get rid of gender-specific features…like pink walls, ruffled pillows and massive televisions! Choose a neutral color palette and buy new bedding to complement it.
• Stain dated kitchen cabinets instead of replacing them: Dated kitchen cabinets can be a big turnoff to potential buyers. Instead of paying big bucks to replace them, just stain them. Apply the stain in even strokes, going with the grain of the wood. Add some stylish hardware, and your kitchen will have the up-to-date look that buyers love, for less than $200.
• Fill existing hardware holes instead of making new, unsightly ones: Removing old kitchen hardware can leave your cabinets with stripped-out holes. Here is a trick to reusing the existing ones. First, dip a toothpick in glue and place it in the stripped hole. Cut off the excess piece. Once the glue dries, you'll be ready to put in the hardware that buyers love.
• Save money on granite countertops: Granite countertops are a huge selling feature, but they can be expensive. Here are a few ways to save on this investment—first, do the demo yourself. Also, ask the vendor for remnants from previous projects. Remember, any money you spend will definitely be returned in the value these sought-after counters add to your kitchen.
• New kitchen appliances bring high returns from sellers: Studies show that new kitchen appliances bring high returns from sellers, so get rid of old appliances that make the rest of the kitchen look dated. Once you install the new equipment, it will scream "new kitchen," and you will see that spending a little money will make you even more. At the very least, you will definitely recover your costs!
• A shabby wood-panel wall is not a strong selling point: Instead of ripping it out, cover it up. Use wood filler to carefully fill in all the cracks between the panels. Then, use a sponge to wipe away the excess filler. Once it's dry, paint the room. You'll see an unattractive wall go from standing out to outstanding!
•   Let the sun shine in: Buyers love light and airy living rooms, but dark and dingy isn't on their list. Open up your window shades to let some light in. Cheat some sunshine with a light-colored paint and lots of artificial lighting. You can never have too many lamps. Last, arrange the space with lightly colored furniture, and you'll have a living room that brightens your chances of a sale.
• Stage rooms with one purpose so buyers will know what it is: Do your rooms have identity crises? In making your house a home, you may have overloaded a room to suit a purpose it wasn’t intended for; for example, your family room also serves as a music room; the master bedroom is doubling up as an exercise room; perhaps your dining room has been transformed into an office. Potential buyers are confused by extra rooms that have a mishmash of uses. To avoid this problem, first clear away clutter and excess furniture. Paint the walls a neutral tone and then furnish the room to stage it as a home office, music room guest bedroom, or whatever, in which buyers can see themselves.
• Unpleasant odors won't win over buyers: We love our pets, but unpleasant pet odors can make a negative first impression. Be sure to get rid of old carpet that can trap offensive smells. Replace it with fresh new carpet in a neutral color. Plus, if you paint the walls to match, your living room will look bigger. It'll go from designed to smell to designed to sell. I’ll never forget one of the houses we looked at in Kansas City…it was beautiful and priced right, yet the minute we walked into the carpeted family room, you knew they had cats. Logically you know you can rip up the carpet; emotionally you feel as if the smell will never go away! Also, don’t smoke in the house when it’s up for sale. Buyers are much more sensitive to cigarette smells now. Cigarette smokers won’t generally notice one way or the other.
• Pack up unnecessary items and furniture before you show the house: Do I really need to tell you this? Almost every home shows better with less furniture. An overpacked living room is a red flag to buyers that your home lacks storage space. Pack up unnecessary items and furniture, and move items to a nearby storage facility…it’s worth the extra money. Clear the way for a sale by letting buyers see your square footage, not your personal belongings.
• Storage space sells: Buyers love to snoop and they also love homes with lots of storage space. Since they will open your closets and cabinets, it's a good idea to clear out unnecessary clutter, and organize your shelves to show off how much storage you really have. Plus, it gives you a chance to start packing…always a good thing.
• Create a nice flow in your rooms: Buyers are attracted to homes that have a good flow. You can create circulation by replacing square or rectangular dining tables with round ones. Cutting the corners adds room to this maneuver and creates a spin-off effect that adds flow to your home — cash flow, that is.

Hope we’ve been of some help. Good luck! ¡Buena suerte!