As the housing market struggles to regain its footing, more buyers are slowly beginning to enter the marketplace. But sellers continue to face special challenges. There are still a number of unsold homes on the market, which means:

• Buyers can be pickier about what they choose to buy
• Buyers have more room to negotiate price
• Sellers are frustrated because their homes aren’t selling as fast as they’d like
• Sellers are pressured by agents to drop their prices dramatically, since agents don’t get paid until the house sells

How can a home stand out from the competition when there are several homes for sale at similar prices in the neighborhood, or worse, on the same street? Rather than just slashing the selling price, home sellers should consider the less costly option of decorating the property to romance buyers and motivate them to make an offer.

In this market, it is going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and a new welcome mat. A buyer’s market raises the stakes, and sellers will need to do more work on the home to get the highest price possible. Home staging–the art of decorating a house to sell more quickly and for a higher price–is the perfect solution for sellers who are desperate to catch the attention of buyers.

Often we are so familiar with our own homes that we cannot see them through the eyes of a critical buyer. A professional home stager brings the objectivity needed to showcase the best features of each room. This is often achieved with cosmetic changes and rearranging and editing the furnishings that are already there. In the case of a vacant home, a professional home stager will bring in the items needed to add that homey touch.

Expert home stager Debra Gould shares a real-life example of the difference staging can make and how much cheaper it is than a dramatic price cut: A real estate agent wanted her client to drop his asking price by $50,000 after the house had sat on the market for 6 months without a single offer. She was desperate to attract interest since it was costing her money to carry the listing and she wasn’t making anything for her time and effort. Instead of listening to his agent’s advice, the client called in Gould to stage his house. She spent a day helping the client rearrange all the furniture and accessories in every room. Some things were moved to off-site storage, and she purchased a few new accessories, which the client could also use in his new home. The total cost for Gould’s staging advice, storage and the purchases came in at $1,500. The client didn’t have to cut his asking price by $50,000, and instead sold the following week for 98% of the original list price. If he had just taken the step of calling a home stager at the start, he would have saved himself months of anguish.

A professional home stager can help you draw buyers’ attention so you can sell your home faster. This reduces or even eliminates the need for price reductions, helping you hold on to the precious equity you’ve built up over the years.