If you're considering putting your home on the market, one of your first priorities should be making the property look its absolute best -- without spending a pile of money, in the process. Sometimes a do-it-yourself approach is the most economical way to handle home staging, but getting professional advice can help you stay on track, in terms of both money and time. There are a lot of talented and knowledgeable home staging consultants out there, but the benefits of hiring them are not always worth the cost. An advantage of working with a seasoned real estate agent or Realtor is that they have the ability to size up the visual appeal of a home and make recommendations on how to improve it. If they've been in the real estate business for a few years, they've received buyer feedback from literally hundreds of house hunters. As a result, they're very familiar with all the pet peeves potential buyers typically have, such as outdated decor, ugly wallpaper, cluttered living spaces, hideous artwork, tacky wallpaper, inadequate lighting, unpleasant odors, overgrown yards, or any aspect of a property that is cracked, peeling, broken, or in disrepair. Where to Begin With Home Staging If you're looking for free home staging ideas, you can always ask your friends and family for suggestions, but they might be hesitant to give you the unvarnished truth. Not only that, but their taste in decorating or landscaping may be less than exemplary! However, if you do know someone who has a knack for decorating, furniture arrangement, and/or landscaping, then they could be a great source of helpful suggestions, ideas, and inspiration. A good starting point for discovering economical ways to bring out the best in your home is the Internet. You'll get a wealth of practical ideas by Googling the phrase "increasing your home's value." Not only will you learn some useful home staging ideas from reputable websites, but you'll also notice many recurring themes for improving the look and feel of your property. Staging your home effectively involves a combination of common sense, knowledge of home buyer psychology, and the ability to objectively evaluate (and improve upon) a property's marketability. Cost-Effective Home Staging Advice A real estate agent or Realtor who has been showing houses for years has gathered an immense amount of informal feedback on what attracts and repels prospective buyers. While it doesn't take a home staging expert to pick out the obvious issues that need to be addressed, you'd be surprised at what a real estate agent with a trained eye and a few years of experience can notice. Improvements and changes which seem trivial to you may actually have a significant impact on how fast you're able to sell your home. In preparing your property for sale, one of the major factors to consider is the age-old concept of "cost versus benefits". Enhancing the appearance of your home beyond a certain point can produce diminishing returns, so it's a good idea to get a professional opinion when mapping out a house staging strategy. If you're lucky enough not to need any major repairs on your home, then preparing to put your property on the market can be as simple as eliminating clutter, keeping your home impeccably clean, and making sure your lawn is consistently well manicured -- which, of course, is easier said than done! A fresh coat of paint, here and there, can also make a world of difference, when it comes to making a positive first impression on potential buyers.