We are moving into the prime selling/buying season of late spring/early summer. Buyers with school age children, especially, want to be out of the old house after school's out, but into the new house before school begins. With that in mind, Realtor(r) Magazine, offers hints for sellers on how to stage their homes for the best selling result. Best of all, the hints are budget conscious.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Use ice cubes to remove those "furniture dents" from your carpets
• Use an inexpensive inflatable bed to make that extra-bedroom-converted-to-office look like a bedroom again
• Close the toilet lids and closet doors
• Light it up! Open draperies and blinds; turn on all the lamps. Replace lower wattage light bulbs with higher wattage ones. Buyers like light and bright.
• Go Green. If you have bamboo floors, a high efficiency furnace, energy efficient windows or other "green" features, be sure to make them known to buyers.
• Declutter. Remove personal photos, collections and mementos. You're moving, so pack it up and store it elsewhere. Make all your closets only 1/2 full. Take all the off-season clothing and store it off site.
• If you don't already have it, create curb appeal. If buyers don't see curb appeal, they may just decide to cruise on by and not even go in.
• Write a letter about why you loved living here. Display the letter in a prominent place where buyers will see it. The community Easter Egg hunt, ice cream social, dumpster day, great neighbors, great schools, whatever you loved... all reasons why someone else would also love living here.

To read the entire article, and to see more great budget friendly staging ideas, check out the following link: http://www.realtor.org/rmohome_and_design/articles/2009/0904_home_stagingtips

Later...

Allison