Troy Mitchell

If you doubt that home staging can help sell a home faster, then consider this example. Picture yourself shopping for a new home.

The first home you visit is a brand new model home. The color scheme is coordinated and the furniture has been arranged to show off the size of the rooms. Kitchens and bathrooms are polished to a high sparkle and are artfully accessorized. Clutter is amazingly absent. The closets are organized and the garage is neat and looks spacious.

The next home you visit is only year old and has a similar floor plan to the model you just saw. The owners, however, have moved from a larger home and their possessions are packed floor to ceiling in every closet, drawer, and shelf. The kitchen and bathroom haven't been scrubbed in days, and there's so much furniture in the dining room that you can hardly walk around the table. Several dead plants sit in the corner and the paint on the front door has been scratched incessantly by the owner's large dogs. The garage is filled with toys, boxes, and holiday decorations and a car can't be parked inside.

Get the picture? You've probably guessed that in most cases the model home would sell ten times faster than the similar but cluttered competing home. The model has been "staged" to show buyers the features of the home, the spaciousness of the floor plan, and the ample supply of storage.

"What most homeowners need to understand, is that the way a home should be presented for resale and