The time has come: you’re selling your beautiful home. All the years of accumulated memories must be gathered up, along with your belongings, and moved to your new place.

Because you’re a savvy seller and the bustling property market supports – nay, demands – the practice, you’ve contacted a staging expert who is going to present your palace in the best possible light for potential buyers. This can be an unexpectedly touchy transaction, and we’ve compiled a few ideas on how you can best interact with your ‘stagin’ maven’ to be sure that you don’t make each other’s life more difficult. Their goal is getting you the best ROI possible, so finding the best way to work together is to everyone’s benefit.

1. Let it go

In every sense, it all boils down to this: let it go. Of course, you’ve set up a beautiful home you’ve always been proud of. You think you know what looks best because of your years of experience in that living room, but your stager has a good idea that the collection of African statuary you’ve collected might not appeal to the average buyer. It isn’t personal, and it doesn’t mean they don’t like you or think you’ve got terrible taste – you’re paying them to provide the most appealingly neutral version of your space, not to earn compliments on your décor and collection of modern art. Just let it go.

2. Hit the road

It isn’t always possible to move out while you’re waiting to sell your home, but if there is any way you can clear out to give the stager room to work, it is to everyone’s benefit. Any stager will tell you that their work is vastly easier and more effective when they’re not having to tiptoe around the schedules, furniture and décor, or the seller. While they understand this isn’t always possible, an empty space offers an appealingly blank canvas for staging.

3. Shift into neutral

Many stagers agree that neutral tones in paint colours and carpeting can lead to a great ROI. Neutral tones and less distinctive colours offer a space more open to the stager’s ideas (and potential buyers’ imaginations) without unnecessarily imposing strong design concepts and ideas. Basically, avoiding anything that can needlessly put off a buyer is a big part of the stager’s job, and if it’s possible to paint over that lime green feature wall you’re so proud of, it’s probably going to be a big help.

4. Get rid of it

If it isn’t possible to move out before the stager comes, you can assist them by getting rid of as much as possible ahead of their work. We all throw out a lot of stuff when it comes time for a move – why not start that process a little early and get rid of all the clutter that you really don’t need anyway? It will make everyone’s life easier.

5. Don’t wait

Hiring a stager is not a last minute endeavour. Don’t call a stager and expect a miracle in a week – many stagers are booked far in advance and their work often requires careful planning, a great deal of renting furniture and other design elements, and a lot of creative thought. Give them – and yourself – a lot of leeway and you’ll enjoy a much greater return on your investment.

6. Photo finish

Most people these days get their first impression of a property through photos seen online. A great deal of a stager’s work is making sure these photos make your space look inviting and well-appointed, and they are going to need your help. Again, moving out is easiest (for the stager), but if you’re still living in the house, do everyone a favour and make whatever changes and adjustments the stager requests when it comes to photo time.

It’s not uncommon, upon seeing your home perfectly staged prior to sale, to find yourself amazed at what can be done with that space you’d come to take for granted. Just remember, if for even a moment a stager makes you think “I could live here,” even though you already do, they’re doing their job well.

Share this helpful infographic – setting out the benefits of home staging – with a friend who is thinking of selling and wants to maximise their ROI, followed by Homestratosphere.com’s top 10 staging tips. Read more at http://housely.com/consider-home-staging/#gU3uzbjrIwKHpIL4.99