If you have a house on the market for sale or for rent remember that looks count in this transitional market that has left many brokers and sellers sidelined while they wait for customers to appear.

When the market was strong and buyers were in a "feeding frenzy" people were snapping up forty year old ranches with sculptured carpet and avocado green appliances because they saw potential and were buying location. A house in the Hamptons was a house in the Hamptons. Buyers were willing to pay anything for everything.

Those days are gone, at least for the time being. Today's buyers have to be won over. You must dress your house for success. Hence the re-invention of the wheel and the emergence of the concept of "staging", a process designed to show your house at its best and give you an edge in the market place.

It is not surprising that a clean, well maintained, properly priced house will sell faster than a similar home that is messy and neglected. That has always been true.

In today's market even a tear down can benefit from a little staging. Putting an Adirondack chair on the crumbling front porch provides a prospective buyer with a vision of the house they will build on that site.

You can go to a great deal of expense to market your house and hire professional interior designers and stagers or you can listen to the real estate agent who you hire to sell your house. They are all experienced professionals there to guide you.

Real estate agents do not view "staging" as a new phenomenon. They consider it part of the marketing process of any property. This process starts when the agent drives up to the property with the customer in their car.

Hence the term, "curb appeal" and the proliferation of programs on cable television stations devoted to this endeavor. You should cut the grass, trim the bushes, maintain the flower beds and gardens, sweep the stairs, shovel the snow from walkways and stairs in the winter, and rake the leaves in the fall.

You should make sure that the front door is presentable. It helps to hang a welcoming wreath. It also helps to have a display of pumpkins and mums on the front stoop or porch in the fall season. Christmas decorations are always a nice touch if you are showing during the Holidays. Simply hang a beautiful wreath on the front door.

This all contributes to the buyer's first impression of the house. When everything is ship shape the first thing the buyer says is, "This looks nice." They enter the house with a favorable first impression. You have won half the battle. You got them to come in and look. They did not tell the agent to keep driving.

Once inside, the real work starts. Here is where you have a chance to make the most of what you have. "It is what it is," is a real estate agent's mantra when referring to a property. However, with staging you can make the most of it.

Many buyers cannot visualize potential. The visionary buyers are few and far between. Most customers need your help. You have to clean up your act. The house must be spotless at all times even if you have to get up earlier than usual and rouse the rest of the household to get up, make their beds and clean up their rooms. Do not give us dirty laundry.

Like it or not, you are living in a fishbowl while your house is on the market. You have to be ready to show your house on short notice and show it well if you want to sell it. That means you have to eliminate clutter for starters. Put away your family photos. Take them off the piano, take them off the refrigerator. No one thinks your children can draw, unless of course, they really can. You can be the judge of that. Good art work is a plus.

Do not leave stacks of magazines and newspapers on coffee tables. If you smoke, quit, or at least empty the ashtrays and air out the house before showings. If you have pets, do not leave pet feeding dishes on the floor in the kitchen or in the garage. Same goes for kitty litter boxes. We do not want to see it, and we really do not want to smell it.

You may love your pets, but thirty to fifty percent of the prospective buyers who will look at your house, are either allergic to or afraid of pets. That is a lot of market share.

Keep your kitchen and bathrooms clean - sparkling clean. Kitchens and bathrooms are two of the most important selling points in a house. Do not go to the expense of total renovation on these rooms. The buyer will most likely want to do it themselves. Let the condition of the kitchen and bathrooms be reflected in a realistic selling price.

You do not and probably should not spend money on upgrades. No one will like the tile you pick. No one will want your new stove. They will want to do it their way, themselves. However you can get new window shades, shower curtains and towels to dress up the bathrooms. You can also put flowers on your kitchen table.

Few agents fall back on the old "apple pie" trick anymore. Although people have been known to buy a house where they have walked in and smelled an apple pie baking in the oven or cooling on the kitchen counter. Optional, not mandatory.

You can add inexpensive area rugs to rooms that need a jolt. Likewise, bedspreads, throw pillows and lamps can dramatically improve the look of a room.

New inexpensive pull on slip covers will also improve the look of the living room, family room or den. You do not need to buy new furniture. But you do not want frayed upholstery, or scratched dusty and broken furniture. Polish the dining room table. Make the crystal in your breakfront sparkle. Tighten the legs on the wobbly stool and replace the missing hardware on any dressers or end tables.

None of this has to put you over budget. Alot of it can be achieved with elbow grease. All of this can help you sell or rent your property.

Professional stagers can assist you with this. Some stagers charge a flat fee, others charge an hourly rate. You can also hire an interior designer if you want. You can spend as much or as little as you chose.

If you are replacing carpets or painting walls, follow the basic real estate rule - neutrals sell. Avoid bright colors, go with beige tones and keep it simple. If you are replacing carpets, do not get expensive carpeting. The new homeowner, nine out of ten times, will rip it out and replace it anyway. They would rather do it themselves. But a shabby worn out carpet that is past its prime will not help you sell or rent.

If you have hardwood floors, in good condition, you should consider removing the carpet so buyers can actually see the wood floors. If the floors are in bad shape, the fastest and least expensive way to make them presentable is to cover them with an inexpensive base grade broadloom carpet in a neutral beige tone. This makes rooms look larger and brighter.

If the house is empty, put something in it. A table and four chairs in the kitchen can go a long way when the rest of the house unfurnished. It is enough to help the buyer imagine living there.

Sometimes stagers will rearrange your furniture. Brokers who handle high priced homes are bringing in professionals more and more in this market to try to help sell a house. These designers will move furniture around, and reposition lamps to achieve an entirely different look without actually redoing the house. It works. Many times the homeowners do not recognize their own houses when they return after the stagers have been in. Many homeowners do not realize that the placement of their furniture can make a big difference in how a room looks. Stagers will also move furniture from room to room and achieve the same result. A new look without a redo.

If you are not sure how your house looks to others photographing it, even with your cell phone camera, can be a real eye opener. Take some photographs of your house with your digital camera. Do a before and after. Look at the photographs. You will be amazed at what you don't see. The camera does not lie. Analyze these photos carefully. Think in terms of before and after. What would you do to make these rooms look better.

Sit down in front of your computer and visit the web sites of real estate agencies in your area. You can look at houses all over the world. You can pick up local home guides which feature elaborate, highly professional photo presentations of properties in all price ranges. You can also take virtual tours of homes on many web sites. Remember, your house will be on a web site when you list it with your agent of choice. It will be photographed and it will be scrutinized by buyers who will most likely see your house on a web site. Nearly ninety percent of home buyers and renters start their search on the internet. Looks count. Technology rules in today's market.

Take advantage of this technology to scope out your competition. Especially look at the houses in your price range. How do they look? How are they furnished?

Visit a few furniture stores that have room displays. Don't buy anything. Just look, then go home and see what you can do to make your house "marketable." Try to get "the look" in your house if you can.

If you have a unique house that is plush and colorful do not destroy that look. You are breaking all the rules and deviating from the traditional wisdom, but if it wows people on first impression, leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Listen to your real estate agent. They have sold dozens of houses. They know what it takes and they know what buyers respond to. Sometimes the more unique and idiosyncratic house will sell faster than the traditional center hall colonial. It is what it is.

Right now the most popular trend in home furnishings is traditional with a contemporary twist. Anyone can achieve this look, in any price range. That is the beauty of it. You can easily make your home lighter and brighter without spending a lot of money.

You real estate agent, stager and interior designer will all work towards the same goal. They will help you dress your house for success. There is truly no place like Home. That is why people want to own a house Make your house feel like a home that a buyer can see themselves living in. If you do this, they will come.