You can’t learn too much about real estate without hearing this crucial truth: staging matters. Take our posts here at the Buy Owner Blog, for example, where we’ve given you 12 Tips for Staging to Sell, the Top 10 Staging Tips and tips on staging for summer, staging the backyard, even ways to stage the garage!

It can seem like a lot to take in, especially if the idea of staging is new to you. But don’t lose heart! At its heart, staging is very simple. It’s all about making your home look its best.

So do you have 15 minutes? Here’s what you do:

1. Pick a part of your home: Choose the living room, a bedroom, that nook behind the laundry door that you’ve turned into an office, whatever.
2. Evaluate it: Thinking like a buyer would when coming to visit, evaluate your room/area and how it will come across. If it’s a bedroom being used as a closet, will this lessen its appeal to buyers? If it’s a laundry room with too much on the floors for people to walk through, will this hinder buyers from stepping through and noticing the built-in ironing board?
3. Make a plan to change: Based on the new perspective you’ve just gained, come up with one or two specific changes you can make to improve the area. Note that this step just requires you to come up with changes, not to implement them—that’s for later. Stumped for ideas? Consider these: clean the floors, pick up clutter, get a door fixed, dust the furniture, move the sofa to create a seating nook, repair the hole in the wall, etc.

15 minutes over yet? No problem. What you now have, based on a quick survey of the space, is a plan of action to make it look better. The next chance you get, put that plan into action and conquer one part of your home’s staging! Then, repeat the process with another room. Before you know it, you’ll have the entire interior redesigned and staged beautifully!

Bonus Tip: If staring at your home for 15 minutes leaves you drawing a blank, consider bringing in a fresh pair of eyes. Ask a friend to look at the space and give you their perspective, particularly if it’s someone who hasn’t spent a lot of time there before.

It’s true the market shows signs of improvement, but it still has a long way to go before the term “buyers’ market” no longer applies. With so many homes available today, buyers have plenty to choose from, so you have to do all you can to make yours stand out. Here are three ways to get your home sold NOW!

Clean to Sell: It should go without saying that a home on the market needs to be in mint condition, but you’d be surprised at the clutter and disrepair with which so many homes are shown today. By cleaning, decluttering and repairing your home, you set it ahead of the pack, and you make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves inside.

Price to Sell: The basic keys to pricing aggressively are checking out the competition and being realistic. Of course you want to get the best price possible, but in a buyers’ market, you cannot afford to price higher than you need. Are similar homes in your area priced lower than yours? Think like a buyer, and you’ll see why that’s a problem. Do your best to be objective and set the price a little lower than you could.

Market to Sell: Of course, even the most beautifully maintained home, offered at the best price, still won’t sell if nobody knows about it. That’s where Buy Owner comes into play. By advertising at BuyOwner.com, you broadcast your property to a 24/7 audience

Want more information on using Buy Owner? Here are 31 reasons why it makes sense to sell with Buy Owner, especially now!

Marketing your home is all about playing up/emphasizing its features.

Is the land the best part? Then clear out brush, clean up sheds, mow the lawn, trim the bushes. Are the brand-new hardwood floors the hot feature? Then get them in shining, gleaming condition and place furniture in such a way that the floors get noticed (i.e., don’t let them be so cluttered that you can’t see anything!).

The key is: Make the most of what your home has got.

Think about the bedrooms.

Many times, in a home with three or more bedrooms, one bedroom might be used as an office or a workout room or for storage or something else. That’s convenient for you, and while you’ve been the one living there, that’s all that matters. But now you want to sell. And if you’re advertising your home as having four bedrooms, make it look like there are four bedrooms, with a bed in each.

You’re selling now, so it’s about playing up your home’s features.

Along those lines, your bedrooms should be clean, spotless, free of clutter and freshly vacuumed or swept. Don’t overlook the closets; buyers will be free to open them and have a look inside. The more empty space they see, the easier it will be for them to imagine their own belongings inside.

If you’ve kept up with our blogs, you know how to prepare for open houses. You know that a fresh coat of paint in an otherwise drab room isn’t a bad idea. You know that in spring the bushes should be trimmed and in winter salt should be laid. You know that baking cookies during an open house is an easy way to add a comforting aroma, a hospitable charm and a homey atmosphere.

When you get down to it, preparing for a scheduled open house isn’t all that hard. You clean, declutter and make your home look presentable. But what happens when potential homebuyers show up unannounced? It happens. Independent buyers can show up without calling and expect to see your house. Sure, you can turn them away and set up a more convenient time for them to show up. However, this move might turn them away, wondering what it is you have to hide, and annoyed at you not working with their schedule.

It is, after all, a buyers’ market.

So when the doorbell rings in the middle of your cooking brunch late on a Saturday morning, what should you do? Here are some tips on how to stay focused and calm during a surprise visit, and how to make the house presentable no matter what.

Start making these chores a daily habit, so that when a surprise visitor arrives, these things are already in order:

• Make your bed, and have everyone in the house make their beds.

• Designate a room or part of the yard for pets.

• Replace a light bulb as soon as one burns out.

• Apply salt to walkways as soon as icy conditions occur. Shovel snow right away too. Keep grass mowed and weeds pulled.

• Lubricate door hinges so that no doors squeak.

• Dust, vacuum and wash windows on a weekly basis or when you notice a need for cleaning.

• Wash dishes immediately after use and place them in the dishwasher, or dry and put away.

• Open window blinds on major windows each morning after you wake up.

• Provide containers or crates for toys, and make room for them in a closet.

• Make it a rule to take off shoes at the door, and supply a container for the shoes.

• Change out of your pajamas as soon as you wake up.

When the doorbell rings, here are quick fixes to do before answering the door or while the potential buyer is looking at your house:

• Put the pets away in your designated room or yard.

• Put all toys away in the containers or crates.

• Have a candle on hand for you to light when the doorbell sounds.

• Close closet doors; open bedroom and bathroom doors.

• Keep mouthwash on hand to quickly use as you put away toys and light a candle.

• Have space available in a closet or on a coat tree for your potential buyers’ coats.

• While the buyer is looking around, go to your laundry area and remove all clothes from clotheslines and throw them in the dryer, out of sight.

• Turn on an appropriate television show or some music, to lessen any awkward silences.

• Know the information on your house, such as its total square feet, so you are prepared for questions.

• Stay calm. Don’t run around and shout through the door to the surprise visitor. All of these last-minute tips can be done quickly enough to not keep the visitor waiting. Act polite, and if they are inconveniencing you, don’t show it.

Chances are, a potential buyer who shows up unexpectedly will be courteous and will ask if it’s okay for him or her to view your house at that time. If you agree, and your house looks put together and prepared for visitors, you will score yourself an impressed buyer.