Staging could land sellers in trouble

Fixing your house up for sale is highly recommended in the current market if you hope to sell within a reasonable period of time and for an acceptable price. Today's buyers want turnkey houses that they can move right into without having much work.

In addition to repairing defects that might turn a buyer off, your house should be clean, tidy and look attractive. From a marketing point of view, most homes contain too much furniture and knickknacks that make it difficult for buyers to appreciate what the place has to offer. If your home is too personalized with your own belongings, buyers might have difficulty envisioning living there.

To enhance appeal, many sellers hire a stager, which is a decorator who specializes in presenting homes for sale. Stagers help rearrange furniture and artwork. They also recommend work that needs to be done, such as painting; suggest what should be removed; and bring in furniture, house plants and accessories. The point of all this is to generate enthusiasm for your home. Real estate agents prefer to show homes that look great. The more showings your home receives, the higher the likelihood it will sell.

Turning your home into a showcase makes good sense. Just make sure you don't cross the line between fix-up and concealment. Seller disclosure laws vary from state to state. However, the trend over the last decade or so has been to disclose material defects.

Sellers often fear that if they tell all about their homes, it will keep it from selling. Or if the house does sell, the price will be low. This is usually an overreaction. Buyers prefer to know about defects before they buy a home, not after.

Put yourself in the buyers' shoes: Would you rather know before or after closing that the basement floods in heavy rainstorms? If you receive advance notice, you can research remedies and find out how much it would cost to keep the basement dry. This could result in a buyer asking the seller for a credit or modification in the price. The seller can decide whether to grant a concession. ...CONTINUED

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