If you are selling your home, the stager just might be your new best friend. This professional works to prepare your home for the real estate market. Their main objective is to make the house desirable to the highest number of potential buyers possible. By doing so, the house is more likely to sell quickly and easily.

What does a Home Stager do? The Home Stager may employ a variety of different techniques to present the home in the best light possible. Their first step will likely be to make sure the home is impeccably clean, including the exterior of the house. Next they'll work on removing the personal touches that are unique to the buyer. Paint colors may go from dramatic reds and purple to neutral tones like beige and taupe. The home should be cleared of family photos, risque artwork, collections and knick knacks. By doing so, the potential buyer is able to better envision their own life in the house.

Before you contact a stager, make sure to consider a few things. Are you willing to change your home and take the advice of this professional to help sell your house? Do you think your house would greatly benefit from the help of a stager? How long are you comfortable having your home on the market? A staged home is likely to sell faster and, on occasion, at a higher asking price than a non-staged home. But, it is not a guarantee.

Questions to Ask a Home Stager:

• May I see your portfolio?
• What type of training and background do you have in home staging?
• Are you insured?
• What is your average ratio of listed to sold properties?
• Do you offer any sort of guarantee on the sale of the property?

Find a Home Stager on Houzz. Narrow your search in the Professionals section of the website to Home Staging, then choose the metro area in which you'd like to find a Home Stager. You may also look through photos by style, like Traditional, Asian, Contemporary, Modern, Eclectic, Mediterranean or Tropical, to first find a room you like then contact the professional who designed it.