Staging is about the whole property – not just the interior. Right or wrong, buyers often see an interesting and well-kept exterior as an indication of how you have maintained the house itself.

Staging your porch, deck, or patio also expands the useful living space of the home. It creates extra value for buyers, very nice if they’ve got a handful of other listing sheets in front of them!!

Attention paid to spiffying up the outside will make your property stand out, and encourage buyers-as well as other agents who bring buyers-to actually come in, and check out the rest of  your property.

There is wisdom in the old saw that we have only have one chance to make a good first impression, and selling your home is all about numbers-the more interest there is, the more people will see it; when there is good showing traffic, you will have the best shot of getting an offer you want, quickly.

While first-quarter figures from WPMLS are encouraging, the recovery is not on auto-pilot. Number of sales, and average sale amount are now both headed in the right direction, but inventory in every category is at-or near- historic highs, while average sale are still far below pre-2007 figures: condos down 6.2%, to 2 to 4 family homes down a whopping  39.8%.

Sheri Silver, the owner of fiori garden design, based in Irvington is professionally trained as both an Architect and a Landscape Designer, and she brings an exceptionally thoughtful and stylish touch to the spaces her designs have graced. Creating instant curb appeal for sellers is one of her specialties, so I’ve asked her to speak to some of the quick/high ROI fixes she finds the most effective.

Sheri: The typical home seller is not looking to invest in a re-design of his landscape. That said, creating curb appeal can be the difference between an interested buyer and someone who drives by – and keeps on driving.

Here are a number of quick, affordable solutions that will significantly improve the look of any home when being shown to prospective buyers and increase sales potential:

• plant containers and window boxes with seasonal flowers and greens–planters and boxes “dress up” a bare exterior; flowering plants give an instant lift to any home

• plant foundation beds with annuals – detract from a bland row of shrubs by massing quick growing bedding plants (such as impatiens or petunias) to create a field of color in the foundation beds.

• shape and lightly prune overgrown foundation shrubs – shrubs that are blocking windows or hanging into walkways scream neglect. A quick shaping and thinning of these plantings instantly provide a more neat and finished appearance to the property.

• weed, clean, and spruce up neglected flower beds – by simply pulling out weeds and removing dead twigs and leaves, most flower beds will look significantly more appealing. Go one step further and finish the beds with a generous layer of shredded mulch (not the red dyed variety, please!).

• re-seed bare patches of lawn – in the spring, putting down some grass seed in bare areas turns a neglected lawn into a lush field of green.

These suggestions are all inexpensive and, in most cases, can be easily done by the homeowner over a weekend.

Landscaping improves property values – and for someone in the process of selling his home, creating curb appeal is essential to attracting interested buyers and reducing the amount of time his home is on the market.