1. The Garage Sale (maybe $20 for sign materials, labels, etc.)

Ruthlessly prune your belongings. Price them cheaply and don't worry yourself about selling them for ?what they're worth?. Sell them for what they'll get. Chances are that you could earn enough money to finance your entire home staging operation. Take the time to clearly label them with prices and put them out neatly. Take the rest of the items to the local thrift store.

2. The Preliminary Packing (FREE)

Everything you do not need to operate with while your house is on the market should be packed up and stored in the basement, shed or some other out-of-the-way place. Anything that absolutely does not need to be there shouldn't. Extra chairs and stools should be put away. The aim is to make your rooms seem as large as possible to a prospective buyer. Don't worry; as soon as you've moved, you can restore these items to their former glory. Pack away the library, leaving only enough books to produce an attractive display.

3. The Painting ($5-15 per gallon, $5 for brushes, $15-30 for spackle, scrapers, tape, cloths, etc.)

Quite probably the cheapest thing you can do to cover up marks, dings, smells and childhood artistic attempts, painting is easy and cheap if you do it carefully. Cover up nail holes and dents with spackle and paint over. Take the time to tape things up properly and lay down floor coverings and you will find that the painting goes pretty quickly.

4. The Cleaning ($5-30 for supplies)

After you've de-cluttered and packed up all your extraneous pieces of furniture, knick-knacks and other superfluous belongings, it's time to start cleaning. And I do mean cleaning. Prospective buyers should be able to feel that they could have a five course dinner on your kitchen floors without any ill effect. This is more than vacuuming; this is purification and quite possibly the hardest thing on your list. Don't feel that you have to spend a huge amount on supplies; baking soda, vinegar, water and some good scrub brushes, rags, vacuum, broom and mop will get your place to the surgically hygienic level it should be. Clean one room at a time and threaten death to anyone who mars the sparkling surfaces of the window or the HEPA filter vacuumed carpet.

5. The Staging (FREE)

The furniture that actually has made it through your stringent evaluation as suitable for staging must now be arranged in a way that says, ?Hey! I'm TOTALLY not staged!? This can be challenging, but since wonders have already been accomplished with the de-cluttering and the cleaning, as long as you place the furniture in such a way that it shows off the room and does not impede going and coming, you're probably good to go.

So, there you have it: staging under $100. By this time, you're likely exhausted from the cleaningpackingpreparingpaintingohmygodIforgotwhereIputitemX, but I assure you, you'll be more likely to present the best facets of your home to buyers, which will translate to a home more likely to sell.