Stage Your Patio - Great idea when preparing your home for sale.

  Staging Your Patio,Deck, Backyar, Front Porch. Home buyers see the bistro set you have set up on your bedroom balcony and envision rolling out of bed to a Sunday morning brunch as they leisurely peruse the New York Times.  It’s a fantasy, after all, so there’s no need to fill in all the details, like who’s preparing that brunch.

They see the picnic table on the deck and think only of the Labor Day barbecues, and not at all of the fact that they struggle to even light a grill.

Many buyers - especially those who have always lived in apartments with little or no outside space - are enamored with the idea of being able to spend time and entertain outdoors, so if you’re a seller with a home that has any outdoor space, it behooves you to stage it with little furniture  that show the space off to its best advantage.

But buyers, beware:  studies show that indoor spaces have a much greater impact on a homeowners’ happiness than outdoor spaces, so don’t let the gorgeous English garden sway you into thinking you’ll be sublimely happy in a home where the interior doesn’t do much for you.