It just takes a little common sense. My friend "stages" houses. Meaning she goes into a home, rearranges the furniture that's there and, for a minimal amount of money, makes your house look better. Her last house was on the market for 13 months. She staged it and it sold 8 days later.
Yep, staging is the key.
The first house we bought, every time we saw it, the smiley little mother-in-law was seated in the kitchen.
Wasn't til we actually closed, we realized she'd been 'staged' in front of a hole in the kitchen wall!