By Eric Berman, REALTOR®, SRES® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
TL;DR:
A home lived in for decades needs different preparation from one sold after five years, and almost none of it is decorating. Clear about half of what's in crowded rooms and closets rather than emptying them. Take down most of the personal photographs, not because there's anything wrong with them but because they pull attention from the rooms. Brighten the lighting, which matters more than any other single change. And leave accessibility features in place — describe them factually as you would any feature. Whether full staging is worth paying for depends mainly on whether you'll have moved out.
What's Different About a Long-Held Home
Two things, and both are invisible to the person living there.
Furniture accumulates. Rooms that felt comfortable for years read as crowded in a photograph, because a camera flattens space and every piece competes for it. This is the most common issue in a long-held home and the easiest to fix.
And finishes date gradually enough that nobody notices. Wallpaper, carpet over hardwood, heavy curtains, and warm-toned paint all photograph as older than the house is. Not every one is worth changing — but knowing how they read is worth having someone tell you honestly.
Neither is about taste. It's about how rooms translate into images, which is where buyers decide whether to visit.
Clear Half, Not Everything
The instinct is to empty the house. That overcorrects: empty rooms photograph smaller, give no sense of scale, and bare closets read as small.
The practical target is about half. Remove roughly half the furniture from crowded rooms, keeping enough to show what each space is for. Empty closets and cabinets to around half, which makes storage look ample. Clear most of what sits on surfaces.
Doing this in stages is easier than doing it at once, and it dovetails with the sorting you'd be doing anyway before a move. The what-to-keep post covers that process, including the rule about going through paperwork before anything leaves.
Photographs, Collections, and Personal Items
Take down most family photographs and personal display items before the photographer comes. This is the step people resist, and it's worth explaining why rather than just asserting it.
It isn't that buyers object. It's that a wall of photographs is where the eye goes, and in a listing image that attention is better spent on the room. The same is true of collections, which draw focus and make surfaces read as busy.
Keep a few things you like. The aim is a room that photographs as a room, not a house stripped of character.
Practical items too — medical equipment, mobility aids, medications — are worth putting out of sight for photographs and showings. That's about keeping private things private, not about concealing anything.
Light Is the Single Biggest Change
If you do one thing, do this. Replace bulbs with brighter, cooler ones throughout, open every curtain and blind, and turn on every light before a showing or a photo session. Older homes are often lit warmly and dimly, which photographs as small and dated.
Heavy window treatments are worth taking down where the view permits. Clean windows make more difference than they sound like they should.
The staging pillar covers the rest of the presentation basics, most of which apply to any home.
Accessibility Features Stay
If the home has grab bars, a stair lift, a walk-in shower, ramps, or a main-floor bedroom, leave them in place and describe them factually in the listing as you would any other feature.
There's no reason to remove or hide them. They're part of the property, they cost money to install, and a listing that describes a home accurately serves everyone better than one that doesn't. What a listing shouldn't do is suggest who the home is suited to — features get described, buyers don't.
Whether to Pay for Staging
The answer turns almost entirely on whether you'll be living there.
If you'll have moved out before listing, the home will be empty, and empty is where professional staging reliably earns its cost — it solves the scale problem photographs create. If you're staying until closing, a staging consultation is usually enough: a couple of hours of advice on what to remove and rearrange, using what you already own.
The decision about moving out first is its own question, covered in the sell-before-or-after post.
One thing to avoid either way: buying new furniture or décor for a house you're selling. Rearranging and removing what's there costs nothing and does most of the work.
A Worked Example
Consider a composite case — a homeowner selling after thirty-eight years, staying in the house until closing.
Her agent walked through with her and suggested removing about a third of the furniture in the living room, clearing the dining room sideboard, and taking down the photograph wall in the hallway. She kept two framed pictures she liked in the bedroom.
The lighting made the biggest visible difference: brighter bulbs throughout, the heavy drapes in the front rooms taken down, and the windows cleaned.
The grab bars in the main bathroom and the stair lift stayed, described plainly in the listing. Two of the buyers who viewed the home asked about the stair lift because they wanted it.
Nothing was bought. The whole exercise took a weekend and a few hours of her daughter's help.
Where to Start
Brighten the lighting first, since it costs the least and changes the most. Then clear about half of what's in crowded rooms and closets rather than emptying them. Take down most personal photographs and collections before the photographer comes, and put medical items out of sight. Leave accessibility features in place and describe them factually. Then decide about staging based on whether the house will be occupied. For a starting read on value, try a quiet look at current figures, and the senior preparation guide puts the whole sequence in order.
The Honest Bottom Line
Preparing a long-held home to photograph well is mostly subtraction — less furniture, fewer personal items, more light. None of it requires buying anything, and none of it is about taste.
The one thing worth spending on is staging, and only if the house will be empty, because that's the situation it actually solves. For anyone working through what a specific home needs, with no pressure attached, that conversation is available whenever the timing suits.
This is general information, not financial advice. Costs and outcomes vary by property. Consult a licensed New York real estate attorney about your circumstances.
FAQs
Should I empty my home before listing it?
No. Empty rooms photograph smaller, give buyers no sense of scale, and bare closets read as small. Clearing about half of what's in crowded rooms and closets is the practical target — enough to show what each space is for without it looking cramped. If the home will be vacant anyway because you've already moved, that's the situation where professional staging earns its cost.
Do I have to take down my family photographs?
Most of them, before the photographer comes. It isn't that buyers object — it's that a wall of photographs is where the eye goes, and in a listing image that attention is better spent on the room. The same applies to collections, which make surfaces read as busy. Keep a few things you like; the aim is a room that photographs as a room, not a house stripped of character.
Should I remove grab bars or a stair lift before selling?
No. Leave accessibility features in place and describe them factually in the listing as you would any other feature. They're part of the property and they cost money to install. A listing that describes a home accurately serves everyone better — features get described, and buyers don't need to be characterised at all.
What's the single most effective change?
Light. Replace bulbs with brighter, cooler ones throughout, open every curtain and blind, take down heavy window treatments where the view permits, and clean the windows. Older homes are often lit warmly and dimly, which photographs as small and dated. It costs almost nothing and changes more than any other single step.
Is professional staging worth paying for?
It depends on whether you'll be living there. If you've moved out and the house is empty, staging reliably earns its cost because it solves the scale problem empty rooms create in photographs. If you're staying until closing, a staging consultation — a couple of hours of advice on what to remove and rearrange using what you already own — is usually enough. Don't buy furniture or décor for a house you're selling.
By Eric Berman, REALTOR®, SRES® | The Eric Berman Team at Compass
Eric Berman | Long Island & Queens Associate Broker | Compass
1468 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY 11030
(917) 225-8596 | eric@ericbermanre.com | theericbermanteam.com
