Most sellers in this day and age recognize the value of staging a home's interior, but what about the backyard?

Especially in the summer months, when outdoor spaces often look their best, a well-staged backyard can be a major selling point and might just help you seal the deal with a buyer.

Real estate experts have long touted the importance of properly staging a property to look its best when selling, and now a high-tech option has joined the ranks of traditional home stagers.

In a competitive housing market, if you want to sell your home faster and get your asking price, a degree of home staging is a must.

The holiday season gives most people the feels – "most" being the operative word. It's important to keep this in mind when selling your home during the festive season. It's easy to go overboard. (If you're not sure what we mean, watch the notorious house-lighting scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for a reminder.)

An open house is a great opportunity to welcome eager homebuyers and show off your home in all its warm, wonderful glory. Here are some tips to stage your home for a sale, while keeping it tasteful:

Preparing your house for sale can be a daunting and overwhelming task, whether you have lived in your home a few years or many. The longer you've lived in your home, the more things you will have acquired.

It's necessary to take a step back and recognize that this is no longer your home, but rather an investment for your future. You want your home to have broad buyer appeal among members of your target market. Remember, most people want to move into their new home without having to make updates to it.

Here are 10 home-staging tips to save you time, money and energy:

Spring is the time for cleaning up after the drab days of winter, but a good clean-up is also key to selling a home quickly and at the right price.

How to get the sell and still be festive

With the holidays hot on their heels, homeowners will have plenty of opportunities over the next couple of months to indulge in outdoor decorations that range from the gruesome and garish to the feel-good and festive.

Yet housing experts still urge homeowners to keep curb appeal in mind when it comes to going over-the-top this Halloween and Christmas.

Your chance to get involved in new local book

Calgary real estate professional Lori Olijnyk remembers a particular home home in Calgary's hot inner city: "It had a large 50-foot lot with a dilapidated picket fence that might have been white at one time. Rolls of chicken wire actually had a bird in it. [The] grass was overgrown and the walkway was crumbling."

In other words, it was a mess, and it failed the curb appeal test. The curb appeal was so bad it was hard to get prospective buyers out of the car and into the home.

"A bad first impression is difficult to overcome," said Olijnyk.

How to stage your home during the 'off-season'

Your home has been on the market. You want an offer. You want it fast.

Problem is, nothing kills your property's curb appeal than winter – piles of snow, leafless trees, mud and ice.

So how do you make your home stand out in a buyer's market during the "off-season?"

Calgary-based home stager Pam Fieber suggests you start by keeping all walkways — front and back — safe, clean, hazard-free and easy to access.

Creating a memorable home for buyers

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a designer of buildings and space. But I'm also a designer of many other things.

I call myself an accomplished creator of architectural and interior designs. I have worked with custom homebuilders and unconventional new builds such as bale houses. In fact, I happen to live in a house made of straw.

I've also had a chance to work with restaurants, churches and commercial buildings, including a No. 1 tourist destination spa in Saskatchewan. I like to call my personal signature "casual elegance."

It has been almost two decades since I first started my design career. I have since had my designs published in magazines across the city. Now, I'm excited to have the opportunity to share my design ideas and creativity with CREB®Now readers.