When real estate agent Michelle Mossman first walked into a client’s Kaneohe home, she noticed a big sofa blocking what would otherwise have been a great view of the Koolaus.

"As soon as you walk in the door, you get this beautiful view, but the sofa was facing away from the view," she said.

The solution was simple: reposition the furnishings to showcase the dramatic landscape.

Mossman, who works for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, also bought some accent pillows for the brown leather sofa and wrought-iron wall decorations.

The three-bedroom condo got multiple offers and is now in escrow, and Mossman believes staging helped to sell it.

"There’s no question that staging has an effect on how the consumer feels when they walk into a place," said Mossman. "Staging gives people an idea of how the space can be used."

When two otherwise identical units are on the market, staging may help one to stand out. But staging a home alone won’t sell it, Mossman said, unless the price is fair for the market.

Yuki Takenaka, a real estate agent at Re/Max Honolulu, recently staged the lanai of a three-bedroom Mililani home with a complete patio set including table and chairs, new paint and outdoor wall art.

Furnishing the lanai — used by the former owners as storage space — helped extend the home’s living area and gave potential buyers an idea of how it could be used.

The hardest work was scrubbing the lanai clean and painting it a cream color, which opened up the space and made it brighter. But it paid off.

"The buyers absolutely fell in love with the lanai," she said. "And the breeze came in at just the right time."

Takenaka said at the very basic level, homeowners looking to sell need to make sure their place is sparkling clean. She calls it "toothbrush cleaning," which includes wiping away dirty handprints and marks on light switches and around doors.

"The devil’s in the details," she said.

The usual mantra for getting a home ready to sell is to de-clutter and depersonalize, then add in other touches to make the home more appealing.

When the market was booming, Takenaka says, staging could help a seller get more than the asking price. In today’s buyer’s market, staging doesn’t necessarily mean getting more, but it may help secure an offer much quicker.

"No matter what the market is, not staging is like leaving money on the table," said Takenaka, who made an appearance on HGTV’s "Bang for Your Buck" remodeling series in 2010.

She says she stages all the homes she lists, including short sales and foreclosures, at no extra cost. Having staged for many years, she keeps an extra living room set and bedroom set handy and shops for a stock of home accessories when she has the time.

First impressions count, according to Takenaka.

A buyer develops a positive or negative impression within the first 30 seconds of walking inside the front door. As a general rule of thumb, a reasonable budget to spend on staging is about 1 percent of the sales price, she said.

Some real estate agents include staging as part of their services, though some may also charge a fee, depending on the extent of work done. For home accessories, agents cited Ross Dress for Less as a favorite source.

Nicole Harbottle, a former real estate agent who now runs a design firm called IsLStyle Living Spaces, said most buyers today see properties online first before scheduling a viewing in person.

So effective staging and photography can pull potential buyers into the door.

Tried-and-true do-it-yourself tricks include adding fresh towels and flowers, but sometimes a professional stager can put just the right touches in a home that might not be immediately obvious to the seller.

Besides de-cluttering and depersonalizing, sellers may also need to address anything that makes a "bold statement," Harbottle said. For instance, that indoor putting green you love may not appeal to potential buyers who don’t golf.

"The idea is to appeal to a broad buyer market," she said.

On the other hand, a brick oven in your kitchen should be spotlighted. "You want to play up anything that’s a great positive — the view, any extra living space or storage," said Harbottle.

Just as important is to choose furnishings that are appropriately sized for the space.

Harbottle said many times she finds a sofa that is too small or too large for the living room. Sometimes she’s able to remove just one or two pieces from a room to make it feel larger.

"People usually have the right stuff, but sometimes there’s too much of it or it’s in the wrong spot," she said.

Vacant spaces also need to be filled or else they feel too empty.

For staging, Harbottle uses furniture with clean lines, simple shapes and current finishes and colors. The accessories change, depending on the look and feel she’s going for. She also prefers using real plants.

Another common mistake is to paint everything stark white, she said, which makes a place seem sterile. It’s important to pick the right shade of white.

Instead of white on white (white baseboards and white walls), Harbottle said sellers can opt for a warmer cream or earth tones.

"Make sure the space feels warm and inviting," she said.

At a recent listing for a multilevel, four-bedroom home in Kaneohe, Harbottle added gray drapes to a living room with numerous windows, which helped draw buyers toward the view outside.

Harbottle stages only as much as deemed necessary to get a return on the investment. Her average staging fee is $2,500.

The home, which was vacant, needed just a few pieces of furniture to make it more appealing. Usually, the kitchen, bathrooms, living and dining rooms need to be staged, and just one bedroom.

She paid particular attention to the entryway, with the strategic placement of an entry table and plant. In the living room a corner sofa and coffee table drew the eye in from the front entrance.

The kitchen counters were cleared, except for a few accessories here and there, including a tray of fruit. A bright-blue bedspread in the odd-shaped master bedroom contrasted well with the white walls. The home is now in escrow.

"The key is not to overfurnish, but to give just enough so people can imagine themselves in the home," she said.