Should we stage the house or sell as is?

What to weigh

Start with how the house looks today. A home with one person's furniture gone, bare walls where pictures used to hang, and boxes in the garage photographs differently from one that's been lived in steadily, and buyers see the listing photos before they see anything else. On the other hand, a house that's tidy and furnished may need little more than a deep clean.

Then look at money and time. Staging costs cash up front, and it takes days to set up. If neither of you can spare either, selling as is can be the right call.

I'll tell you both honestly how the house shows today, in the same words to each of you.

Middle ground

It isn't all or nothing. You can stage only the rooms that appear first in the photos, borrow a few pieces to fill a half-empty living room, or simply remove clutter and personal photos so the house reads as a house rather than as one household's story. I'll walk through with both of you, or separately at the same level of detail, and give you the same written suggestions.

None of this promises a higher price. It gives buyers a cleaner first look.

Put the budget in writing

Whatever you choose, write down the cap, who pays the stager or rental company, and whether that person is reimbursed at closing before the proceeds are divided. If one of you is still living there, also agree on how the staged rooms will be kept up during showings. The same approach works for repairs; see who pays for repairs before listing?

For a room-by-room plan, the guide on preparing the house after one of you moves out helps.

Write it down.

When you disagree

Staging can be a sticking point, partly because it spends money now for a result nobody can promise later. If you can't agree, the default can simply be the low-cost version: clean, declutter and fix what's broken, with nothing rented. That's a fair starting point. If one of you wants more and is willing to pay for it out of their own share, your attorneys can write that down, along with whether it's repaid at closing.