Dear Bruce: Realtors have been "staging" houses for potential buyers for YEARS! In fact, they frown upon anyone selling a house that is totally empty.
The reason? Potential buyers (PBs) LACK THE IMAGINATION to (1) picture how their furniture will fit in a room and (2) need visual aids for them to KNOW what each room should be used for.
Making matters worse, IMO, is that on these shows where folks are looking for new places to live, the PBs are forever making disparaging remarks about the wall colors. For me, it's a GIVEN that I'm going to be painting...or having the landlord paint a color of my choice before I move into a rental. Why PBs can't also get past the paint is a mystery to moi. (From time to time, a realtor will let it be known that because of the prices of real estate in today's market, buyers expect the homes they buy to be move-in ready. I understand that to a great extent. But I also know I'm going to have to add my own touches to personalize the space...and for me, that includes wall color).
PBs apparently haven't the visual acuity of figuring out how furniture might be placed to its best advantage in any given room. Never mind that stagers go for the stark, Spartan minimum in each room. PBs don't notice that there isn't enough room for that extra love seat, the armoire or TV stand in this living room. They notice the fireplace, the couch and two chairs...oh, and that lovely table lamp over by the window.
PBs are window shoppers in such houses...and they tend to forget that they're not buying the furniture they're seeing.
The exterior issue (i.e., that unpaved driveway) has a term applied to it: "Curb Appeal".
Most stagers do quick fixes with such things. Potted plants (that won't be staying)...removing, or severely trimming back, a bit of shrubbery. In the case of that driveway, I wouldn't put it past one of them to pour gravel and then rake it into a nice, temporary pattern to give an illusion of a finished drive.
