With each passing year, our technology becomes more and more sophisticated and the same goes for the over-the-top decorations we use to adorn our front doors and lawns during certain observances and holidays.

Halloween is perhaps the most exciting time of year to adorn the outdoors. The assortment of fun and frightening decorations is endless with fake-blood spattered doors, lawns turned to cemeteries and dead bodies or ghosts hanging from trees.

While you may find the notion of frightening folks all very amusing, home buyers may not see it that way at all.  Here are some pointers to help subdue your frightening decor this Halloween:

Don’t over-ghoul it:

The simplicity of planting a few colorful mums and rolling out a carved pumpkin during the Thanksgiving and Halloween season has been replaced by extreme décor. Decorations now comprise 10-feet-tall inflatable ghosts, creepy clowns, dead children and zombies. And that list does not include the blood and gore some homeowners enjoy putting on display for Halloween.

Remember that it may be families with little ones coming to view your home. You don’t want to frighten away kids or adults for that matter. Go ahead and decorate but make it more pleasing as opposed to a hell house kind of vibe.

There’s a very practical reasons to scrap those large inflatable yard decorations as their presence may block the for sale sign on your lawn.

Keep it tasteful:

Try for more neutral and aesthetically pleasing types of décor such as pumpkins, bales of hay, scarecrows and corn stalks. Even an attractive fall wreath or front-door display with pops of fall colours and Halloween themes can be fun and, most importantly, not off-putting.

In keeping it tasteful, you will want to avoid references to blood, death and gore. No nods to your favourite Walking Dead zombies or scary movie and TV clowns. Also, tone down the quantity of decorations you put out.  There’s no need to turn your home into an out-of-control haunted house. Remember, less is more.

Be safe:

Don’t block sidewalks, walkways and stairs with your Halloween décor.  Though pumpkins and potted mums look especially pretty situated to the left or right on each of your front entry steps make sure you have plenty of room to navigate the steps. If it seems too tight move your décor to your porch or at the base of your steps on the lawn.

Light it up:

Now is the time to get to that burnt-out porch light you’ve been meaning to replace. It’s important to illuminate your outside especially around your main entryway since that’s how strangers will be coming into your home. A nicely lighted home is also particularly welcoming and cozy. Remember, you want to invite home buyers in, not scare them away.

Be sure to clean up:

It’s easy to ignore those rotting gourds and pumpkins on your porch. Don’t. The stench may be a big turn off for buyers and you don’t want to draw vermin to your home.