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I'm with the OP on this. The topic is NOT about FSBO. It's about staging. Let's focus on staging.
I've seen some excellent posts in this topic about imparting the feeling of staging without furnishing the house. I've seen about 500 properties in the last 3 years. I've seen plenty of occupied, sloppy houses that made me want to barf. One house had a kid's bedroom painted black -- Simi Valley CA -- and was so full of junk I couldn't get the door open enough to enter. One house I saw recently was impeccably furnished and left me with the feeling that I wished I could hire the owner to decorate my own house. I bought that one for $3K under asking. Another was what I call "minimalist staged." A bottle of wine, a few items making the small kitchen look more attractive. Got that one for $6K under asking. Rest of house was empty.
My own current residence I bought a year ago, either professionally staged or the woman who lied here -- was going to move in with multi-millionaire daughter who owned the house -- maybe left all her furniture here, and not a single personal article. My buddy who saw the house at appraisal said one piece of art could easily sell for $5K!
But the other two houses I bought were totally nude, and clean. It took me 15 minutes to decide to buy them, and only maybe 1000 pages of documents to make it happen!
I prefer a totally nude but clean house. As a second, a few items to give highlights were a nice touch but not a deciding factor. My personal residence -- either professionally staged or previous occupant left only furniture behind, IMO made no difference to me. I bought the bones. I didn't waste any time looking at the meat. Last one, the one that was impeccably and discerningly furnished -- and very clean -- showed me what the house would look like if somebody knew decoration, and sold me I had to have that house!
So you will notice that the only theme to my post is "clean." But you'll notice the family with the impeccably decorated house got my top dollar.
personally, if I were the seller, I'd either go with the totally clean immaculate look, or same plus "hint" staging.
Staging is particularly beneficial in a small or awkwardly shaped room because buyers typically cannot figure out how they would place furniture to be livable. Empty rooms look smaller than furnished rooms unless you have tons of too large furniture in the room.
Since you said the living room is small, you might consider leaving furniture in that room. Only if you have stylish furniture that fits well and shows a functional living space.
Having been all three...buyer, seller and agent, and the fact that this is a smaller home in a smaller population area, I would suggest that you first go with immaculately clean and bare. Fix all obvious things that need fixing, even to the point of throwing another coat of paint on to freshen it up. Sweep the garage, trim the hedges, plant some flowers for curb appeal. Price it right and give it the maximum amount of exposure to the maximum number of markets you can afford, but only advertise it for a limited time.
If it doesn't sell, pull the listing, do minimal staging, freshen up the advertising, re-evaluate the price and re-list it with a different agent.
I completely 'get' that you don't want to put any more money into the house, but sometimes investing a little money can mean the difference between selling a home or not selling a home. The choice is up to you.
I find some amount of "staging" to be helpful when I'm looking at a house, particularly at an open house or a first look.
Sure, I can break out the measuring tape later on, but when I first view a home, I want some kind of visual cue that will help me begin to determine if a room/house will work for our needs. I don't need the home to be staged to magazine-levels, but simple clean furniture to give me a reference point to work with is nice.
It's definitely not a dealbreaker to view an empty house, but as I admittedly do not have the best sense of size in an empty room, a bit of furniture would perhaps cause me to stay and imagine my own furniture a bit longer than an empty house would.
I would say this is more important in houses with smaller or oddly-shaped rooms. You want to show that real furniture will fit comfortably in those spaces.
Empty house, pictures online with how furniture looked
I agree with the posts saying that having furniture in the rooms for the online listing is a good idea, but best to have the house completely empty for showing rather than half-heartedly staged.
The best houses I looked at, the realtor/owner left a booklet (maybe 10-20 pages, sometimes nicely bound) with the listing details, a good floorplan, etc. Sometimes they included color photos with how the house had looked when furniture was still present, makes it easier to visualize how your own stuff could fit...
Having looked at photographs of thousands of houses, literally, my perspective, as a potential buyer would be the more appealing the home looks from a cleanliness perspective and also a classy perspective the more I'm drawn to it. The answer for me would be if a home had staging vs. full furniture. But the staging has to be well done. Don't just put a bed in a room with a wrinkled coverlet and expect I'll think it looks appealing; it doesn't. I prefer to see a bed in room, so I can better tell the size of the room visually, without having to guess at an empty room and read measurements; I don't have that kind of time. I like a bed that looks well made in a room with a small table that has a vase and some flowers. Nothing on the walls. The walls should look fresh. The floors should look clean. If I see a messy bed, a splotch on the carpet, crap hung all over the walls, all I think is: What a nightmare is the rest of this house; how many nail holes will I have to fill? If I see a ton of possessions all over the house, all I think of is: How long will it take these people to pack all these things? I'm sure you can pare down to a descent minimum without purchasing anything. Have the place look nice and clean and emphasize that in your description: that your house is clean. Patch the holes in your walls and fix other minor cosmetic issues. Plant some flowers in your backyard or around the front, etc. Cut your grass. Take TONS of photographs. The more the better. If I see a home with 5 photographs, it tells me nothing. If I see a home with 30 photographs, I take the time to examine them, especially if I like what I see.
Hope any of that helps and good luck to you in your sale! You can also get ideas in staging without paying anyone by looking at house decorating magazines in a bookstore or photographs online. You don't have to buy anything or pay anyone.
Advertising works to help people envision what the possibilities of ANY product are! Really the smart marketers understand how to tie into the psychological / emotional triggers that help people say "this is for me". If you wanna beleive you are immune from these things I happily accept a picture of closet that includes 100% unbranded clothing, another of your "gray box screwdriver shop computer" and finally one of your completely generic personal vehicle...
The smugness of some people is just too much to accept!
I've toured two houses that were so overstaged I couldn't get out the door fast enough. They were suffocating. Whether you do staging or advertising, you've got to know the limits.
When I move into a house, it will be empty. That's how I prefer to see it. I acknowledge that other buyers feel differently, though!
Let me guess, you also refuse to shop at stores tht have clothes displayed on mannequins, won't buy food that comes in a package with a "serving suggestion" on the front, and only take vacations to places that don't have have color brochures to illulstrate the accomodations...
Gimme a break!
Advertising works to help people envision what the possibilities of ANY product are! Really the smart marketers understand how to tie into the psychological / emotional triggers that help people say "this is for me". If you wanna beleive you are immune from these things I happily accept a picture of closet that includes 100% unbranded clothing, another of your "gray box screwdriver shop computer" and finally one of your completely generic personal vehicle...
The smugness of some people is just too much to accept!
This has nothing to do with smugness or advertising, what the heck? It's about a buyer wanting to picture their furniture and paintings in a space without furniture in it. Get over yourself.
Having been all three...buyer, seller and agent, and the fact that this is a smaller home in a smaller population area, I would suggest that you first go with immaculately clean and bare. Fix all obvious things that need fixing, even to the point of throwing another coat of paint on to freshen it up. Sweep the garage, trim the hedges, plant some flowers for curb appeal. Price it right and give it the maximum amount of exposure to the maximum number of markets you can afford, but only advertise it for a limited time.
If it doesn't sell, pull the listing, do minimal staging, freshen up the advertising, re-evaluate the price and re-list it with a different agent.
I completely 'get' that you don't want to put any more money into the house, but sometimes investing a little money can mean the difference between selling a home or not selling a home. The choice is up to you.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
RVcook
It is would be malpractice in my market to suggest that sellers "test" vacant pictures and then restage if the listing gets stale!
In my market, suburban Chicago, nearly all sales data STRONGLY suggests that homes that hit MLS "looking good and priced right" lead the statistics for BOTH quick sales AND best prices. Listings that have been "redone" in any way take SIGNIFICANTLY longer to sell and often close at HUGE discount to original asking price.
It is really crucial to put effort into "putting best foot forward" with online pictures FROM THE GET GO!
The smarter offices are currently using "coming soon" lawn signs / "window of the listing office" notices to garner some interest while staging and photographs are prepared. Some folks have gotten a little upset about this becuase it seems to stretch the rules about MLS "pocket listings" but given the level of interest there is in well priced homes it really serves to help the interst of sellers and ulitmately, by enabling neighbors / locals to alert potential buyers, also guarantees wide exposure which is a key to setting fair price for buyers too...
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Empty house, pictures online with how furniture looked
You can also get ideas in staging without paying anyone by looking at house decorating magazines in a bookstore or photographs online. You don't have to buy anything or pay anyone. 
Not consistent with my experince AT ALL!
