“The height of sophistication is simplicity.” -- Clare Boothe Luce

Halloween’s over. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to break out the Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. Even if your house is on the market, you can still decorate. Just remember to keep it simple.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to sell a house during the holidays. It’s as good a time as any -- maybe even better. Most buyers this time of year are serious prospects -- otherwise, they’d be home celebrating with their families and friends -- and there’s less competition because most sellers wait until the new year to list their properties.

Selling your house shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the festivities, said Florida-based Kathy Streib of Room Service Home Staging, on the ActiveRain real estate website. But decorate with these key staging principles in mind: Don’t distract and don’t detract.

Paul Henderson of Fathom Realty in Tacoma, Washington, has seen some ghastly decorations while touring houses for sale. And just before Halloween, Will Hamm of Hamm Homes in Aurora, Colorado, visited a house that was “so decked out, inside and out,” that Hamm got the feeling the sellers weren’t really interested in selling at all.

Staging is the art of making a house as appealing as possible to a wide audience. And its rules apply to decorating for any holiday, not just Thanksgiving and Christmas, says Streib.

So before you put up your tree and hang your stockings with care, consult with your agent, who needs time to take photos of your place for the multiple listing service and other websites.

You don’t want to post pictures that date your listing if it doesn’t sell by, say, mid-January, and you also don’t want anything in the photos to distract buyers from seeing the house itself.

So don’t overdo it. “Resist the urge to ‘holiday’ every room and flat surface,” says Streib. “You want the buyer to see the space. A few well-placed seasonal decorations can be festive, but not overwhelming.”

It’s not that agents and stagers “are trying to play Grinch,” says Chris Lima of Florida’s Atlantic Shores Realty, but “there has to be a happy medium. Moderation is the key.”

Let’s start with curb appeal: A nice wreath on the front door is good, and large pots filled with seasonal plants add color. A clean, new welcome mat is a good idea, too.

But this is not the time for a giant inflatable Santa or snowman. They are distractions that prevent buyers from seeing what your house really looks like -- and if they deflate, they become serious eyesores.

Amanda Davidson of eXp Realty in Alexandria, Virginia, suggests leaving the inflatables in storage, and warns against trying to light up the neighborhood. Don’t “Griswold” the place, she says, referring to famous over-decorator Clark Griswold of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” After all, “what might be merry to you can be downright tacky to a buyer.” Stick to minimal string lights, preferably in white, and use them to accent the positive aspects of your exterior.

Inside, you don’t want your house to be awash in orange at Thanksgiving or red at Christmas. You want visitors to see the house itself. “You don’t want your buyer’s eyes to bounce all over, seeing everything but taking in nothing,” Streib advises.

Shannon Jones of Keller Williams in Long Beach, California, is “a big fan of holiday colors, but in everyday objects like flowers or pillows.”

Potential buyers are there to try your house on for size, so don’t block your house’s best features. A giant tree -- tastefully decorated in, say, one color, as opposed to all kinds of mismatched ornaments -- is a great way to emphasize a two-story entry. But if it blocks the fireplace or patio door, it’s doing you a disservice. You don’t want to make visitors peer behind or walk around the tree to see those selling points.

And if you must hang stockings, wait until Christmas Eve so they don’t become distractions.

Now’s also not the time to trot out your oversized Nativity set -- or anything overtly religious, for that matter. Not all buyers celebrate the same holidays, or in the same way, and not everyone has the same religious convictions. So stick to pinecones in a vase and tiny reindeer on the mantle, and bring out that other stuff next year in your new home.

And remember: Less is more. “Over-decorating can mean buyers spend more time studying decorations than observing the features of the house,” say Sally and David Hanson of eXp Realty in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Finally, a word about scents. One of real estate’s oldest rules of thumb is to bake some cookies just before an open house to create a welcoming aroma. That’s still a good idea. But some sellers go too far, overwhelming guests with Vanilla Bean or Spiced Apple.

Some people can be allergic to such scents, or just find them “so overpowering that (they) have to leave to get some fresh air,” says Barbara Altieri of New Haven County (Connecticut) Real Estate.

Streib’s advice: Stick with a scent that says “clean.”

Louisiana agent John Martin once attached a “Not Haunted” placard on a for-sale sign in front of one of his listings. On another occasion, the St. Ignatius Catholic School in Yardley, Pennsylvania, placed an “Open House” sign in front of its cemetery.

You could say, as Consumer Reports did, that the good people at St. Ignatius made a “grave mistake.” But Martin, of Waterman Realty in Metairie, probably knew exactly what he was doing. After all, the New Orleans area is infamous for its superstitions and mystique -- and not just around this time of year.

As it turns out, a lot of people have no desire to live in a haunted manse, no matter where it’s located. In this year’s Halloween-centric poll of 1,500 souls by Clever Real Estate, 4 out of 10 said “no thanks” when asked if they would buy such a place.

“A non-negotiable deal-breaker,” Clever researcher Francesca Ortegren called it. And that’s even though 3 out of 4 respondents believe in the supernatural.

Still, that means 60% are open to sharing a house with specters and spooks -- but not without a concession or two. Most said they would need a deep discount, and many said they would take the plunge only if the apparitions were friendly.

Either way, 4 out of 5 buyers told Clever’s researchers that a haunting would impact their buying decision, one way or another. Yet, if they were selling instead of buying, less than half would disclose the presence of wraiths unless required by law to do so. And 1 in 10 would not disclose even then.

And therein lies the rub. Disclosure laws vary from state to state. Only nine states have some requirements: Five states require disclosures of a death on the property, and four require disclosures of any paranormal activity if it impacts the physical condition or the value of the property.

Alaska and Wisconsin require disclosure of a burial site on the property. Five other states require such a disclosure, but only if the seller or the agent is asked directly.

According to Ortegren, New York has the “most infamous” law. Known locally as the “Ghostbusters Ruling,” the state Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that if a house is haunted, information about paranormal activities must be provided in all future listings.

“The case sets legal precedent in the state, requiring disclosure of hauntings if the home was declared haunted publicly,” Ortegren said.

The rest of the states have no rules compelling sellers to disclose hauntings, specifically, or to reveal anything that might “psychologically stigmatize” a property more generally.

For what it’s worth, 1 in 4 respondents said they have lived in a haunted house, and only a third of them knew it was haunted before moving in.

Nobody knows how many houses around the country are inhabited by poltergeists. The Census Bureau doesn’t keep count. It can tell you the number of places where trick-or-treaters have to climb steps to fill their sacks (57.4 million) and the number of costume rental establishments (892), but not the number of haunted houses.

There are almost 1.6 million so-called “zombie houses” -- industry jargon for vacant homes -- in the United States, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. And 216,000 of them are in the process of foreclosure, making them ideal spots for spooks to set up housekeeping -- and to haunt their new owners when the houses are eventually sold. New York has the highest number of zombie foreclosures, followed by Florida and Illinois.

There are some scary places in other states, too. Tombstone, Arizona, floats readily to mind. But how about Yellville, Arkansas; Transylvania County, North Carolina; Slaughter Beach, Delaware; or Scarville, Iowa?

And speaking of scary, what frightens homebuyers more than ghosts? Clever asked that question, too. Mold was the top worry, followed by foundation issues, termites, asbestos and a leaky roof. In total, 93% of the respondents were more worried about repair issues than goblins.

How will you know if your place is inhabited by more than the living? Perhaps unexplained noises, like footsteps in the night, will be the tip-off. Or chairs moved without your knowledge. Lights flickering on and off. Objects levitating. Your dog acting strangely -- say, barking at nothing, or at least nothing you can see. Or just an eerie feeling.

Any of these are telltale signs, and 1 in 4 people told Clever they’d move out immediately if they discovered they weren’t alone. The rest would stay, but would try to rid their homes of the unwanted guests. A third of those would try to cleanse their places by “smudging,” a spiritual rite aimed at clearing out -- or blessing -- apparitions. About 25% would hold an exorcism, and 1 in 4 would hold a seance in an effort to make contact with their ghosts. Some would salt their entryways; others would simply remodel in hopes of driving them away.

But 17% would take an entirely different approach: Rather than try to make the ghosts move out, they would make their homes more hospitable -- the better to ensure their “roommates” remain friendly.

Is your real estate agent packing? Not filling boxes to help you move, but “packing heat” -- as in carrying a gun?

Many agents are doing just that these days to protect themselves when showing houses to complete strangers, or listing houses for sellers they aren’t familiar with, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Of the 3,000 members who responded to NAR’s latest safety poll, 14% said they carry a firearm on their person. Male agents were more likely than their female counterparts to carry a gun; women overwhelmingly preferred to carry pepper spray.

One female agent in Northern California told me that while she and members of her team haven’t carried firearms yet, guns “could be in the future for us.” Similarly, when a male agent in Maryland was asked if he carried, he responded, “Not yet.”

Another man, one who’d been a police officer for 16 years before becoming a full-time agent in Massachusetts, was explicit when asked if he carried a gun: “I own firearms and practice with all the revolvers, compact pistols and semi-compact pistols I own,” he said. “I have a concealed firearms permit. I prefer my S&W .380 ‘Bodyguard’ with a red laser built-in sight. ... It is a very concealable weapon I can carry in any season.”

He said his broker’s policy prohibits guns in the office. But does he carry when actually showing houses? “Why would I not?” he said.

Overall, the NAR survey found that half of all agents carry some kind of self-defense weapon. But only 38% said they have taken a self-defense class.

Just 4% of the respondents had actually been the victim of a crime, but nearly half were aware of crimes committed against their fellow professionals. And that’s what has another Maryland agent concerned.

“Each report of a Realtor getting attacked makes me a little nervous, as this is one of the most dangerous professions there is,” she told me. Still, this agent, who has a concealed weapon permit, doesn’t want anyone to know if she’s carrying or not because “it could put my life in danger.”

Another female agent has the same concern, saying she had considered carrying a gun but was “afraid it would be turned against me.”

Both of these women say they are very cautious about listing and showing houses.

“I do so much background checking on everyone I’m meeting, and make sure that people know who I’m with and where I’m going,” said one. “If I’m ever not 100% comfortable, I make sure to take someone with me.”

“I try to use my intuition and my New York street smarts when showing homes,” said the other agent, adding that she has had “a couple of close calls.” One instance caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up.

As she tells the story, a man called her out of the blue asking if she remembered him. She didn’t, but he said he wanted to sell his two-acre property. Even though she had no clue who he was, “he talked to me like I had known him for years,” she said. Against the wishes of her now-husband, she went to see the property.

Fortunately, she didn’t go to the site alone; she took along a new agent in her office. When they arrived, the “seller” took them deep into the property, where they saw a house in the early stages of construction. The only thing that was close to being finished was a fully furnished bedroom.

The supposed seller kept trying to separate her from her male colleague, but she wouldn’t have it. Then he asked her to come back later, alone. She didn’t. And after the two agents left, she never spoke to him again.

Now she says of the incident: “It’s dangerous. Even male agents are being attacked. ... We put ourselves in scary positions all the time.”

Homeowners should also be cautious when showing their homes. Don’t let in anyone you don’t know, especially if you’re alone or if your children are home. If someone shows up to your door, have that person call your agent and set up an appointment.

If your unknown visitor is with someone who says he or she is an agent, ask for their card and call the office to verify. But don’t call the number on the card; rather, look up the office number online, just to be safe. If they are who they say they are, they won’t take offense.

Sellers also need to safeguard their properties when they are being shown -- especially during open houses, when visitors are sometimes left to wander on their own. Here are some precautions suggested by trade group Florida Realtors:

-- Hide any bills or documents that may contain personal information, such as account numbers or Social Security numbers. Hide extra keys (for the house and vehicles), garage door openers, smartphones, tablets and laptops, and remove your checkbooks and deposit slips. But don’t stash anything in a top drawer: That’s the first place thieves look.

-- Lock up or remove your jewelry and prescription drugs, and shut down or lock desktop computers.

-- Take videos or photos to record what is in each room before the open house. That way, you have proof if something is missing.

-- After the open house is done for the day, make sure that all windows and doors are locked. Unlocking a secondary bedroom or basement window is a favorite way for thieves to gain access after dark. If you’re away, ask a neighbor or your agent to perform this important task.