What basic repairs and improvements should I make...

What basic repairs and improvements should I make to increase the marketability of my home?

Basically, freshness, neatness and good working order are the chief keys to top sales appeal. Why tell prospectives buyers how your home look when you can show them? Look at your home as if you were seeing it for the first time and be as critical as a buyer. Open up space, closets and storage as much as possible because openness creates a positive impression with buyers. Repair what strikes you as the least bit shoddy. Your ideal goal is to show the property in "move-in condition" - without a thing to fix. From experience we know that property in poor condition incites low offers.

Showmanship Outdoors:

- Generally, improve your home's "curb appeal," or how your home looks to a buyer from a car parked at the curb.
- Make your front door and porch attractive. You only get one chance to make a positive first impression.
- Trim the lawn and shrubs, fertilize and water if needed.
- Fix cracks and bulges in walks and driveways; also remove oil stains.
- Replace stray or warped roofing shingles.
- Paint siding, windows, shutters, doors, even mailbox.
- Straighten sagging gutters.
- Replace a worn doorbell button. Polish any door brass. Replace a worn doormat. These things say you care about your home, and the doormat will protect floors and carpets.

Showmanship Indoors:

- Clean the kitchen especially, including oven, exhaust hood and inside of dishwasher. Unclutter counters and cabinets. Some buyers will judge the mainenance of the entire home by the cleanliness of the kitchen.
- Few things increase marketability and give you a better cost return than new paint. Freshen any worn or soiled walls and woodwork with neutral-toned paint or wood polish.
- Polish wood floors and stairs.
- Steam clean or replace worn carpeting.
- Repair dripping faucets, crooked drawers, sticking doors. Tighten the hardware, especially doorknobs. Minor flaws in your home suggest neglect to prospects.
- Repair or replace worn appliances.
- Clean windows and storms inside and out.
- Scrub counters, bathroom fixtures and tiles.
- Clean exterior of water heater and furnace/air conditioner where prospects will be inspecting. Also drain a bucket of water from water heater to remove any rust particles.
- The ideal garage holds only cars. If yours has become a two-car attic, throw out the excess.