The next, and a very often made suggestion, is

Fresh Paint

A great way to “freshen” up a home is through paint. Any home that has been lived in a while will have some dings and scuffs, and part to the staging or selling preparation is to find ways to open and add light to your home. Fresh paint is a good way to do that, whether it be a full new paint job or just touch up to dings on the doorways and windowsills.

Look through your home with a critical eye to see if you have furniture marks, crayons, vacuum scuffs, and dirty fingerprints that will show up under a buyer’s discerning eye. If your home hasn’t been painted inside for the past five years, it probably will need some touching up or full wall repainting. If you are a smoker or burn candles, repainting the ceilings may be a good idea to remove a sooty or gray residue.

Garage doors and front doors often take the brunt of wear and tear. Automotive stains on the driveway and garage floor will detract from your home’s appearance also. If your home is just dingy on the edges from environmental aspects, a low power wash may be the answer to rinse off the dirt and get those stains out of the walkways and driveway.

Most stagers will recommend the exterior have “inviting” colors and the interior neutrals. You want the outside to look fresh and modern, and the inside to appear move-in ready with tones that blends with anyone’s furniture.

Don’t forget about your baseboards. Move out the furniture from the wall and, with some elbow grease and a Mr. Clean sponge, you can get a good deal of that compacted dust and grit off your white baseboards and save yourself some repainting or replacement costs.

And, if you have your interior paint completely redone….spend the extra $100 to replace your outlet covers and switchplates so they are all clean and match. The painter will remove the covers before painting, so put any dingy, dinged, or mismatched covers in a baggie and go to Home Depot and get new ones for the painter to reinstall.

For those do-it-yourselfers (of which I am one), I’ll follow up with some more tips about painting in the next few days!