1. Consider the curb appeal.

At minimum, your lawn should be freshly mowed, leaves raked, or snow shoveled.  Bushes should be trimmed.  Consider a hanging a wreath or potted plant for the entrance. S weep or hose off the porch, deck and all walk ways and ensure garbage and recycling are tucked neatly away from the front of the house and scrub your front door, door handles, porch, outside railings and steps. This is cheaper than repainting and makes a big difference.  Your frot door is the first impression!  MAKE IT A GOOD ONE!

2. Get rid of clutter!

Pick one closet or drawer at a time. Look at every item with a very critical eye and ask yourself why you're keeping it or how to reorganize it so it looks neat.

Forget about hanging onto stuff for that big garage sale. Pick your favorite charity and donate it all. 

Clutter was removed from the desk top and file area.   It's also important to get those piles of "stuff" off the floor and into storage or recycling. Here a large painting provides a stunning focal point for the end wall and emphasizes the generous size of the room.

Eliminating clutter includes putting away personal items. Take stuff off of your fridge and edge of the bathtub.  SPACE is what you are trying to create!

Empty built in cabinets as much as possible so new owners can visualize their goodies sitting on them!

3. Turn excess inventory into cash.

If you have a collection of items for projects you never got around to, return them. This also applies to the two-year supply of light bulbs, canned goods or paper products sitting in your basement. Without a receipt you won't get cash, but you will have a store credit that you can use once you move. Less clutter and less stuff to pack, move and unpack again!

4. Watch where the eye goes.

There are speedy and low cost solutions to many of the little problems that together make a home seem shabbier than it needs to. Here's a great example of a bathroom transformed in a day.

Walk along each corridor and into every room and check where your eye is drawn (better yet, ask a critical friend or family member). If the eye is drawn to the chipped white paint on the door frame, take some "white out" and fill it in. If it's those old nail holes in the wall, see if you can hang a picture to cover them.

Glue any peeling wallpaper. If it's really horrible and you can't afford the time or money to fix it properly, hang pictures and strategically place baskets. You won't cover the problem entirely (which would be wrong anyway), but you will draw your audience away from the problem by giving their eyes something more visually pleasing to focus on.

5. Find a fix-it person.

Ensure cupboards open and shut and that no taps are dripping. Look in all rooms for things you never got around to fixing and decide which ones might be distracting to potential buyers. No, it's not OK for door handles to fall off, even if you have learned to ignore it!

6. Clean and clean again!

This can be one of the more stressful aspects of having your home on the market is keeping is clean all the time.  Hire some one to clean your carpetings and take 20-30 minutes each day to maintain straightening up the house before you leave for the day.  Make the beds, etc.

Appliances should be clean even if you're not including them with the house. 

Dust the top of the plumbing where it attaches to the wall.  Dust shelves and vacuum or "Swiffer" the floors. Remember clean windows let in more light and look newer. Hire a service if you have to— it's worth the investment.

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7. Let in some air.

Open some windows for at least 10 minutes every day to let in clean air! 

8. Let in some light.

It might be mood lighting to you, but if you're trying to sell your home, keep it bright!   Open the blinds somewhat, or drapes and consider a floor lamp to have more light in a room.   Very dimly lit rooms look small and not clean.

hears you.

9. Don't forget fresh flowers. You don't need to spend a fortune to have fresh flowers throughout your home but a small arrangement on the kitchen table, bedside table or bathroom counter looks great and smells good!   Use a potted flower, green plant or small inexpensive daisies or carnations from your local florest.

10. Carefully consider music.

Play soft background music can help create a mood of a calming environment and camouflage street or neighbor noise. But make sure the volume is very low.