When you decide to sell a home one of the most important things is usually to get as much money as you can from the sale. One of the easiest ways to get more money for your home is by fixing minor mostly cosmetic things. All of these can be done yourself with very little effort and can be the difference between selling your home someday and selling your home in the next couple weeks.
The exterior
The Roof:
First thing people see when they look at your home is the exterior. The roof is a spot people check because it can be a big expense to replace it. Before you list your home go up on the roof and inspect it. All loose shingles should be fastened down.
If you have trees over hanging your roof line you may have a greenish brown mold on the roof, this is mostly harmless but should be removed occasionally. Take a bucket of bleach water and a scrub brush to remove it, the bleach will deter re-growth for a few weeks depending on how much rain your area gets.
The Yard:
Bushes and shrubs should be trimmed, the grass should be cut and flowers should be used sparingly in the yard. Bushes tend to overgrow, make sure there is room to navigate them on all sides and that they are not planted over anything vital, such as a septic tank.
The grass should be kept up until the house sells, if this is not feasible at least make sure it is cut before real estate photos are taken. Flowers should be used away from the main entry, this is because many people have allergies, and on top of that flowers attract bees which no one wants swarming at their new front door.
The Interior
General Clean-up:
Clean up your own mess, this should be a no brainier, clean up good. Vacuum through the house, sweep up well, and wipe down the walls and windows. Get the dust off the ceiling fan and other high up places. If you still have furniture/personal items make sure they are clean and neatly arrange. Your buyer has to be able to picture themselves living there with their own items; this is easier with less stuff of yours around
Cosmetics:
Patch up holes, re-paint and remove your odors. Patching holes is simple from nails to your doorknob hitting the wall behind it. Once you patch the wall though you will need to paint the whole wall, corner to corner. Otherwise the patch job will raise flags of a bigger issue than it originally was.
If you have humidity spots on your ceiling from either a leak or maybe your shower is too close to the ceiling, paint over with a water locking paint, then re-paint the ceiling. Another cosmic thing you will want to fix is the grout and calk in your home. If calk will not come clean you may need to re-caulk, especially the bathtub as it tends to be the grossest spot. They have products to clean grout but usually re-grouting is cheaper and easier.
Other Fixes:
Lastly fix that dripping faucets, get scratches out of cabinets and clean the grout/calk in the bathroom. Drips are easy to fix, a quick Google search will instruct you how. Every home improvement store sells products fro removing scratches from wood, use those on dinged up cabinets for a like new finish.
Lastly once you improve everything air the house out, kick out the smokers, pets, toddlers and anything else with an odd scent. Leave the windows open for at least 8 hours, even if it is winter. Try not to spray too much air freshener as people will think you are hiding a larger problem than Fido farting.
