But be careful. While you may have exquisite style, your potential home buyer probably has their own sense of style. In fact, they will most likely personalize and paint the rooms to their own preferences regardless of what you have done.

That’s why real estate agents and home staging professionals highly encourage using neutral colors like white, cream and beige. Yes, these colors are a bit boring. And yes, your home could probably look even better if only the dining room was painted in “baking stone” red. But color is subjective, so if you’re going to put in the time and effort to paint your home, it’s best to stick with neutrals.

Keep in mind we all have different visions, and many buyers have specific furniture in mind when buying. So neutral colors make the best match. They also reflect the most light and make most rooms appear larger.

1. De-clutter — This is one of the most important things you can do. It might be easier to think of de-cluttering like this: You’re moving anyway, so why not start packing now?
2. Storage — Pack up everything you don’t need and store the boxes out of sight in the garage, or better yet, an offsite storage facility.
3. Organize Your Closets — Put similar colors together, pants together, skirts together, shirts together, etc. Why? Because an organized closet looks bigger, and you want your closets to look as spacious as possible.
4. Make It Look Like a Model — You want to de-personalize as much as possible so potential buyers can imagine themselves and their own belongings occupying the space in your house. That means minimizing – putting away everything you don’t need or use. Clear off the kitchen counter and stash all appliances you don’t use on a daily basis.
5. Your the Buyer — Imagine yourself as a potential buyer looking at the property for the very first time. What impressions are you getting? Would you buy the house? What would you like to see changed before you put an offer on it?

Don’t worry about spending a few hundred, even thousands, of dollars to get your house ready to sell – you’ll likely get it all back, even more, when your home sells. Proper staging helps you sell your house in a shorter time and at the price you want.

The quick answer: Invest as little as possible to prepare your property for sale. Of course you should de-clutter, clean up and repair everything that needs fixing, but what about remodeling the bathroom? Or, putting new flooring in the dining room? Or landscaping? Yes, those upgrades will make your home stand out and help get it sold, but will they put more money in your pocket at close of escrow? Probably not.

The idea is to make your home as presentable as possible without spending any money that you won’t get back. If you invest $50 to thoroughly clean a bathroom, put new fixtures on the cabinets, and paint it, you’ll likely get that back plus some.

But, if you spend $15,000 on a bathroom remodel, only to get $12,000 back, that’s a losing proposition. You not only lost money, but you wasted time and effort with the remodel. And, even worse, a potential buyer may not like the choices you made.

When the time comes to sell your home, keep in mind you don’t have to spend a ton of money to make your home presentable. Just make each dollar count!

If you pack up and store any important personal property before your home buyer knows about them, it won’t become a negotiable item, or worse, a deal breaker. So, before the showings begin, take a look around and consider what furnishings you want to keep. If it’s something you definitely want, remove it.

If your home doesn’t show as well because you removed the fancy light fixture over the dining room table or the kitchen looks empty because you took all the appliances, you might want to consider renting or buying an inexpensive replacement to fill the void.