01 Step 1 of 8:
Prepare your home
Decide together what is genuinely worth doing before listing — and what is not.
What helps here
- Start with repairs a buyer’s inspector will find anyway. Those become negotiating points later.
- Declutter before you stage. Space reads as value in photographs.
- Ask what a specific improvement is likely to return before committing to it.
Commonly missed
- Large renovations immediately before listing, which rarely return their cost.
- Deferring small, visible repairs that quietly shape a buyer’s impression of the whole home.