Fix it. Paint it. Replace it. Refresh it.

Old thinking should be set aside just like old fixtures in your house when you're selling in today. Five, ten, and 15 years ago, a house in the right location was all that was necessary to capture the interest of home shoppers. The competition was relatively fierce and with high demand we had lower expectations. Today's home shopper is cautious and demanding.

Maybe the new mantra is Location, Location, CONDITION. There was a commercial back in the day that went "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later..." and that slogan rings true with house selling. The smallest things that appear worn and tired will translate into loss of enthusiasm by the shoppers and more time on the market for you. More time will generally equal less money. Now here's the challenge to acceptance---Repairs, updates, refreshments will not necessarily return dollar for dollar. There does not seem to be a positive corelation between dollars spent and increase in expected value of a property. It is possible to invest $10,000 and not see your comparative market value increase by one dollar. What does seem to increase is consumer acceptance of the property which translates into offers which have a chance of closing.

You will be able to find research that still supports the notion that improvements increase estimated value. I know one such study published by the National Association of Realtors, but the results are more a product of survey of opinion than scientific evidence. In the end you may be most pleased with your decision if you scrutinize your property with the help of sincere people, realtors you trust, home inspectors, appraisers, home stagers, and make the changes to conditions that sing the blues and expect pleasure in the fact that you are presenting a better condition property with a better chance of getting an offer. Success is not always measured in money. Fix it. Paint it. Replace it. Refresh it.