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 Seller Tips

The obvious:  Make your home look inviting.

Without investing in expensive and time consuming renovations and  redecorating projects, it's still possible to show your home to its very best  advantage. There are a lot of easy, inexpensive ways to put a shine on it and  enhance its overall desirability. Here are some easy-to-do suggestions.

The impression buyers get when they first drive up to your house, that first look, is all important. If prospective buyers don't find your house appealing, they won't be interested in seeing what's inside.

How can you turn that initial impression into love at first sight? Trimmed shrubbery and mowed lawns are as important as windows so clean they positively sparkle. If your house could use a paint job and you don't have the time or money to do it right away, sometimes repainting the trim will update the entire facade. Or, try painting just the side that can be seen from the street.

The walk-way should be as attractive as possible. Seasonal plantings can do a lot to zip up the look of the approach and, even if you're not an enthusiastic gardener, it's not difficult to add a row
of annuals on each side of the walkway.

Neatness counts, both inside and out. Gardening equipment and tools should be put away and hoses neatly coiled. It's also helpful to park your cars in your garage or somewhere down the street rather than leaving them in the driveway. If someone in the family is working on a car, a bike, or boat outside, it has to go out of sight, or off the property.

Prospective buyers are going to be looking closely at your front door, so it should to be clean, freshly painted and oiled so it swings smoothly. Brass or metal doorknobs should be polished until they shine bright.

Inside, everything should be spotless.  It's time to do a thorough "spring cleaning"  of all the nooks and crannies. Then go through every room using  "less is more" as your guideline. You want to make every room look as spacious as possible, and with that end in mind, re-move as much "extra" furniture as you can.

Check each room in the house for hazards. Make sure all extension cords are out of sight and remove any potentially slippery throw rugs. Incidentally, it never helps to put a rug over a spot in the carpet; all that does is call attention to the problem. Better yet, replace the stained carpet with a new,  inexpensive one that will make a room look like a million bucks.

Also, now is the time to pack away a lot of that bric-a-brac that seems to accumulate, to sort through your magazines and get rid of those you don't want to keep, to throw out those old throw pillows that have gotten a little tired.

Take a good look at your kitchen counters, too, and weed out everything you absolutely don't have to use every day Everything else should go into the cupboard.

Mini-blinds are not only inexpensive, but they're a terrific solution to all kinds of window decorating problems. If your curtains are a little worn or faded, replace them. with mini-blinds. They not only give a room a fresh, modern look, but if you buy them in a color that matches the walls, the
room will seem much larger.

Buyers react most strongly to kitchens, closets, and bathrooms, so it pays to concentrate your efforts in these areas. If you feel your kitchen cabinets aren't as up to date as you'd like them to be, sometimes just switching knobs and door handles is a dramatic improvement. Wonderful reproductions of colored glass knobs and pulls are now available everywhere. White porcelain knobs may be a good choice, too.

Any kind of potpourri will help, too, and the simmering kind seems to be particularly effective.

New shower curtains for every bathroom in the house are a must before you start to show it. Tired, streaky shower curtains are a real turnoff. If you can afford it, buy a set of coordinating towels for each bath as well. Keep this new set for show only and tuck them away the minute prospective buyers leave.

Plants and flowers are as effective indoors as they are outside. Plan on using them as much as possible to dress up several rooms in your home. If your real estate agent is conducting an open house, you might want to invest in a festive floral arrangement for the occasion, but avoid that kind of formality when you're seeing one prospective buyer at a time. Instead, put a few casual bouquets around the house-a simple vase of daisies or tulips in a bathroom, for example, or a bowl of lilacs in a bedroom. You don't have to spend a lot on flowers; one bright geranium will go a long way to spark up a room. To get some pointers on decorating successfully with flowers, study the home decorating magazines. Almost every room will have an artfully placed bouquet or two.

Leafy green plants help. However, a word of warning. ...enthusiastic indoor gardeners love all their growing things and tend to overlook the plant with brown tips or bald patches that ought to be thrown out. If you have plants that aren't in great shape, find a place to hide them while you're showing
your house. Scruffy plants very easily make any room look messy.

Even if your dog is your best friend, this is one time when pets shouldn't be around. Before the prospect arrives, put your pets outside, in a detached garage, or even in pet carriers. Animals know when something's up, and if there's ever a time when a pet is going to act up, it's when a
prospective buyer is going through a house. Then, too, however much some of us love our pets,
a lot of people don't-they may even be allergic to them.

Most of the time, your agent will show your house by appointment. But, there will be times when a real estate agent will call and say a client wants to come over right away for a quick look. That is your cue to say, calmly, that the prospective buyer can see the house in an hour or two, giving you
enough time for a quick cleanup.

If it's one of those days when the house is a complete disaster, tell your agent the buyer will have to look at it another time. You are doing yourself no favors by not keeping your house ready or showing it when it's not at its best.

Turn all the lights on when your house is shown, even if it's a sunny day. And if the weather is cold or rainy and you have a fireplace, have a fire burning steadily.

As you and your agent go through the house, you may want to point out certain details, i.e., the carved mantel, or parquet floor, but don't try to sell the place by listing improvements you think would make it look even better. In fact, it's wise not to be present at all when the agent shows your house. If you are present, remember: If you wait for the buyer to come up with ideas of their own, that's a good indication they're beginning to feel posses-sive and is seriously considering making an offer.

And if two or three or even a dozen buyers come and go, don't let yourself get discouraged. Sooner or later, some-one will walk in the door and decide this is the house for them.