1.  Start cheap and work your way up to the more expensive items as your budget allows.

2.  Your Home's Exterior - First impressions on the exterior of your home are important and usually more labor intensive than costly.

• repair anything on the exterior of your home that is loose, broken, or rotten
• get your grass (or weeds) green
• neatly manicure your lawn (edge the sidewalk and drive way) and reseed bare spots
• trim the bushes and trees
• put fresh pine needles in the beds and around trees
• have something blooming in the beds
• put fresh paint on front porch rails and door if needed
• replace or polish tarnished coach lights and door hardware
• have shutters cleaned, painted, and/or replaced
• get driveway and sidewalks pressure washed if needed
• have exterior pressure washed and painted if necessary 

3.  Your Home's Interior - The three major items we usually identify on the interior of a home that give the most bang for the buck are cleaning/decluttering/staging, painting, and replacing floor coverings.

• Cleaning/Decluttering/Staging - Clean everything in your home spotless.  Windows, baseboards, sinks, tubs, toilets, lights, ceiling fans, switch plates, floors, counter tops, appliances...........everything.  Furniture pieces and other large items may need to be reduced to help all rooms show as large as possible.  General clutter ranging from toys, hobby items, collections, etc., need to be organized and minimized. Many successful sellers rent storage space to help themselves properly declutter.  When you feel like you're done cleaning and decluttering, clean and declutter some more.  Once everything is cleaned and decluttered, the final touch is staging.  It does not have to be elaborate. Liz is really good with this component of the preparation and enjoys the opportunity to help.  It can be as simple as moving a few pieces of furniture to the right location and adding a plant or picture to help change the focus of a room.
• Painting -  Warm, neutral colors in all the living areas always produce a great return on investment.  Light beige walls with bright white trim sell well.   Probably 60% or more of the homes I review need painting before they are put on the market.  Fresh paint is very cost affective (especially if you do the work yourself) and can produce a dramatic change to your home's interior appearance.  Flat paint is usually recommended.  Liz has some color charts from local paint suppliers if you would like her help.
• Floor Covering - Most items up to this point can be done with little-to-moderate expense.  Floor covering can be costly but may be worth the investment depending on the overall condition and price point of the home.  Badly worn or stained carpet and vinyl (linoleum) needs to be replaced.   At times replacing vinyl with tile can be a good investment, but it is very specific to the individual home and price point.  Refinishing existing hardwoods that are badly scratched or damaged can also be a good investment. 
• Other Items - Replacing counter tops, appliances, lights, etc. can add a "WOW" factor, but usually need to be evaluated on an individual basis.

4.  Repairs - We always recommend doing any needed home repairs before selling.  Otherwise the homeowner is trying to get quotes and have work done for the new buyer while they are under the stress of moving out and closing.  We have a list of recommended contractors and can assist with repairs if so desired.  If I were selling my own home, I would have a home inspection and repair all the items on the list before putting it on the market.