Do you have a realtor yet whom you trust? Ours was very helpful with suggestions; some we took, others we did not. Things I think made a difference:
- Declutter. Get an offsite storage spot if necessary. Move ALL books except decorative accents. ALL media - DVDs or CDs as well. Pictures. Art. Tools.
- Everything off the counters in the bathrooms and kitchen. Add a colorful potted plant or bowl of fruit, but no or minimal appliances - such as a coffeepot and microwave. Toaster, toaster oven, stove utensil caddy, paper towel dispenser, dish rack - in a cabinet.
- Replace your towels in the bathroom - make it spa-like with a basket and rolled towels. Take your 15 shampoo bottles, slivers of soap, hanging caddy, etc. and get rid of them. Same with bedding in the bedrooms - update it so it looks fresh and new and attractive.
- Clean ruthlessly - ESPECIALLY light fixtures and light switches. Hire a cleaning service if necessary.
- Scale down things to make rooms larger. Big coffee tables should be smaller. Instead of a long sofa and loveseat, keep the loveseat and add two small chairs to make the conversation pit. Remove the TV. Have only 4 chairs at the DRm table, instead of a crowded 6.
- Clear the closets. Take away all of your extraneous clothing - make the closets half-empty, so that buyers won't look and think "not enough storage." This is true for your kitchen closet, your hall closet, your bedroom closets, and any entryway closet.
- Remove any draperies that are light-blocking. Add Roman shades in white or ivory.
- Repaint any weird colors/wall treatments. In one of
@Dicey's examples, the bathroom is a dark orange. I would have painted that bathroom. We had paneling in the basement - all four walls. It made for a very dark space. We removed the paneling on the two long walls, and sheetrocked them - and then painted them a caffe-au-lait color. We also added lights in the ceiling so that the space was brightened up, It cost less than $1k in sheetrock work, and made a HUGE difference in the space.
- Create storage to make a room look less cluttered. For our laundry room, we bought an Ikea table with cabinets underneath, so we could store detergent, bleach, etc. Cost $100 plus assembly time.
- Remove all family pictures, and most of your art. Replace the art over the fireplace with a mirror to make the space look bigger.
Exterior:
- Make sure any paint in the entryway is patched and updated.
- Add street numbers to the house.
- Plant some colorful plants, and trim the lawn if you have one. We also added a raised garden plant in the backyard. We trimmed back the trees, too, to make the overhang less obvious, and to make the backyard more sunny.
Random add-ons:
- If you have pets, find another place for them (and the litterboxes!). Perhaps into the garage, with a note on the door?
- We also went through and replaced ALL outlets and ALL light switches and covers, to a bright white Decora style. DH was capable of doing it (he has electrical experience), so the only cost was in the switch or cover or outlet itself. It made a huge difference in making the entire house look cared for and unified in style, instead of the more common hodgepodge seen in an 80 year old house.
ETA: Here is a link to see our house, 10+ years ago:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3154-Monticello-Ave-Oakland-CA-94619/24782790_zpid/