A quick warning. Improvements are only good if you are going to get back the money you spend when you sell the home. Spending $20,000 for a $10,000 increase in home value simply does not make sense. So, let us turn to the yard.

Curb appeal is critical if you want to sell your home. This means it needs to look good when buyers pull up to the home. Remove litter, dead bushes, boats, toys, and any other clutter around the front of the home.

Go around the outside of your house collecting any pieces of garbage, clipping all shrubs, and removing anything that does not belong there. Then, make a point to remove any large vehicle (boat, car) from the front of your yard. Place it in the garage or in storage.

Your view of the home is subjective. You need some objective help. Grab a friend and ask them to walk the home and point out anything they think looks odd. Fix those things. Whatever you do, do not get angry at your friend.

For example, you may notice that the kitchen cabinets are falling off of their hinges. If this is the case, fix the cabinets first. Go around your home with a critical eye, write down all of those things that need to be fixed, and then make an effort to repair them.

There is a gray area between an antique and something old. If you have doubts regarding one of the things in your home, update it. This is particularly true for kitchens and bathrooms. Appliances and fixtures are good places to start.

It can be easy to lose the forest for the trees when working on your home. If this happens to you, step back and consider your home as though you were a buyer. Problems should stick out. Fix them.