Bang for Your Buck Experts Discuss the Best and Worst in Remodeling Investments and Home Staging

Designer Monica Pedersen gives advice on what to do when selling your home. Real estate expert Elizabeth Sincox weighs in on Monica's advice – sometimes the two agree, and sometimes they don’t.

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Hide CaptionShow CaptionAll buyers crave excess storage, so there is no disagreeing among the experts that tidy and organized closets are important.

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Best thing to do:
Monica: Declutter and clean. Use professionals for jobs like window washing, carpet cleaning and configuring storage spaces.
Elizabeth: If it's dirty clean it and if it's broken fix it. Leaving a to-do list for the buyer could end up costing you $20,000 to $50,000 in the negotiations, whereas having it fixed by a handyman might only cost $2,000.

Worst thing to do:
Monica: Shoving everything into a closet before the open house. Buyers want to see what kind of storage they are getting and a crammed closet only says not enough.
Elizabeth: I totally agree. I tell my sellers to start packing. Box it up and get it out. Kids don't need 75 toys; let them pick out a few favorite things and pack the rest away.