A civil engineer of 38 bought his first single-family house six years ago. Located in a pricey suburban enclave, the bungalow represented a major stretch for the man, leaving him no extra funds for upgrades. Now that he’s richer, he plans to sell the house and trade up to a much larger place. But he wonders what presale upgrades would make sense.

“I made out like a bandit on equity increases during the pandemic, when my house shot up in value. That, along with a salary increase, let me dream of a new 3,000-square-foot house I intend to buy in my same neighborhood. But to clinch that trade, I really need to net strong proceeds from my current house,” the engineer says.

Recently, the man began roaming the internet in search of pointers on upgrades that could help his bottom line when he sells. He was especially intrigued by a research report on the topic from Zillow, the national real estate company.

“When certain home features or design styles are highlighted in a listing description, they serve as a signal to a buyer that a home is appealing and up-to-date. As a result, those features can help a home sell faster and for more money,” says Amanda Pendleton, a Zillow home trends specialist.

What’s more, the failure of sellers to address certain outdated features can penalize them at the closing table. Also, Pendleton notes that certain upgrades may pay owners back in some neighborhoods but not others.

To illustrate her point, she mentions the popular trend toward “tricked-out” backyards with such features as an outdoor shower, a pizza oven and a bluestone patio. While some upscale communities can support such expensive improvements, others cannot.

"While many people spend too little to make their homes salable, others spend too much on the wrong improvements,” says Sid Davis, author of “A Survival Guide for Selling a Home.”

How can you determine which upgrades will pay you back with a successful sale and which will simply waste your money? Davis says it’s wise to assess the competition prior to pouring any money into improvements.

“Go around and visit all the other For Sale houses in your immediate area as if you were a buyer. Create a checklist for the pros and cons of each home. Then make sure your home meets the neighborhood’s standards -- though without going way over the top,” Davis says.

Though expanding a home to add more square footage is an expensive upgrade that’s rarely justifiable -- except in elite neighborhoods -- some much less costly improvements could pay you back multiple times over.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Never shortchange yourself on fresh paint.

Experienced real estate agents are nearly universal in their appreciation of a newly repainted home. Painting is one of the most cost-effective improvements sellers can do.

But Davis considers it a mistake to repaint in what he calls “commitment colors.” For instance, he tells of one seller who repainted his light gray walls in bright school-bus yellow.

Davis has no financial interest in Pottery Barn, a home furnishings retailer. But he suggests that would-be sellers examine the color palette shown in the company’s catalog -- tones he believes reflect current buyer tastes.

-- Restrain yourself on kitchen improvements.

For sellers, the road to overspending is paved with good intentions, Davis says. He believes they’re especially likely to veer off course on kitchen improvements.

For instance, he says most sellers don’t need to tear out and replace their worn kitchen cabinets -- only the cabinet doors. Or, if that’s not a feasible solution, they can freshen their kitchen’s look by sanding and repainting their cabinets in a high-gloss white.

-- Change out the lighting in your bathrooms.

The multiple-bulb Hollywood-style lighting that many people still use in their bathrooms doesn’t appeal to most contemporary buyers, who want a fresher, less retro look.

Look for lighting fixtures that are more contemporary. In many cases, you can upgrade your fixtures for under $200 per bathroom.

-- Replace tired-looking carpeting.

Many sellers would rather offer buyers a “carpeting allowance” than replace worn, stained or outdated-looking carpet.

But real estate agents typically reject the idea of using a carpeting allowance, which they say undermines the sellers’ prospects for a successful sale. That’s because few buyers can envision how much better a home will look when its bad carpeting is replaced.

Can’t afford new carpeting for the whole house? Then focus on the most visible areas.

“Put your carpet dollars into the first floor where they’ll be most appreciated,” Davis says.

-- Take away any foliage that conceals your house.

Many longtime homeowners are very fond of the trees that grow in their front lawn. Even if their trees now dwarf their property -- or have grown perilously close to the house -- they’ll resist cutting them down.

“Lots of people are emotionally attached to their trees. There are many reasons for this. A tree may have been planted on a wedding anniversary, at the birth of a child or in memory of someone who died,” Davis says.

But given that curb appeal is paramount, he urges sellers to spend as much as necessary to remove any tree that hides their property. Otherwise, he says many buyers will summarily reject their property based solely on how it looks from the street.

“If you can’t see a house, you’ll never buy it,” he says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

A doctor nearing retirement aspires to sell his four-bedroom contemporary to move in with his longtime girlfriend. But neither his years in medical school nor his time in private practice have taught him how to approach the monumental chore of selling the property he’s enjoyed for more than 30 years.

“I’m very sad to let go of my happy place, especially with my beautiful gardens. I’m clueless about how to even start,” the doctor says.

With less time on his hands than money, the man plans to hire an expert to help him navigate the major decluttering chores that face him.

“Selling a home brings up a lot of grief. It’s very hard to say goodbye,” says Cris Sgrott, the founder of Organizing Maniacs, a firm that’s helped numerous home sellers meet the many challenges of changing residences, including decluttering.

As Sgrott notes, the process of clearing a typical American home takes at least 40 hours and can drag on indefinitely if the owners attempt to handle it alone without outside help. But this year, more owners who’ve finally vowed to sell are impatient to move on -- and with good reason.

Owners like the doctor sense that the window for a highly successful sale is finally narrowing slightly as more owners enter the market. Jiayi Xu, an economist with Realtor.com, the home listing service, says active inventory is increasing week by week.

Owners seeking to expedite the decluttering process should begin by sorting through items that have less emotional significance.

“Instead of starting with the bins of family photos or memorabilia from your kids’ childhoods -- like all that artwork from the early grades -- head to the kitchen for that easy-to-remove dingy Tupperware or that chipped China,” Sgrott says.

Although it can be tempting to just box up excess belongings and place them in a storage area until the property is sold, delaying the sorting-out process can be costly in both time and money.

“The more items you can offload through donations to charity or sales, the less expensive ... your eventual move (will be). Shipping costs are very expensive,” she says.

Here are a few pointers for sellers seeking a smooth and speedy transition:

-- Undertake as much pre-packing as possible.

Vicki Norris, a professional organizer and former real estate agent, knows how hard it can be to keep a For Sale house in prime showing shape. It’s especially difficult when people are selling against their desire -- for instance, due to health problems.

“Sometimes, life takes people off track, and they get unusually disorganized. Then it’s twice as hard to keep their home in good condition for a sale,” says Norris, who runs her own consulting firm, Restoring Order (restoringorder.com).

To limit upkeep demands during the showing period, Norris recommends sellers clear through their clutter in advance of putting their place on the market.

“You don’t have to remove everything, but reduce the quantity. For example, if you can winnow down an overpacked bookshelf from 200 to 30 books, that would be great,” Norris says.

-- Consider use of a professional cleaning service.

Are you sloppier than the average homeowner? If so, it might be wise to pay for what real estate agents call a “super-duper cleaning.”

“If you start with a professional cleaning at the beginning, you’ll have an easier time keeping your house tidy all the way through to your sale,” says Sid Davis, a real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide to Selling a Home.”

Though it’s likely to cost well over $100, he says a single in-depth cleaning could hold you for more than a month before another in-depth cleaning job would be necessary.

Unfortunately, hiring a cleaning crew won’t spare you the need for routine upkeep. “This will be no substitute for keeping your dishes washed and your bathroom toiletries put away. But it’s still a big step going forward,” Davis says.

-- Seek to get all members of your household involved.

After a home has lingered on the market for a few weeks, those who live there can easily lose focus and slip back into their bad habits.

The problem is that keeping your house in show condition is not a relaxed way of living, so people get tired of it.

According to Davis, it can be especially tough to ensure that children’s rooms are kept orderly and that their toys are put away.

“Often the kids are protesting the move. So the parents may need to clean their rooms for them. Alternatively, to get the kids to do it themselves, you might need to bribe them with pizza or a dinner out,” he says.

-- Face the reality that the selling ordeal is temporary.

Davis says homeowners who earnestly want to sell should keep their houses looking good enough to appear in online advertising. But he cautions that even picture-perfect properties that are fairly priced can languish unsold for a lengthy period through no fault of their owners.

Ashley Richardson, a real estate agent affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com), advises her clients to avoid dwelling on critiques of their property.

“Buyers are more candid than they were in the past and sometimes can be quite blunt in their feedback after a showing,” Richardson says.

To limit the amount of unfiltered and discouraging negativity that can flow to you about your home, she suggests you tell your listing agent to filter out all pointlessly critical comments about your place.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

It’s rare for economists to agree on the state of the nation’s real estate market. But right now, they concur that home sales should prove robust this spring.

“We’re finally beginning to see owners who have been putting off moves return to the market,” says Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, the Seattle-based real estate behemoth.

For several years --indeed, since before the pandemic began in 2020 -- many potential home sellers have been sitting on the sidelines. One huge factor has been the steep rise in mortgage rates, making owners reluctant to move lest they lose their locked-in rock-bottom mortgage rate.

Earlier this year, homeowners keen to sell had hoped for a near-term drop in rates this year. But even though such hopes are fading, more owners are determined to sell anyway, either to upsize or downsize to smaller quarters.

“For many households with record-high equity, waiting out potentially lower rates later in the year may not be worth it,” Olsen says.

Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst for Realtor.com, the home listing firm, says that this spring there’s been a nearly 20% surge in new listings compared to last year.

The increase in listings is a reason for celebration among buyers who’ve had few property alternatives until now, says Chen Zhao, a lead economist for Redfin, the national real estate brokerage.

“The uptick in listings should be another motivator for buyers. There’s more to choose from, and improving inventory may bring out more competition from other buyers as we get further into spring,“ Zhao says.

Margaret Lebenson, who sells homes in New York City, cautions that owners who have only recently decided to move should “pick up the pace” to compete well with rival sellers this season. She urges them to do necessary updates quickly.

“Buyers really want a place in move-in condition. They don’t have the time or money for anything more than a paint job,” Lebenson says.

Here are a few pointers for sellers in a hurry:

-- Hire a listing agent as early as possible.

“Through the years, I’ve gotten many calls from eleventh-hour sellers in a panic. Sometimes I feel like an EMT running an ambulance,” says Sid Davis, a Utah-based listing agent.

When he first entered real estate in 1985, he recalls how clients would typically call for help many months before they intended to put their property on the market. Now, with more harried, two-income households, many don’t contact him more than a few weeks in advance.

Once you know you’re definitely going to move, he says it’s prudent to begin interviewing prospective listing agents and then to promptly select one to represent you.

“People who have enough time to get all their ducks in a row and use it wisely have a huge advantage over those who start late,” says Davis, author of “Home Makeovers That Sell.”

-- Ask for data on selling times.

Suppose you’re a nurse for a national hospital chain who’s accepted a promotion in a faraway state. How can you estimate the time needed to go from list to sale?

Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors, recommends you ask your agent for statistics on the average selling times for homes in your neighborhood.

“Keep in mind that the only numbers that are relevant are those for your own community. National statistics don’t matter,” Helfant says.

-- Accelerate your packing process.

In his experience, Davis says a majority of sellers don’t see the point of packing early for their move.

Besides painting and repairs, nearly all sellers need to go through an exhaustive clearing-out process to ensure their property doesn’t seem crowded. Your first step should be to remove any large excess furnishings. Then box up smaller items and position them neatly in your garage or a rented storage unit.

“It’s very easy to underestimate how long it takes to go through all your personal things ... But trust me, you won’t miss all that extra stuff you’ve packed away,” Davis says.

-- Allow yourself extra selling time when moving to a brand-new home.

These days, it’s uncommon for a homebuilder to sign a sales contract with a prospective buyer that’s conditional on the sale of the buyer’s property.

Consequently, those who seek to buy a place in a popular new subdivision take the gamble that they’ll sell their current property before the builder has completed the new one. But that’s better than the alternative.

“Buyers who don’t have a contingent contract and can’t afford to carry two homes at once are putting themselves in financial jeopardy,” Davis says.

Because it can take months to construct a house -- and it’s not unusual for builders to take longer than expected -- some buyers wait longer than they should before trying to sell their current property, according to Davis.

“Unfair as it seems, remember this is a one-way street. The sales contract may let the builder finish construction late but give you little grace time to get your old place sold,” he says.

Many listing agents urge sellers who intend to move to a brand-new home to be extra cautious in estimating how long they’ll need to sell. It’s better to be ready to move early, they insist.

“Granted, if you sell earlier than expected, you might have to take a short-term rental or move in with family temporarily. But the hassles of interim housing are a lot better than the disappointment of surrendering your chance for a wonderful new house,” Davis says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)