How much should I budget to prepare my home for sale?

Setting a budget for the preparing your home for sale is dependent upon the property state, how old it is, if it has had some renovations completed, has it been well maintained etc.  Spruce Ups recommends that the owner start with a minimum of 0.5% of the value of their home, however this may not be sufficient to fully prepare the property and it may need to be revised once an assessment of the property has been completed.

Do I get a return on the money I spend prior to selling my home?  Can I increase the value of my home?

In most cases home owners can return up to 3 times the value they have spent on preparing their home for sale.  Investing in preparing a home for sale can provide greater returns than the stock market or your superannuation fund.  The trick with preparing your home for sale is to know how much to spend, what to spend it on and cost effective options for the particular market the home is in.  Not all money spent on a home will deliver a return and could be wasted money, or key areas that need work to be undertaken are missed and can be detrimental to the sale process.