The actual cost and payback for each project can vary, depending on both your home’s condition and overall real estate market values in your region of the country.

1. Make your kitchen really cook. The kitchen is still considered the heart of the home. Potential homebuyers make a beeline for this room when they first view a home for sale, so make sure your kitchen looks clean and reasonably updated. For a few hundred dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet set, add new cabinet door handles and update old lighting fixtures with brighter, more energy-efficient ones.

If you've got a slightly larger budget, you can give the cabinets themselves a makeover. Rather than spring for a completely new cabinet system, which can be expensive, look into hiring a refacing company? Many companies can remove cabinet doors and drawers, refinish the cabinet boxes, and then add brand new doors and drawers. With a fresh coat of paint over the whole set, your cabinets will look like new.

2. Give appliances a facelift. If your kitchen appliances don't match, order new doors or face panels for them. Many dishwasher panels are white on one side and black on the other. All you may need to do is unscrew two screws, slide out the panel and flip it around.

A more cohesive looking kitchen makes a big difference in the buyer's mind -- and in the home’s resale price.

3. Buff up the bath. Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are often the most important rooms to update. They too, can be improved with very little cash. Even simple things like a new toilet seat and a pedestal sink are pretty easy for homeowners to install and they make a big difference in the look of the bath.

Replacing an old, discolored bathroom floor with easy-to-apply vinyl tiles or a small piece of sheet vinyl is also recommended. You may not even need to take up the old floor.

If your tub and shower are looking dingy, consider re-grouting the tile and replacing any chipped tiles. A more complete cover-up is a prefabricated tub and shower surround. These one-piece units may require professional installation but can still be cheaper than paying to re-tile walls and refinish a worn tub.

4. Step up your storage. Old houses, particularly, are notorious for their lack of closet space. If you have cramped storage areas, a good idea is to add wire and laminate closet systems to bedrooms, pantries and entry closets.

You can also get design details and parts for these systems at many large home improvement stores. Most closets can be updated in a weekend or less.

In the end, your closets will be more functional while you're living in the house and will make your home look more customized to potential buyers when you're ready to sell.

5. Look underfoot. Carpeting is another detail that can quickly update a home and make it look cleaner. A professional carpet cleaning is an inexpensive investment, especially if your rugs are in good shape and are neutral colors.

If your carpet is showing serious wear, cover it with inexpensive, strategically placed area rugs. Unless it is truly hideous, most Realtors don't suggest replacing wall-to-wall carpeting right before you sell your house. The new homeowners may want to choose their own carpeting after they move in.

6. Let there be light. If you have boring recessed lights in your dining and living rooms consider replacing one of the room's lights with an eye-catching chandelier. Home stores offer a wide range of inexpensive, but nice-looking, ceiling fixtures these days. If you have a ceiling fan and light, you can buy replacement fan blades (leaving the fan body in place) to update the fixture’s look.

7. Reframe your entry. Do you have a flimsy little knob on your main entry door? If so, spring for a substantial-looking handle-and-lock set. A nice, big piece of hardware on the front door signals to newcomers that this is a solid home.

Also, if you're stuck with a basic steel front door, consider painting or faux-finishing it for more eye appeal. Remember to use a good metal primer approved for use over metal. For a cherry wood look use a burgundy base paint. After it dries, brush over the base-coat with a cherry wood stain. It can look amazing, and it only takes a few hours.

8. Consider curb appeal. Although it sounds obvious, a nicely mowed lawn, a few well-placed shrubs and a swept walkway makes a great first impression. What buyers see when they first drive by your home is tremendously important.

If you don't have a green thumb, consider hiring a landscaper to install some new sod, plant a few evergreen shrubs and give your front yard a good cleanup. These kinds of changes can instantly change people's perception of your home and therefore, increase its value. And hey, your neighbours will love you for it, too.

This modern reference site (kinda like wikipedia) has a page with News from the National (American?) Association of Realtors.

Sophisticated Real Estate investors dig much deeper behind the curtain to discover the hidden gems in any market conditions. Just like the stock market, not all towns see real estate values increase in a booming market and many actually under-perform or even drop. Your job as an investor is to pick areas providing the best returns for the lowest risk by cutting through the negative news and getting to the real numbers.

There is a simple and easy strategy for doing this and it is called:

Focus on the Fundamentals Not Emotions.

Successful real estate investing is all about identifying a town or neighbourhood that has a future, not a past. Sadly, many investors like to invest based on past performance and find themselves constantly chasing the market, responding emotionally to headlines. Although they call themselves investors they are, in reality, speculators because they don't understand the economics behind their property increases and decreases. There is a huge difference between investing and speculating, the main difference being unbiased knowledge and the second difference is having a long term outlook for their target area.

To dramatically reduce your risk, ask the following key questions, and don't fall in love with a property or a region. As soon as you fall in love with a region, you can find many ways to 'justify' your investment. Sophisticated investors don't care where the property is located - they just want to ensure that it is economically strong and that it has long term viability.

There are 12 major influences on the long-term values of property. Each of these affects real estate prices in both directions, and each one is an important component in finding which way real estate values will be going. Dig deep, the more yes's you get, the better the market will perform.

1. Is the area's average income increasing faster than provincial/state average?
2. Is the area's population growing faster than the provincial/state average?
3. Is the area creating jobs faster than the provincial/state average?
4. Does the area have more than one major employer?
5. Is real estate booming in the surrounding region more than where you're looking?
6. Will property values benefit from a major new development nearby?
7. Has the local and provincial/state political leadership created a 'growth atmosphere?'
8. Is the region's Economic Development Office helpful and pro-active?
9. Is the neighbourhood located in an area of renewal or gentrification? Or is it in a "war zone?"
10. Is there a major transportation improvement occurring nearby?
11. Is the area attractive to 'Baby Boomers?'
12. Is a short term perceived problem (negative media stories, short term layoffs) occurring that will disappear?

Don't get caught up in other people's opinions of the market. You can ask 10 different experts on what the market is going to do over the next 10 years and you get 15 different opinions. The only truth that matters is based in the numbers. Do your own homework, don't skip any steps in your investment system and most importantly keep your eye on what it is you want real estate to create for you over the next decade so you and your family can live the life you know you deserve.

Don R. Campbell

http://www.reincanada.com