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Looking to sell your home? What to do before listing it

The country is in the thick of winter, but it’s time to start thinking about spring, which is a huge time for real estate. If you’re gearing up to (hopefully) sell your home, real estate agent Josh Altman has some tips before you snap those listing photos.Paint the walls. While you may have painted that dining room your favorite shade of dark grey, consider spending a few hundred dollars to pa

The country is in the thick of winter, but it’s time to start thinking about spring, which is a huge time for real estate. If you’re gearing up to (hopefully) sell your home, real estate agent Josh Altman has some tips before you snap those listing photos.

Paint the walls. While you may have painted that dining room your favorite shade of dark grey, consider spending a few hundred dollars to paint a lighter color to brighten up the space.

“It will really open up the room,” Altman said. “It’s a very, very cheap investment to make more money.”

Convert entertainment rooms to an office or extra bedroom. Your DIY theater room may have hosted many movie nights for you and your family, but if you’re looking to sell, consider converting it into a more neutral room.

“Most people don’t need a theater,” Altman said. “They’d rather have something else.”

Get rid of clutter.If your kid’s room is packed with their favorite books and toys, it’s time to do an overhaul and declutter to make rooms appear more spacious.

“Take the toys, put them in storage and make it a nice neutral space for everyone to walk through,” Altman said.

De-personalize. Its important that when potential buyers walk through your home that they don’t get wrapped up in your life, so take down those family photos. Altman recommends leaving perhaps one or two pictures, but otherwise, put them in storage.

“Let the people imagine what it’s like when it’s their house, not your house,” he said.

Move extra furniture out. For rooms packed with furniture, consider investing in a storage unit to clear some of it out and again, make the space appear larger. When the room is more empty, potential buyers can better imagine themselves in it.