Home sellers have one goal: to sell their home for the most amount of money they can get. A home in move-in condition makes meeting this ideal easier.

Many of today’s prospective homebuyers have busy lifestyles and are looking for properties that don’t require a lot of work. Homeowners should be proactive by making needed repairs before putting their homes on the market. Inspect both inside and outside the home, and make a checklist of practical and aesthetic repairs.

Some things to improve upon:

• apply a fresh coat of paint on the walls, doors, and shutters

• clean the carpet and buff and polish wooden floors

• repair cracks in sidewalks and driveways, and clean any stains on them; reseal the deck

• replace missing or warped roofing

• clean or re-grout kitchen and bathrooms

• repair dripping faucets and drains or plumbing fixtures that aren’t operating; tighten and polish hardware

• fix sticking doors and replace old locks and doorknobs

• replace burned-out bulbs and broken electrical sockets, as well as cracked windows, torn screens and broken fencing

• clean up stains on the tiles and countertops

We also recommend hiring a certified home inspector to thoroughly and impartially evaluate the property. A standard report will review the condition of the home’s heating system, central air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems, the roof, attic, walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors, the foundation, basement and visible structure. If the pre-inspection results in a checklist of things to be done, let your agent look over the report with you to help prioritize the list of repairs. Your goals and local market conditions may dictate how extensive your repairs need to be.