Simple and affordable do-it-yourself projects can greatly increase a home’s resale value, according to HomeGain’s annual home improvement and staging survey.

The Internal Revenue Service has some important information to share with
individuals who have sold or are about to sell their home. If you have a gain
from the sale of your main home, you may qualify to exclude all or part of that
gain from your income. Here are ten tips from the IRS to keep in mind when
selling your home.

1. In general, you are eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have
   owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.
2. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to
   exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).
3. You are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the
   sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home.
4. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on
   your tax return.
5. If you have a gain that cannot be excluded, it is taxable. You must report it on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses.
6. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.
7. Worksheets are included in Publication 523, Selling Your Home, to help you figure the adjusted basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the gain that you can exclude.
8. If you have more than one home, you can exclude a gain only from the sale of your main home. You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is ordinarily the one you live in most of the time.
9. If you received the first-time homebuyer credit and within 36 months of the date of purchase, the property is no longer used as your principal residence, you are required to repay the credit. Repayment of the full credit is due with the income tax return for the year the home ceased to be your principal residence, using Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit. The full amount of the credit is reflected as additional tax on that year’s tax return.
10. When you move, be sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service to ensure you receive refunds or correspondence from the IRS. Use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of your address change.

For more information about selling your home, see IRS Publication 523,
Selling Your Home. This publication is available at www.irs.gov or by calling
800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Links:

• Publication 523, Selling Your Home ( PDF)
• Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit ( PDF)
• Form 8822, Change of Address ( PDF)

Subscribe to
IRS Tax Tips

• Don’t forget your closets. Storage is a major selling point, but cluttered storage can kill a sale. Be sure to maximize all the storage spaces in your house. Either sell or use a storage unit to clear out the clutter to make your closets appear as spacious as possible. Buy some inexpensive shelving to organize your closets. And don’t forget the kitchen cabinets. Make sure that they are neat and tidy.
• Don’t forget the pantry. The pantry is a specialized storage space for food. Make sure it is organized and that all items are grouped in a meaningful way. If a potential buyer looks in your pantry and sees a jumbled mess of food and paper goods, they will think that the pantry storage in your house is obviously not adequate.
• Don’t forget the garage. I have never understood having a two-car garage packed so full of stuff that the cars have to stay in the driveway. Most two-car garages are at least 400 square feet. Maximize that space as much as you can. Clear it out, have a garage sale, give a bunch of stuff away, donate it to charity, but just get it out of the garage. Arrange necessities neatly by using a pegboard or other similar system. Make sure that you can get both cars in the garage.
• Don’t forget the laundry room. The laundry room is often a no-man’s land of hidden and hiding socks, half empty bottles of cleaner, shoe polish and all the other odds and ends that you can’t find another place for. It’s a laundry room, people. It’s used for doing laundry. Go through everything in your laundry room and get rid of anything that doesn’t pertain to laundry. Everything that’s left should be arranged neatly.
• Don’t forget the pictures. Most staging books will tell you to hide or store your personal family photos. This is fantastic advice. You want to make sure that your house is as “person-neutral” as possible, so it is very important that you depersonalize by getting rid of wedding pictures, family portraits and school pictures. If, however, that is all you have up on your walls, do invest in some inexpensive, generic pieces of art to hang on the walls so they don’t look too bare.
• Don’t forget the refrigerator. Most people use their refrigerators as big metal advertising kiosks. What do they advertise? Your entire life: doctors’ appointments, snapshots, the school newsletter, your children’s artwork, coupons, the honey-do list–it’s all up there. Take it all down and put the honey-do list in your honey’s sock drawer.
• Don’t forget the knick-knacks. Everyone has them–the coconut monkey head that you got on vacation to Hawaii, the collection of shotglasses from around the world, the toothpick holder collection. There is no need to show off your obsessive compulsive tendancies by showcasing 200 Pez dispensers. Seriously edit your collections to the ones that will appeal to the broadest range of potential buyers. Of those, limit the display to five pieces, maximum. The rest of what makes the house your home needs to get packed away awaiting a place of honor in your next home.

Garage sales can be a great way to get rid of clutter — and earn a little extra cash — before you sell your home. But make sure the timing is right. Garage sales can take on a life of their own, and it might not be the best use of your energy right before putting your home on the market. Follow these tips for a successful sale.

1.  Don’t wait until the last minute. You don’t want to be scrambling to hold a garage sale the week before an open house. Depending on how long you’ve lived in the home and how much stuff you have to sell, planning
a garage sale can demand a lot of time and energy.

2.  Get a permit. Most municipalities will require you to obtain a
special permit or license in order to hold a garage sale. The permits are often
free or very inexpensive, but still require you to register with the city.

3.  See if neighbors want to join in. You can turn your garage sale into a block-wide event and lure more shoppers if you team up with neighbors. However, a permit may be necessary for each home owner, even if it’s
a group event.

4.  Schedule the sale. Sales on Saturdays and Sundays will generate the
most traffic, especially if the weather cooperates. Start the sale early, 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. is best, and be prepared for early birds.

5.  Advertise. Place an ad in free classified papers and Web sites, and in your local newspapers. Include the dates, time, and address. Let the public know if certain types of items will be sold, such as baby clothes, furniture, or weightlifting equipment. On the day of the sale, balloons and signs with
prominent arrows will help to grab the attention of passersby.

6.  Price your goods. Lay out everything that you plan to sell, and attach
prices with removable stickers. Remember, garage sales are supposed to be
bargains, so try to be objective as you set prices. Assign simple prices to
your goods: 50 cents, 3 for $1, $5, $10, etc.

7.  If it’s really junk, don’t sell it. Decide what’s worth selling and what’s not. If it’s really garbage, then throw it away.  Broken appliances, for example, should be tossed. (Know where a nearby electrical outlet is, in case a customer wants to make sure something works.)

8.  Check for mistakes. Make sure that items you want to keep don’t accidentally end up in the garage sale pile.

9.  Create an organized display. Lay out your items by category, and display neatly so customers don’t have to dig through boxes.

10.  Stock up on bags and newspapers. People who buy many small items will appreciate a bag to carry their goods. Newspapers are handy for wrapping fragile items.

11.  Manage your money. Make a trip to the bank to get ample change for
your cashbox. Throughout the sale, keep a close eye on your cash; never leave
the cashbox unattended. It’s smart to have one person who manages the money throughout the day, keeping a tally of what was purchased and for how much. Keep a calculator nearby.

12.  Prepare for your home sale. Donate the remaining stuff or sell it to a resale shop. Now that all of your clutter is cleared out, it’s time to focus on preparing your house for a successful sale!

Cleaning your deck is a big job. This article offers tips for cleaning your deck and provides a checklist of tools that you’ll need.

Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. Here’s why it pays to work with a REALTOR®.

1. Navigate a complicated process. Buying or selling a home usually requires disclosure forms, inspection reports, mortgage documents, insurance policies, deeds, and multipage settlement statements. A knowledgeable expert will help you prepare the best deal, and avoid delays or costly mistakes.

2. Information and opinions. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning, schools, and more. They’ll also be able to provide objective information about each property. A professional will be able to help you answer these two important questions: Will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?

3. Help finding the best property out there. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your REALTOR® to find all available properties.

4. Negotiating skills. There are many negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession, and inclusion or exclusion of repairs, furnishings, or equipment. In addition, the purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.

5. Property marketing power. Real estate doesn’t sell due to advertising alone. In fact, a large share of real estate sales comes as the result of a practitioner’s contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, and family. When a property is marketed with the help of a REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

6. Someone who speaks the language. If you don’t know a CMA from a PUD, you can understand why it’s important to work with a professional who is immersed in the industry and knows the real estate language.

7. Experience. Most people buy and sell only a few homes in a lifetime, usually with quite a few years in between each purchase. Even if you have done it before, laws and regulations change. REALTORS®, on the other hand, handle hundreds of real estate transactions over the course of their career. Having an expert on your side is critical.

8. Objective voice. A home often symbolizes family, rest, and security — it’s not just four walls and a roof. Because of this, homebuying and selling can be an emotional undertaking. And for most people, a home is the biggest purchase they’ll every make. Having a concerned, but objective, third party helps you stay focused on both the emotional and financial issues most important to you.

Home Office Organization Tips