I don't have much time to read through what everyone else said, so I'll just throw my quick .02 in.
-If your house has anything but neutral colors, repaint white or neutral.
When I bought my place, one of the things I loved about it was that it was a blank canvas. Every wall was a crisp white.
The woman also had fresh carpet installed in a neutral color. I'm pretty sure (now that I've been in here 3 years) she didn't spend a whole lot on it, but it sure was nice coming in to have fresh carpet.
She also placed fresh linoleum in the kitchens, entryway, and bathrooms.
-How long have you been in your place? If you still have the inspector's report from when you bought, I'd suggest going back through and seeing if there are any quick and inexpensive fixes. For example, from my house into the garage, I have 3 steps. One of the laws is that, if there are more than 2 steps, you need a railing in place. I fixed that right away.
That's just one example, and a small, quick fix.
Fix any missing plug covers.
-If you have extra holes in the walls from pictures, patch them up and paint over them.
-Put a new welcome mat out front.
-Maybe rent a power washer and give your place a fresh clean start - the bricks, sidewalks, deck, everything in your way.
-How are your house numbers? Could new ones give you a face lift?
-If you have pets or smoke, have your carpets cleaned. It might be wise to just buy a carpet cleaner and do it yourself. I've had mine for 7 years and it was worth every penny. You might not use it a whole lot, but when you need it, you'll be glad it's available.
A good one by Hoover costs about $200 or so. Having a professional come in can be extremely costly. I was going to have someone clean my carpets, and about fell over when they quoted the price. This led me to buy my own.
Anything you can do to make it easier on the next person is always a plus.
-Something else I've done - Last year, I put my place on the market. I have a really nice condo, but it's a condo. Every one looks the same, and no one really has privacy. Something I'm going to do this spring is put arborvitae trees behind my deck to give me privacy from my neighbor. This was something that came up a lot with potential buyers looking at my place.
They also mentioned that I "just had a one car garage." That's true, but I wanted to show it could be more. Last fall, I spent time painting it and putting a work bench area and extra storage to show the potential. Yes, it's only a garage, but this was something that was mentioned a few times. Everyone wants storage.
It might be a good idea to have someone brutally honest come through your house with fresh eyes and tell you what they think.
-Minimize as much as possible. If you can't afford a stager, there are things you can do yourself.
Take down your personal pics (in place of them, put generic art to decorate) and declutter. You don't want people distracted by your personal items. Some people can't see past your things and imagine themselves living there. You will want to help them.
Have one purpose for each room. You don't want a guest room/office. If you have excess rooms, make one an office. If not, stick with the bedroom and put the other stuff away.
I have to run. Hopefully some of this helps.
Good luck!
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