This is a great question, SJackson!

Generally, these 3 things will help you get the most money for your house:

1)
De-clutter and De-personalize. Get rid of everything except for the absolute bear essentials that make the house look great. Your house will look empty to you, but will look like a blank canvas ready for a potential buyer to move in.

Renting a storage unit when you list your house is a GREAT idea. You can easily store all of your stuff without having to worry. Many storage units also come with a free move-in / move-out truck rental. So this is an easy way to store your stuff for (usually) no more than a rental truck would cost anyway.

2)
Paint.

Paint drastically cleans up a house. If you're not sure about paint colours, consult a Real Estate Agent. Generally, neutral colours are best. Remember that the goal is for someone to look at your house and think that it would be easy for them to move in.

3)
Pay close attention to your front yard and entryway. In the first 10 minuites that a potential buyer visits your house, they will have a "feeling" about it.

Clean up the front yard, buy some new plants, ensure that everything is clean and in tip top shape. Bake bread (seriously) when you're having an open house to create a warm inviting smell and ensure that your entryway has a couple of nice plants to create a fresh feeling.

:==

When thinking about home improvements, consider these things:

[1] Don't do any major renovations
Sure, you need to do some fast face-lifts to get your home looking as clean, bright and spacious as possible, but don't spend big bucks hoping to make even bigger bucks.

[2] Consider these facts. It is a current illustration showing you how much of a return you'll see in your investment:

Type of Renovation Buyer's Market
Interior paint 70%
Exterior paint 70%
New flooring 50%
Kitchen remodel 68%
Bathroom addition 75%
Bathroom remodel 64%
Home office 40%
Basement remodel 50%
New windows 30%

In a "buyers market" the value of home improvements decreases. So if you're thinking about remodeling your Kitchen, you can expect to get about 68% of the money you invest back. However, take these numbers with a grain of salt. Remember that depending on your area, home improvements could easily separate it from the competition.

[3] Adding New Space.
Excluded from the list above is "adding new space". If you can add another bedroom by building a wall, finish the basement, add a bathroom, create a walk-in closet, etc, these things almost certainly will pay off.

In many markets (all that I can think of), homes are marketed based on the size of the home, amount of land, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, etc. Increase the usable living space or allocate unused space into new areas and the price of your house will increase

[4] Complete maintenance BEFORE any large improvements.

You will see a significantly better return on your investment if you fix all of the "little things" up before completing major renovations. Simple things like repairing chips and dents in walls, to changing damaged lights, to replacing a stained carpet will earn you more money than a major remodel such as demo'ing a kitchen.

[5] Watch this show: http://www.hgtv.com/curb-appeal/show/index.html

This show focuses on all of the things you can do outside of your house. Remember that inexpensive is best and bright, cheap flowers go a long way. Nitrogen heavy fertilizer on your lawn is a secret trick. Just spread it on when you list and watch your lawn green up like crazy for a few weeks.

[6] Poll your friends and family.

Invite your friends and family over individually while you're working to review your house. Tell them to be as critical as possible. Listen to their advice and complete the least expensive things they say.

Importantly, watch where their eyes go when they are looking at your house in this way. Are their eyes drawn to a bright rear window or are they distracted by a misplaced photograph?

[7] Regardless of whether you're using a Real Estate Agent or not, have professional photos taken of your home.

Remember that photographs are the primary way that a home is marketed both online and in print. If you're working with a Real Estate Agent, do not (do not) accept poor quality photos. Demand quality even if it means firing an Agent who isn't cooperative. If you're selling your home yourself, hire a pro photographer in your area with a strong interior photo portfolio.

Check out the comparison of photos here:
http://www.whydidntmyhomesell.com/marketing/not-only-do-pictures-speak-1000-words-they-sell-a-house/

[8] Last, if you're completing major renovations, save some time, money and effort by hiring a home inspector to review the work before an offer comes in. By doing this, you'll be sure that there are no surprises when the house closes and if the buyer decides to whittle away at your price because of structural problems, you'll already have your own accurate home inspection to refer to.

I hope that this was helpful!

Cleanliness, of course, but these days, resource efficiency:
(1) Insulation; (2) Water efficiency; water-smart plumbing; (2) Efficient electricity/lighting; (3) Wiring/cabling for modern electronics, of course; (4) Sustainable, wise gardening (see your County Extension Agent for advice); (5) all-in-all, an emphasis on QUALITY, not QUANTITY.

1. Clean out the clutter. Remove personal photos, kids' drawings, etc..
2. Repair any structural or major infrastructure items if you can afford it. (But by law in most states, you are required to disclose major infrastructure defects before selling.)
3. Clean, clean, clean. Clean rugs/carpet, floors, walls, windows/glass, gutters etc. Clean the bathrooms, kitchen etc. Give the house fresh paint job (inside and out) if you can afford it.
4. Make sure the filters on the furnace are new, cleaned out etc.
5. If you can, update a bathroom or two. Houses with updated and CLEAN bathrooms and kitchens sell faster.
6. If you have a newer, updated Kitchen, your house is more likely to sell faster. Even cleaning the cabinet faces, removing the kitchen clutter (all items on the counter tops), clean the back splashes/walls. Degrease the kitchen (if applicable). Sometimes even updating the cabinet pulls improves the look.
7. Add a nice light fixture, chandelier or two if they don't exist already. Nothing is worse than cheap, ugly builder-grade, cheapo (looking) light fixtures. Make sure NONE of the light fixtures have burned out bulbs (inside and outside). If you have landscape lighting (outside), that is often a nice touch.
8. Give the house curb appeal. Clean up the yard, trim shrubs/bushes. Seed and/or trim the lawn (if required). Remove any personalized stuff on the exterior. Clean the gutters, rake the leaves, garbage (if any). Try to plant a few new nice flowers and/or shrubs, plants (if not already existing). Nice exterior landscaping is a quick way to increase the value of your house. If paint on exterior is peeling, then you need to paint the exterior -- professionally, neatly. And frankly, if your neighbor's lawn looks crummy, consider cleaning up their lawn too. No one wants to live next to a slob.
Repair any fences that might look ugly if left broken.
9. And clean out the basement (if you have one. Many basements are too cluttered. This goes for attics too.)
10. Because it bears repeating: Clean, clean, clean. As an architect, I can say with certainty, most people live in messy, dirty homes. De-clutter the house. Put toys, clothes etc away. Vacuum and/or mop all rooms. Replace any broken or torn tile (floor or wall)-- or expect prospects to bargain you down on price.
11. Clean out your closets ! Dispose of debris, excess items. Add closet Organizer systems to your closets (if you can). It makes storing items neater and gives you more storage capacity. All Home Store & hardware stores should sell some kind of closet storage/organizer system.
12. Set the rooms up as if a TV crew is coming to visit. Put fresh flowers (in vases) in the foyer or dining/kitchen areas.
13. Repair any infrastructure items (heating, cooling, plumbing, framing, broken windows) that need repair-- or expect buyers to use that to negotiate the price down.
14. Add insulation and ventilation to your attic-- if you haven't already. A well insulated roof is not only a money saver, but adds value to your property. Use this as a selling point.

All other items are dependent on the existing conditions of your property.

And just because something is "new" doesn't mean it is quality. For example, installing cheap/low quality new windows, cabinets or tile will not work to your advantage with more savvy property buyers. It's a buyers' market (now), so quality and performance has the edge (over cheap, ugly and fast.)

Important home improvements to make on a house when selling are

1)Clean front and back yard The first impressions are important. curb appeal very important
2)Have good exterior and interior paint
3)A great kitchen can mean serious profit when selling a home.
4)Storage / useable space
5)upgraded bathrooms

I just heard Clark Howard talking about this Tuesday or Wednesday. According to the sources he quoted, after the common-sense things of cleaning your house better than you would were your boss coming for the weekend, the two most important things are to repaint, and to replace worn floor coverings. These are relatively inexpensive fixes, but can add tens of thousands to the value of your home, depending on how bad of shape things were in before.

The next two areas that add lots of value, recovering most of the money spent on them, are updating bathrooms and kitchens. Dingy, stained, mucky fixtures make your home seem like the buyer is looking at owning in The Dead Zone. Nice, updated ones can make it seem like owning in a nice resort.

An interesting finding Howard quoted: older homes with some individuality and character are still selling well, as long as their interiors are updated. It's the McMansions and tract housing, where there are thousands with the same floor plan, that are suffering in terms of loss of value and sales.

Make sure all the electrical connections are working fine. Its one way of making sure that future owners are safety within your ground. A reliable test equipment can do this thing for you.

The problem with doing house improvements before selling a house, is that the buyer will probably not care for what you've done, tear it all down and do stuff in his own style. My family has bought and sold many houses over the years and they've found that doing any sort of serious repairs isn't worth it in the end.