It’s a known fact in the real-estate world that more homes sell during the warmer months of the year. While the temperatures of late don’t seem close to relinquishing winter’s chill, spring is right around the corner. For those in the market to sell, that means it’s time to get to work painting, cleaning up the yard and making the repairs that just might mean the difference between a “yay” and a “nay” from potential homebuyers.

“Now is a good time to start picking away at these projects. If you’re looking to list the house in March, April or May, it’s already almost February — you’ve got 30 days to get organized,” said Century 21 The Realty Group REALTOR Scott Campbell.

It’s the little things that can make a sale, not the huge renovation projects, according to Campbell.

“You’re not going to redo the kitchen,” he said. “Don’t paint the whole house; don’t paint all the baseboards. Just paint the dings. … Have a painting party. Find all the little nicks and dings that have bugged you for the last three years and get rid of them.”

Touching up interior and exterior paint is a must; noticeable chips or peeling paint can disappear with a little sanding and a few brushstrokes.

There are two even easier tasks that can influence a potential buyer’s opinion on a home — one inside, one outside, according to Campbell.

“The main thing to be doing is to declutter and depersonalize. So, take down your family portraits; take down your wall of memories of trips to Paris and Brussels,” Campbell said. “A buyer really doesn’t care to share your memories — they have their own memories to install. Pack them up, wrap them up, make an evening of it and enjoy that trip to Paris all over again as you wrap them up in newspaper and put them in a box.”

Outside, a seller wants to make the house look good from the street, or at least make sure there’s nothing so off-putting that a potential buyer would drive away without ever having walked inside. Basic landscaping will achieve this, Campbell said.

“Beef up what the house looks like from the curb — good old curb appeal. Do the stuff you might not normally do, either dollar-wise or muscle-wise,” he said. “It’s generally very basic things you know are wrong anyways, but you’ve just avoided doing it.”

Campbell recommends that would-be sellers go ahead and have a professional, whether that’s a home inspector or a contractor with which one is familiar, come out and look for any problems, such as termite infestation.

“The other thing that always is a thing, is electrical, because people consider it a safety issue, and it makes buyers nervous. Get an electrician to come out and make sure everything is working correctly,” Campbell said. “And they might find something you’re glad they found and you don’t burn down.”

Campbell recommends anyone in the market to sell a house this year sit down with a real estate professional, who will guide any seller through the steps that will help them accomplish their goal — to sell.