MAKE IT SWELL, MAKE IT SELL : GET READY TO PUT YOUR HOME ON THE MARKET WITH 20 TIPS GUARANTEED TO ADD `CURB APPEAL'.

Byline: Victor Panichkul Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

If you're selling your home, you want to put its best face forward. With some elbow grease and not a whole lot of dough, you can spiff up your house and improve its chance for being sold.

``The first priority is curb appeal,'' said Mason Kutchinski, a general contractor who has bought, renovated and sold several older houses in Fort Worth. ``If they don't like the outside of the house, they're not going to come inside.''

A good exercise is to pretend that you've never seen the house before and look at it from a prospective buyer's eyes, Kutchinski said. Slowly drive by the front of the house, see if it catches your eye, and notice any problems.

Here are 20 tips for a quick sale:

1. Make sure the yard is clean, mowed and edged. Trim hedges and shrubs.

2. Spiff up the flower beds if necessary by replacing faded and shriveled annuals with some fresh ones. You don't need to go overboard and spend a lot of money.

3. Touch up peeling or cracking exterior paint. If there's a lot of dirt or dust on your exterior, get a spray nozzle for your garden hose and wash it off.

4. If there are screens on your windows, they should all be in good condition. If you have any broken screens, it's better to remove them all and store them in the garage. If a prospective buyer asks if there are window screens, you can tell the buyer where they are.

5. Make sure hardware on the front door is cleaned or polished. See that the door opens and closes without sticking in the frame; if it does, plane or sand down the sticking edges.

6. Clean, clean, clean; vacuum, vacuum, vacuum; and dust, dust, dust. Make sure everything's spotless: sinks, countertops, windows, floors, walls, doors, bathtubs, tile, light fixtures, light switch plates, cabinets and shelves. Have you forgotten anything?

7. Thin out your closets and tidy up. A full closet looks smaller, no matter how big it actually is. Box up out-of-season clothes and some of those shoes on the floor and store them in the attic. If the closets smell moldy, put some air freshener in there.

8. Open all the heavy drapes and let the light in. Open up miniblinds. Dark rooms look smaller, and people are turned off by dark spaces.

9. Make sure all the light fixtures have bulbs that work. If you have notice that your home is going to be shown, turn on a light fixture in each room. If you have under-counter lighting or other special lighting effects in your bathroom or kitchen, turn them on or they'll go unnoticed.

10. Replace broken electrical outlet plates and light switch plates.

11. Inspect your walls and trim for cracks and dingy paint. Caulk and paint areas that need touch-up.

12. Take off rusted air-conditioning vents, spray-paint them white and remount.

13. If you have hardwood floors that aren't sealed in polyurethane, wax them.

14. Eliminate the clutter in kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Throw out all the expired medication and half-eaten boxes of year-old crackers, and wipe down the shelves. If you have drawers or cabinets full of utensils you don't use, pack some away. Again, a full drawer or cabinet looks smaller than one with a few things in it.

15. Check drawer pulls and cabinet knobs to make sure they match room by room. Replace any that are damaged or mismatched.

16. Repair leaky faucets. Make sure the toilet flush lever and plunger don't stick. If they do, replace the assembly.

17. Any loose bathroom tile grout should be scratched out and regrouted. Several caulk manufacturers make tubes of grout that can be applied with a caulking gun.

18. Check back splashes in kitchens and baths for damaged caulk and recaulk if necessary.

19. Don't let a lot of kitchen appliances clutter up your kitchen counters. A cluttered counter looks smaller. Pack away appliances you won't be needing.

20.Remove personal health care products from bathroom counters and sinks. Put out some potpourri or fresh-cut flowers to make the bathroom fresh.

CAPTION(S):

3 Drawings

Drawing: (1--2--Cover--Color) Stuck with your home?

He re's some quick and easy ways to spruce up your house before you sell it

John Hoberge/Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network

(3--Color) FORE SALE

Peter Kohama/Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network