What sellers should understand is that your home should always look it's best when you are showing it off to the world. I can't say enough about how important your home needs to be clean at a very minimum. When we are taking clients out showing them homes to potentially purchase, when we see garbage debris on the driveway or front porch, or dust and dirt when we first open the front door, it's an immediate strike against you ESPECIALLY because the house we just came from was spotless!
When you decide to put your house up for sale, it's only normal that you want to sell it for the most money you can potentially get for it. Nobody ever wants to "leave money on the table" especially when the proceeds of the sale of your current home will be going towards your next place.
This is why we get asked all the time from our clients what things, or renos should they consider doing to their home in order to sell for max profit. And the answer is really dependent on what real estate market you'll be selling in. If you're in a balanced real estate market where there is roughly the same amount of buyers and sellers OR if you are in a buyers market where there are more homes for sale than buyers looking to buy, you might want to add more pop to your place to set your house apart from your competition. If your house has certain modern touches over a comparable house that doesn't, there is an obvious advantage to this in these markets.
But in a sellers market where there are more buyers than there are listings (often referred to as a heated market), the importance to upgrade certain appliances, replace flooring, finishing off your basement, etc isn't as relevant as in the previous two markets. While it is still critical that your home shows well to buyers when they flip through the online pictures and ultimately walk through it, in a heated market it's less about all of the upgrades/updates and more about the marketing and sales strategy that will win you top dollar when you sell.
Let us know if you have any questions regarding the sale of your home and what specific things you should be considering before you list.