When you’re listing your home, you may discover that there’s work that needs to be done. That can include junk removal, cleaning, painting, repairs, and more. At one end of the spectrum, you can hire professionals to do all that work — which can be costly. On the other end, you can do it all yourself — which can be time-consuming and tiring!

How do you find the ideal balance between those two extremes?

The first step is to find out how much your home will likely sell for on today’s market. That will give you an idea of how much you can afford to spend on hiring professionals. For example, if it looks like you’ll sell at a good price, you can probably afford to invest some of those funds to hire help.

Next, determine how much time you have for DIY projects. If your schedule is going to be tight during the selling period, you’ll need to hire help. However, if you have plenty of time, you can consider doing much of the work yourself.

Finally, think about how quickly you want to list your home. If you’re listing in two weeks, you might not have time to do all the work yourself. But, if your listing horizon is six months away, you can probably devote a few weekends to getting your home ready.

Bottom line: Find a balance that takes into account your costs, time, and DIY skills.