By Rudy Dicks

Maybe you can't judge a book by its cover (if you don't spot the author's name), but there's a good chance you can judge the inside of a house by its outside appearance. Homeowners who plan to sell their house and move into an apartment want to get the most value possible from their investment, and that goal starts with putting a fresh face on their property.

"You want everything to be very inviting," says Pamela Bayer, an interior designer and the founder of Hudson-based Pamela Bayer Interiors, which specializes in consumer, corporate and industrial interior design.

"You walk up to a neat and clean house, and automatically think that if the exterior is that good, the interior has to be as good." Some tips from Ms. Bayer on sprucing up your property when putting your house up for sale:

• Clean up your yard. "I love a pink flamingo; I don't want to see it if I'm buying a house.  Weed - that is my biggest thing. I don't want to see dead flowers. I don't want to see the grass unmowed, the hedges untrimmed." Edge all of the area and weedwhack everything.

• If you have a fence, see that it's straight and the posts intact.

• Make sure your mailbox is marked and stands straight, and that the number on your house is neat and clean. If it's black, spray-paint it; if it's gold, polish it.

• Always have plants outside in the front, "even if it's a seasonal situation, with mums coming out in the fall. You don't have to spend more than $22, $23."

• Clean windows, which will also help a prospective buyer, "get the whole feel of the house" inside.

• If your barbecue grill is rusty, get rid of it or stash it out of sight. If you have a deck, hose it down and clean it. Put your furniture out, including seat cushions. "Make it look like you've used the space but it's neat and clean."

• Replace light bulbs, and have your house lit up "to look terrific in the evening, as it did in the daytime."

• Fix cracks in the driveway. For blacktop, use black asphalt sealer. "All you have to do is the crack. You do not have to do the whole driveway. The same thing with cement."