Oops -- the rest of the photos

The first thing I noticed was the lighting. It's very yellow and a little dated. Upgrade to whiter bulbs and possibly a new light (just a very simple one), it will make a huge impact.

I would stage it like an office, but with one desk. Remove the wall shelves, and take out almost everything. Decluttering is one of the oldest tricks to sell a home quickly but it's a good one.

After you remove all the shelves, remove one desk and update the light, buy a used large bedroom or TV armoire. Paint it white. Organize all of your things inside the armoire. Put a large piece of art over your desk. You’ll feel better if you discard 20% of your stuff!! It’s a relief to have less

I think you'll feel better if you get rid of more of your stuff and don't spend any money or more furniture pieces to get the house in shape for showing. Its called "use what you have" staging. Less is more, so elimination, rather than accumulation is the keyword here.

Hmmm...I just noticed you said you are moving. Yes-remove all the shelves. Yes-get a new simple light. Yes-all the walls Navajo white. Are you sure you want to pack things into boxes...or just donate those items now? You can take photos of things rather than keeping them if you want to keep the memory! It’s easier to edit down now rather than to love it all and have to deal with it for the rest of your life!!

Agree change the lighting away from yellow hue.

No stress. Fortunately, it's a sellers market. Price it right the 1st time. To figure out the price get a Realtor to give you 6 months of MLS comparisons of what sold, what's on market, days on market. Watch out for the trick of promises that they can get more $ than the numbers shown. Some agents do this to get the exclusive agreement & lock it in. Then they'll call & say we got to lower price. It's wrong, not fair & a big waste of time. Doing a 6 month agreement will deter this tactic. If Realtor can't sell a house in 6 months in this hot market, find someone else.

I'm a licensed Realtor for over 10 years. Make sure to get your home on the MLS that's where all the buyers agents look. Also, offer 3% to buyers agents whether you get a Realtor or not.

It's a great time to sell.

Best Regards; )

No reason to bother painting unless the walls are worn. Yours are neutral enough. Do not make purchases for staging. Your home needs to be spotless and well maintained. Your buyers will paint no matter what you do, so why? That is money wasted when the move will suck all you have. Declutter. 'Having less makes you feel wonderful' is not a universal truth, but buyers don't need to see or know all you have so do what you can to pack before you put it on the market. If you are moving into a larger home it is difficult to know at this end what you may want there. If you want the shelves take them down, if you take them down then the holes need to be repaired and the room repainted. I would opt for leaving them. Once you have all non essentials boxed and stored it will be easier for you to "stage" by rearranging or deleting furniture. Come back with pictures then.

Stage as an office take everything out except white desk and I'd leave the large shelves up on the far right. get some clean lighting in there and maybe a plant, minimal, but show potential.

Check out Zillow.com to see the condos that were listed. Make a list of the ones that sold, for sale, & have not sold. Check out the photos of the interiors. Copy what worked locally.

I would paint all rooms white. Any walls that are already white touch up any scratches from wear & tear. If the walls have too much wear & tear a fresh paint job suggested.

There's a reason new builds usually use white paint, because it appeals to the masses. Usually when a renter moves, the property management will do a fresh paint job to attract new tenants fast.

The goal is to get the condo to look as new as possible. The usual protocol before listing a home for sale

good clean

bright lighting

A fresh paint of white where needed.

During the 1st open house, get feedback from all visitors what they like or don't. Fix fast anything that several people noted.

If you had a lot of foot traffic it's priced right. If hardly no one came, it's usually priced too high. You may get an offer right after the open house. That's quite normal in this current market.

Be ready to fix some things relevant on a home inspection sheet. Reasonably compromise to find a win/win between the seller & buyer.

Copy what worked for your neighborhood

Do you have enough storage in the condo? If not, you might consider making the space a walk-in closet. Apartments usually don't have loads of storage, and buyers may place a premium on one that does.

Thank you, thank you all. I'm awed at all your wonderful reponses. Yes, I need to get rid of most of what's in the space. I have other furniture I could bring in to change the look. I need to take some photos and upload them. I seems unanimous that I keep it white. I had planned on having most rooms painted simply because it hasn't been done in twelve years. Much of my real estate competition are brand new units, and it might be a seller's market, but I feel like I need to make this place look as new as possible.

Again, many thanks for all your input!

Thank you for the thank yous! :)

Your goal of making it look as new as possible with white fresh paint is a good one. No need to break the bank on updating. Keep it simple.

Good luck to you!

do you have a friend with a garage where you can store packed boxes til you move? it makes it so much easier to get items off site while you prep to sell. even your storage areas will look larger with fewer things stored.

as far as your alcove, everything out and away some place else. a single desk is ok, but a 'reading nook' might be more appealing inviting to a buyer, even if they are thinking 'we could make this into an office'.

what i dislike even more than clutter is wall mounted shelves on those metal strips when viewed from the side. they eat space but bring no loveliness. if you can do away with those and repaint the area will look so much larger.