I'm also in Boston - MetroWest. Anything in my town under $1mil is under contract in about 4-5 days, over $1.5mil is stagnant. Even though I'm in the quick sell price point, I'm still doing all my upgrades/maintenance prior to listing in the hopes of getting every dollar possible out of a sale - hoping for a bidding war! Though you are in the stagnant market, I would still do all the interior upgrades prior to listing. Since you are 3,500 sf on an acre, I'm guessing you are in a multi-million price point. Buyers won't necessarily take the time to see the note you left that the floors will be refinished or the stairway will be done. They will get an impression of poor maintenance, or will think you will be putting in the cheapest options since you are selling. And off they go to the next house. As for the exterior - a lot will depend on curb appeal. Can you get the fresh mulch in front of the house (and why does it take weeks to do mulch? My landscape contractor can get the whole front yard and gardens cleared and mulched in an afternoon) How bad is the driveway? Can you get the photos taken not showing the driveway? And make a note in the listing saying "Driveway being replaced in May". In a stagnant market, you really can't risk turning off a buyer due to delayed maintenance

And before you go sticking that For Sale sign in the yard, take a look at what $$ buys you in new construction. You can always find a spec house under construction and make a few changes to make it "yours" and this will be a ton cheaper than a true custom house. In many areas of the country, a home built to your plans with medium to higher end finishes can go for $250-$400 a foot. Here, in my neck of the woods in the South, where labor and land costs are low, you can figure on about $200 a foot for a true built to your specs home done well. You see some advertised for about $125 a foot, but the build quality is atrocious if you actually look close. Incorrect or missing flashing and the lot isn't graded correctly and the venting comes out of the roof in a "V" shape and minimal insulation and incorrect wiring and plumbing and and and.... If you go into building with your eyes wide open as well as your pocketbook, then you may come out ahead with your needs vs staying put. However, finishing your current home may start to look better and better though. Especially if you read some of the horror stories on the Building A Home Forum.

My advice? Less is more. Don't hide features of your home by cluttering them up with doodads and knickyknacks on top of cupboards. If you have nice tile or wood floors, don't cover them with rugs except for around the sink in kitchen and entry ways. A nice rug on hardwood can be an anchor, but never to take away from the hardwood which is a major bonus feature. AS for the bathroom - less, less, is more. Since bathrooms are typically small, you don't want to overcrowd them. Just nice fluffy color coordinated towels and if you have room, a nice vase with flowers.

Thanks to everyone for chiming in! The two houses we bought, the realtors did not ask us to sign anything. I don't know if it differs for 'buyer's realtor' vs. a 'seller's realtor'. I would feel most comfortable meeting this woman at least once and getting her feedback before I signed anything - I'd have to mull any paperwork over before signing though. I do like the idea of starting out for 3 months to start. I agree it sounds like a very good idea to talk to multiple realtors, but in this case, I think I will just meet/try this one first and go from there. I don't have a ton of time to devote to this. And yes, I would certainly make sure the house is very clean and tidy - shouldn't be too hard as my mom has for the most part moved her things out. There are a couple rooms that have bolder colors, so I will have those repainted cream, to make it easy on the next owner. The house is in pretty good shape for its price range, but it will pretty much be an 'as is' sale.