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Always lift up carpets to see what the flooring is like underneath. Hardwood floors beneath old, stained carpeting are the equivalent of a $15,000 gift if you calculate what they would cost to install new. Oak bannisters, too, can often be found hiding underneath chipping paint.

"If you have an oak bannister and railing on a painted stairwell, simply stripping the paint off and staining the oak underneath can change the entire look of an entryway," says Scott Carr, a real estate salesman in North Bay, Ont. "There's real wood under there and that's worth money."