According to HomeGain.com’s newly released 2011 home improvement survey, the top five home improvements (under $5,000) that real estate professionals recommend to home sellers based on average cost and return on investment (from highest to lowest ROI) are: Cleaning and de-cluttering ($290 cost / $1,990 price increase / 586% ROI) Lightening and brightening ($375 cost / $1,550 price increase / 313% ROI) Home staging ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase / 299% ROI) Landscaping ($540 cost / $1,932 price increase / 258% ROI) Repairing electrical or plumbing ($535 cost / $1,505 price increase / 181% ROI) Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 99 percent of real estate professionals, costing less than $300 and returning a value of nearly $2,000 to the home’s sale price, or a 586 percent return on investment. “Sellers need to prepare their homes for sale before putting them on the market,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain.