Realtors know that when a buyer walks through a home and spots a series of "little" problems, he's likely to suspect that the home needs a few major repairs, as well. Regardless of whether your home is in need of any major repair work those little problems, in effect, add up to one big problem: no sale. It goes without saying that in the interest of everyone's time and sanity, it's a good idea to advise your seller clients to correct those little problem areas before anybody traipses through the house.

The best place to locate a multitude of home improvement resources in a hurry is -- surprise, surprise -- the Web. Agent News has gone one step further, however. We've screened and sifted through these sites in order to locate the best of the best, and we've provided links to all of them below. Most belong to household name companies, and all of them provide so many links that you're sure to find the answers to all of your home-improvement questions -- whether they involve "how-to"s, cost estimates, locating contractors in your area, or whether you simply want to order materials or publications online.

Better Homes and Gardens Home Improvement Encyclopedia: An attractive and comprehensive site that includes a "Home Improvement Basics" link with such sublinks as "emergencies," "safety," "wear and tear," "carpentry," "painting," "energy conservation," and "heating and cooling."

Bob Villa.com: The king of all home improvement experts divides his Web site into "Inside" and "Outside" categories. "Inside" includes helpful instructions for the kitchen, bathroom, and living room/dining room/den.

Today's Homeowner includes such links as Simple Solutions, Managing Your Home, Kitchens, Baths, Interiors, Exteriors, Repair and Maintenance, Electrical and Lighting, and a Buyers' Guide, among many others.

Remodeling and repair tips for homeowners: This tip sheet, included on the larger Home Doctor site, describes several of the most common minor household problems plaguing home sellers -- and a few easy strategies for fixing them before the sale.

Build.com is one of the most comprehensive sites around, and it's a good resource for home buyers, sellers, and Realtors alike. Its near-infintite selection of links includes such categories as restoration products; kitchen and bath; flooring; product information; contractors; home buyer information; financial information; remodeling tips for homeowners; industry wholesalers; online catalogs; and relevant books and magazines, among countless others. No matter what your topic of interest, you're going to find it on this site.

Building Online includes a link called "cool sites for homeowners" along the lower left-hand side of its home page. There, you'll find such options as "Do it Yourself or Not?" to help you weigh the time and expense of various home-improvement endeavors. You'll also find links to home improvement and lawn and garden libraries.

Contractor Net's home improvement link not only provides helpful, expert-written editorials; it also includes a thorough and well-researched list of "songs to renovate by."

Do It Yourself.Com: includes an A to Z index of all major home improvement/renovation subjects.

Show your clients how Web-saavy you are, and e-mail them a copy of the site links listed above. You can even take the credit for the research involved. We won't tell. Honest.

Published: February 23, 1998

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