John Rygiol, a real estate broker who's worked with homebuyers since 1971, has a few words of advice for home sellers and their agents: Remember that first impressions count.

"It just blows me away when sellers fail to fix little things that are huge turnoffs to buyers," says Rygiol, who specializes in the sale of upper-end properties.

One of his biggest beefs is with sellers who have broken or tricky front door locks that frustrate buyers even before they step into a place.

"Everyone's time gets wasted, and the buyers get hopping mad," Rygiol says.

Another gripe: sellers with noisy or bothersome pets.

Another turnoff is a house so cluttered with collectibles that buyers can't appreciate the sizes of the rooms or picture themselves living there.

Savvy sellers should not only address these troublesome issues but also take proactive steps to make a property welcoming, says Sid Davis, a veteran of the real estate business and author of "Home Makeovers That Sell."

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Repair or replace faulty front door locks.

Rygiol is hardly the only real estate broker who underscores the importance of well-functioning front door locks. Another is Merrill Ottwein, a former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

"When the lock doesn't work, this conveys indifference on the part of the sellers and alerts buyers to the prospect of more serious problems within," Ottwein says.

Assuming you have two or more locks on your front door, he recommends you eliminate all but the deadbolt.

"Redundant locks drive a lot of people crazy," he says.

While you're at it, double-check that your doorbell is working perfectly.

"Like a malfunctioning lock, an out-of-repair doorbell is a big turnoff," Ottwein says.

-- Surround your entrance with attractive landscaping.

For those wishing to make a powerful impression on potential buyers, good landscaping is a must, Ottwein says.

One common error committed by sellers is to allow their bushes and other plants to grow too tall or too close to the front walls of the house.

"This obscures the view of the house from the street. The place looks cramped, as if the greenery has been shoehorned in," Ottwein says.

Creating the right landscaping doesn't require an expensive designer. But it may mean removal of trees that are positioned anywhere in the front yard so as to hide the home.

"To me, the definition of a weed is any plant or tree that's out of place," Ottwein says.

-- Make your front door beguiling.

As Ottwein says, the front door of a home can either attract or repel visitors.

Often, the owners of homes that are well kept inside are scarcely aware that their front doors look shabby, he says, because they habitually enter through a back door or the garage. But buyers will undoubtedly come in through the front.

"It's usually not expensive to greatly improve the look of your front door, unless you have a big mahogany door that needs replacing," Ottwein says.

A thorough cleaning and removal of cobwebs in and around the front door is virtually free, but for the expense of cleaning supplies. And a door that merely suffers from peeling paint can usually be redone for under $100.

-- Welcome visitors with pleasant aromas.

Ottwein, a former veterinarian turned real estate broker, is very favorable to pets. Still, he cautions that the smell of animals in a home can repel buyers as quickly as any other factor.

"A lot of people try to use spray fresheners to cover animal smells, cigarette smoke or other bad odors. But air fresheners can be overwhelming and create a very negative impression, like a woman wearing too much perfume," Ottwein says.

A home that is thoroughly clean and devoid of pet problems and mold issues should also be free of odors --assuming nonsmokers inhabit it.

"You don't need to spray anything in your house to make it smell fresh, which is perfect in and of itself. Beyond that, the only positive would be to have the scent of freshly baked cookies or bread circulating in the air," Ottwein says.

-- Enhance your place with flowers.

There's a good reason why flowers are the primary decor items used at weddings and other elegant events. They create a qualitative difference that no other design element can match -- not even the most remarkable furnishings or works of art.

Potted flowers add welcoming appeal when placed alongside the front door of a house. Also, bouquets of cut flowers can make an otherwise unremarkable home interior look extraordinary.

It can be pricey to keep your vases filled with fresh flowers throughout the time period when your property is being shown for sale. But fresh flowers create so classy an impression that many sellers consider flowers their secret weapon.

"Why bother with fake flowers? This is the biggest sale of your life, so it's foolhardy to shortchange yourself on this expense," Ottwein says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

Tom Early, a real estate broker since 1981, has seen a distinct trend across the decades. These days a woman is more likely to insist on keeping a home she bought before marriage -- even after partnering with a man who already owns a place.

"Sometimes a career woman refuses to surrender her property," says Early, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. "She's earned that home and it's her trophy. That's the same way many men feel about their cave."

Of course, not every marrying couple can afford to keep two homes. And couples who plan to have children together usually favor living full-time under one roof. But empty nesters on their second marriage now occasionally opt for two domiciles, so long as they can see each other on weekends and vacations without undue hardship.

"Let's face it, most people aren't jet-setters like the celebrities in People magazine who marry but still keep her place in New York and his in Los Angeles. Besides, very few people want to live that far from a mate," Early says.

Even so, there are legitimate reasons why some couples wish to keep their two homes after the wedding. One is that very often partners -- who are committed to their respective careers -- originally bought properties near their places of work.

"Suppose she owns a house near her office in Minneapolis and he has a condo walking distance from his job in St. Paul. This is one couple who might decide to keep both the condo and the house and then rendezvous on weekends," Early says.

Alternatively, such a couple might split the difference, sell both properties and buy a place together that's midway between the two Minnesota cities.

But Mark Nash, author of "1001 Tips for Buying & Selling a Home," says more couples are now opting for a two-city lifestyle.

"We're getting away from what we used to call 'the trailing spouse.' Now each partner wants to keep what they have going into the relationship," he says.

In some instances, dual-city homeownership can enhance the romantic life of spouses who live separately on weekdays and then reunite at week's end, says Esther Perel, author of "Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence."

The weekends "can be a wonderful reunion time for some couples," Perel says.

Of course, there can be pitfalls in the dual-city approach to homeownership. Here are a few pointers:

-- Consider the implications if young children are involved.

Perel cautions that such a situation can add stress when one or both partners are parenting infants, toddlers or school-age kids.

"This living arrangement can become burdensome to the person who manages the children during weekdays," she says, adding that this situation can lead to resentment in the partner who's shouldering more responsibility.

Also, she says kids who grow up with parents who live in two households may be shortchanged the kind of nurturing they need to thrive -- even if the parents are happily married.

-- Think twice about the impact of added travel.

"All that travel back and forth can become tiresome on the relationship," Perel notes.

Travel costs can also mount up.

"People sometimes forget to add up the full cost of commuter marriages in both time and money," Nash says.

-- Factor in the financial consequences beyond travel costs.

When considering expenses associated with the ownership of two homes, Nash says you should always look beyond the cash flow implications of carrying two mortgages. Also make sure you add in the extra costs you'll likely face for insurance, taxes, repairs and maintenance.

To assess the full financial implications of dual-city homeownership, Nash recommends you consider meeting with a trusted financial planner who's paid on a fee-only basis, rather than from commissions on the sale of stocks or insurance.

"Look for someone who can objectively evaluate whether it's prudent to keep two homes -- not a planner who will try selling you lots of financial products," Nash says.

One way to find a fee-only planner in your area is to visit the website of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors: www.napfa.org. Also, you can find fee-only planners willing to work with you for just an hour or two by visiting the website of the Garrett Planning Network: www.garrettplanningnetwork.com.

-- Realize the possibility that distance could enhance your relationship.

Couples who choose to live in two homes are taking a non-traditional route. But, as Nash says, this avenue could be one that maintains the quality of life for one or both partners -- especially if it results in professional fulfillment and their two properties appreciate in value over time.

Also, Nash says he knows a number of two-house couples who've avoided the kind of bickering that sometimes troubles those who live together all the time.

"As the old expression goes, 'familiarity breeds contempt.' But when you see each other only on weekends and vacations, you're less aware of each other's flaws and more aware of the love that brought you together in the first place," he says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

Choosing a 30-year-old Georgian-style house proved a costly error for a school administrator and her husband, a financial adviser. Indeed, it may have cost them their marriage.

The wife thought the house, with its old-school floor plan, was charming -- the tiny bathrooms and small closets didn't bother her. But after the couple moved in, the husband wished they'd opted for a more spacious place with an open flow from room to room. He was especially unhappy that his two SUVs wouldn't fit in the garage.

Within a few years after the couple bought the house, they divorced, recalls Eric Tyson, one of the husband's college classmates and a personal finance expert. He believes bickering over the house could have damaged their relationship.

"When couples buy a house and take on large mortgage payments, that's a very big deal. Apart from the money, a house choice has strong emotional implications," he says.

Tyson, author of "Mind over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness," says it's extremely common for couples to differ on housing.

To avoid this result, Tyson thinks it's wise for partners to go over their goals and reconcile differences before committing to a particular neighborhood or property. Here are a few pointers:

-- Make it a priority to discuss your core beliefs about money.

"Money is a kind of taboo. Because it's not romantic, people are often afraid to bring up the subject before they get married -- or even after -- for fear of upsetting the apple cart," Tyson says.

But money issues are so paramount to a couple's plans that failure to address them early on "can create a lot of fireworks and marital discord later," Tyson says.

Before a solid housing compromise can be reached, a couple needs to unearth their underlying, and often unstated, beliefs about money, Tyson says. In his book, he offers several simple exercises to help people explore their unspoken values on financial topics.

"Go away for an hour or two to a beach or park to just talk things over. Do this before you get enmeshed in the particulars of choosing the right community or house," he says.

-- Select a neighborhood before considering specific houses.

From the outset, a couple should decide if they want to max out on their mortgage eligibility. After that, it's time to pick one or more neighborhoods that suit both partners, says Tom Early, a former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (www.naeba.org).

Neighborhood choices should be made systematically, Early says. Ideally, both partners will itemize and rank their priorities in terms of the selection of a neighborhood and then compile a unified list.

Perhaps one partner craves the beauty and serenity of a rural community, while the other favors a city neighborhood where restaurants and entertainment options are a short walk away. So they settle on a semi-suburban planned community where both partners get some features they want.

-- Create "I don't like" lists to guide your home shopping.

Years of experience as an independent real estate broker have taught Early how to help clients develop appropriate screening criteria for the right property. In this role, he discovered a powerful tool: the "I don't like" list.

The idea is for each partner to indicate the elements of their current property that he or she dislikes. "If you reverse what you hate in a habitat, you'll more easily identify what you really do want," Early says.

-- Request that your real estate agent help work out differences.

A couple can have major differences in architectural tastes. Perhaps one partner hankers for a single-level contemporary akin to the homes Frank Lloyd Wright designed. Meanwhile, the other partner dreams of the sort of place you'd see in Colonial Williamsburg.

In instances where the gulf in tastes is as wide as this, Tyson says it might prove wise for a third party to step in to help bridge the gulf. This could be the real estate agent you've chosen to represent you as buyers.

"A good agent should have the skills to help couples reach agreement," Tyson says.

-- Leave the kids home when you go house hunting.

Suppose you and your spouse are struggling to find a happy medium between his preference for a low-maintenance two-bedroom condo and your desire for a four-bedroom suburban villa on an expanse of land.

Your tentative plan is to buy a three-bedroom townhouse with a larger-than-average backyard. Meanwhile, your children are protesting any move whatsoever. To appease them, you consider letting them interject themselves in the decision-making process.

But Tyson urges you to avoid bringing your kids along on house-hunting outings, at least until you narrow your choices down to two or three properties.

"It's hard enough for the parents to bridge their differences without adding the kids' opinions to the mix. Remember that a home-buying decision should be reserved for the grownups in the family, not for small kids or teenagers who can't evaluate the big picture," he says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)