Things that will add value to your home when selling

All good ideas, & you will see a return on cleaning up the yard, front and back, and this can be done pretty cheap.

As far as carpet/roof, let the buyer tell you it needs replacing. The worst thing you or an agent can do is offer that your house is lacking somewhere IMO. If buyer thinks its shitty, I guarantee they will let you know.

As has been mentioned, curb appeal is #1 along with a clean, neat and fresh smelling interior with no eye sores.

The suggestion of cleaning up the yard is paramount. Go hire some high schoolers or cheap labor looking to make some extra money for a weekend to cut, edge, hedge, weed the beds, "leg up" the low oak tree, pressure wash all the surfaces and clean up the mess, then plant landscape that adds color. And if needed add sod or winter grass that will grow better in the shade (consult someone who knows what works best during the season you are selling).

Once the yard is cleaned up, paint the exterior with a popular generic color like white/off-white without ugly tones like pink, no bright colors, and repaint the trim. Painting adds a ton of value if you do it yourself and pick the right colors for the house and it's trim, but its time-consuming and tedious labor. Also, ask a friend who has an account with a paint store to buy the paint with his/her discount (contractor, designer or even a painter). Consult an interior designer for colors if you don't have an eye for that kind of thing.

Finally, clean and stage the house. Stage it by removing a bunch of your personal clutter and pictures, move the furniture to create more space and add nice looking art at eye level. This is something that is a pain in the arse, but if you remove a bunch of clutter and crap from your house (we all have it) and add a few decorator touches it will help.

Don't offer anything if you haven't been told you need it. If the house seems to sit on the market, have an open house and ask agents for suggestions of why it's sitting. Price will likely be mentioned, but listen for more detailed/constructive suggestions. If you need the allowances based on their suggestions, then offer it.

Good luck

This may not apply to your location but I have noticed in my area that home buyers want move in condition. Go look at some new homes in your area and see how they are decorated (colors and textures). Scratch the carpet allowance and get it done.

Young buyers especially want the amenities of new homes, without the price of new homes.They want attractive and up to date light fixtures and hardware. Desire granite even in bath vanities.

As far as the basic home repair, appraisers and home inspectors are being very picky. Will nitpick the house.

For the back yard, I would not spend the money on deck. I would get a load or 2 of attractive mulch and some inexpensive plants and make it attractive.

There is very little you can do to increase the value of your home that is cost effective. Why would a home buyer pay you more for improvements to the home than they could pay to have the improvements done themselves, and to their exact specifications? The only reason I can imagine for purchasers to do so is to get the costs of improvements into the purchase cost for purposes of financing.

Improvements should have been made to enhance your living experience in the home. Anything you do now is basically speculation. You would be risking money that you will increase the appeal of the home to prospective buyers enough to recoup the costs of the improvements. If you need to make structural repairs to gat the property sellable, then improvements might be better justified. But your best bet is to only make cosmetic changes.

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My smallish backyard is deplorable - big oak tree/low sun/grass won't grow. Seriously thinking about a new deck. That would be perfect but not sure about the ROI in this addition.

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Winter grass, rye, or whatever won't add value but adds visual appeal in the winter. I have a good number of big trees in the back yard that lead to the grass dying out over the end of the summer. Throw down rye seed, it sprouts in 10 days or less and 50 lb bag is ~ $40 + starter fertilizer. If you have moss growing on the ground forget the rye.