It's that quality that makes you say "wow," when you first see it. You feel good when you pull into the driveway. You want to walk in the front door. Whether the home is yours or one that you're considering, curb appeal can make a big difference in how you feel about the property. If your home has that star quality, you not only won't have any trouble getting more for it than similar homes in the same neighborhood. It also means you won't have any trouble getting potential buyers into the home.

Hire a real estate broker to sell your home and one of the first things he'll likely suggest is hosting an open house, so potential buyers can casually check out your property on a weekend afternoon. While open houses are promoted as a great way of finding a buyer, a National Association of Realtors study found that their success rate is a mere 2%. No matter. Having an open house serves another important purpose - for the broker. "It gives him a database of clients," says Sean McNeill, an independent real estate broker based in New York City who says that he buyers. "At open houses, you get all kinds of people walking in. Some are [trying] to see how much they should sell their own places for; others just want to get a look at what's out there." All are perfect pickings for a broker looking to increase his roster of buyers and sellers. "Think about it," McNeill says. "The broker is devoting a couple hours of a weekend. He won't do that unless it helps him in a big way."

We're smack in the middle of prime house-selling season. The National Association of Realtors predicts that 6.6 million existing homes will change hands this year. But many markets around the country are cooling, and the inventories of homes for sale are rising. Compared to the hot real estate market of recent years, you can no longer automatically expect to sell a house quickly and for a high price.

A number of tax changes benefit those saving and investing for retirement, including: Higher Contribution Limits -- The limit on annual contributions to traditional and Roth IRAs is $4,000 in 2006, and will rise to $5,000 by 2008. After 2008, the limit may be adjusted annually for inflation. For certain employer-sponsored retirement plans -- including both traditional and Roth 401(k) and 403(b) plans, as well as 457 and SIMPLE plans -- the annual contribution limits will be indexed to inflation. Keep in mind, however, that employers can impose contribution limits that are lower than the government maximum.

As you clean out your closet or reorganize your household, be sure to keep track of the items you give to charity. It's your job, not the charity's, to report the value of the donation to the Internal Revenue Service. For any items donated after Aug. 17, the new Pension Protection Act (which became law on that August date), requires that all household items given to a charity must be in good or better condition. Some questionable items that you donated in previous years and claimed were worth a few dollars because they were in "fair" condition are no longer acceptable.

The days of the stay-at-home mother are largely gone. Statistics show an ever-increasing presence in the workforce of parents with children. Nearly three-quarters of single parents, for example, are working while raising children. The average cost of daycare for a four-year-old child now runs about $3,000 to $9,000 nationwide, with the cost even higher for younger children, according to the Center for Law and Public Policy (view PDF). Parents who work face the double challenge of not only finding reliable and helpful care, but also a way to pay for this pricey but necessary expense. The tax law offers some ways to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of dependent care.

Death and taxes may be equally inevitable, but the taxman demands the last word. Death does not excuse a final accounting with the IRS. In fact, taxes can further complicate the lives of survivors. Federal estate taxes could be due, and state inheritance taxes could come into play, too. Here, though, our focus is federal income taxes. The final tax return. When a taxpayer dies, a new taxpaying entity -- the taxpayer's estate -- is born to make sure no taxable income falls through the cracks. Income is taxed either on the taxpayer's final return, on the return of the beneficiary who acquires the right to receive the income, or, if the estate receives $600 or more of income, on the estate's income tax return.

If you received an e-mail or phone call from the Internal Revenue Service telling you that your tax return was selected for an audit, would you provide your personal information? If you answered yes, chances are you would become a victim of identity theft. Each year, millions of Americans spend hours preparing their taxes, hoping they do not owe money to Uncle Sam. But what many fail to realize is that the government is not the only one after their money -- identity thieves take advantage of tax season to prey on unsuspecting victims.

Even if your tax situation isn't complicated, there's still documentation the Internal Revenue Service demands. But tax filing doesn't have to be an ordeal. And it can be less frustrating and less time-consuming if you have all the material at your fingertips. By being prepared, you'll be ready to file your return at the earliest possible moment (the IRS usually starts accepting returns around mid-January). And the earlier you file, the sooner you'll get your refund.

By signing your 1040 form, you agree to abide by the tax law that holds you responsible for paying your taxes, regardless of who prepares your return. When it comes to collecting on mistakes, innocent or otherwise, the Internal Revenue Service looks for the taxpayer, not the person who filled out the forms. So before you turn your tax life over to someone else, make sure that the preparer is right for you and will do the right thing when it comes to filing your taxes.