Finding and financing fixer-uppers is only the beginning of the investment process. Whether you're planning on renting or reselling a home, it first needs a thorough cleaning. Here are a few tips that can help you make short work of your next cleaning project.

If you encounter lots of scuff marks on the kitchen floor, try making a paste out of baking soda and a little warm water. It works as well as products costing hundreds of times more!

If you find the house's sinks and bathtubs are full of ugly stains, soak paper bags with bleach and leave them in the sink or tub overnight. You'll be surprised at the results.

If the house smells awful, and a lot of fixers do, you can make a homemade deodorizer spray by combining one teaspoon of lemon juice, one teaspoon of baking soda, and two cups of hot water. Once the mixture is complete, put it into a spray bottle and then use it to refresh the house, just as would use any commercial deodorizer spray.

Carpets are nearly always a problem when attacking a fixer-upper, and in order to make the most profit from the house, you'll want to save the carpet if at all possible. Here are a couple ideas to try before you yank out old carpet.

If it's smelly, as it often is, you can make your own carpet freshener very inexpensively by mixing one cup of borax, one cup of cornmeal, and