When selling your home, there can be a lot weighing on your mind. First, what issues is a good home inspector likely to find and report to prospective buyers? And second, what minor improvements can you make to your home to help increase its value? A buyer needs to be able to envision the home as their own, not yours, which means making your home feel less personalized and more like a brand new house.
With this list of 8 home improvements, you can make your home more attractive to potential homebuyers. The improvements are simple, inexpensive, and can all be done yourself. Over the span of the weekend you can make enormous headway in speeding up the sale of your home and ensuring a better selling price.
8 Home Improvements To Increase the Value of Your Home
1. Clean Up!
This isn’t just your every day Sunday cleaning session. Go all out. Nix the dust bunnies and the dirty windows. Remove the years of buildup in the windowpanes, and have the carpets professionally cleaned. Do all you can to return your house to its original condition. You don’t want any signs of your tenure as it is bound to have a negative impact on your sale.
2. Update the Bathroom
Replacing your warn stained or dated toilet seat is a cheap fix that takes less than 10 minutes. Also, replace the shower curtain and liner to spare buyers the view of your mildew. Recaulk around the tub to keep it looking fresh and newly installed. When done right these quick and inexpensive chores will score lots of points with prospective buyers.
3. Dehumidify
Running a dehumidifier set at 60 percent relative humidity during the summer will keep your home from accumulating mildew in highly prone areas such as the basement. Just remember to turn it off during the home tours.
4. Shine a Little Light
Show your home in a good light- literally. Lighting accents can do so much for the space so make sure the draperies are open during the home tours. Replace missing or dim light bulbs and add halogen bulbs in recessed fixtures.
5. De-clutter
This is extremely important. Potential buyers cannot visualize themselves living in your home if it is buried under all your knickknacks. So consider it an opportunity to do some much needed re-organizing and start throwing things out or donating. Keep in mind, closets should show a foot or two of unused closet rod, and shelves should also show unused space. Kitchen cabinets shouldn’t be stuffed either and overcrowding furniture should be removed.
6. Change the doormat
Image Source: Flickr
It’s one of the first impressions a buyer has, so make it say “new home.” A doormat also indicates to homebuyers that for the length of your tenure you have taken an interest in keeping the house clean.
7. Add a Fresh Coat of Paint
A fresh coat of paint is the most economic way to update a space. Cover up the dramatic paint colors like purple and red with a nice light beige or off- white. The cleaner the room looks and feels the better it will look and feel to potential buyers. If your room is already painted neutral colors, consider giving it a fresh coat of paint anyways. Even after a year walls and ceilings can start to appear stained or faded.
8. Refinish the Floors
Floors have a tendency to take a beating. If yours look damaged, you may be able to renew them without expensive refinishing. There are many water-based products available to make an old floor shine like new. However, before applying any product to your floor, experiment with it in a discrete area.
The total cost for all these home improvements comes out to only a few hundred dollars and a few days of work. The payoff can be many more times that. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beazley, REALTORS® knows that selling your home can be strenuous, but with a little time, elbow grease, and a solid agent, your home can be sold in a flash.
For more information on selling homes in the Augusta Metro area contact Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beazley, REALTORS® at 706-863-1775.
