Thinking of Selling Your Home? Look Into These Low-Budget Projects

If you’re considering selling your home, you probably are interested in getting the best possible return on your investment. Before you put your house on the market, you should consider making some small cosmetic changes to entice potential homebuyers into paying your asking price.

Look Into Landscaping

First impressions are important, and that definitely goes for curb appeal. A whopping 60% of those looking to buy a home have said that a well-landscaped yard will influence their decisions. Make sure that your home is in tip-top shape with these easy tips:

• Mow the Lawn. Make sure that the entire time your home is on the market the lawn is adequately cut. This may mean trimming it a bit more often than you usually do in order to keep your lawn’s appearance at its best.
• Pull Weeds. If there are any weeds in your lawn or garden beds, make sure to pull them all before your home up for sale. You should also continuously pull the weeds out while your home is on the market to make sure your landscaping continues to look as good as possible.
• Add Color. If you notice a lack of color in your yard, you can add some annual flowers for a pop of seasonal florals. There are different flowers that will do well in the spring, summer, and autumn, so make sure you look up what is best for your area and the time of year. In the winter, you can use decorations such as lights and wreaths to add a pop of color to your yard. You can also repaint your front door to a bright color, though this can be riskier since not every potential buyer wants a brightly colored door.
• Remove Dead Plants. If any plants haven’t survived their time in your garden, make sure to clear them out before you list your home.

Make Sure Your Materials Are High-Quality

If you’re making any plumbing or HVAC repairs, it may be tempting to go with a cheaper material for any replacements considering the fact you won’t be in the home for much longer. However, it’s not a good idea to skimp on your projects. Instead, invest in higher-quality materials to ensure that your home is ready for the next owner. For example, if you’re getting new ducting, talk with your contractor about what materials are best. The most common metals used are aluminum, steel, and stainless, but another alternative may also be the best decision for you.

Tidy Up

If you have cabinets or shelves that look like a bomb exploded in them, make sure that you organize them before listing your home. Home organization products are extremely popular, as they’re projected to rise to an $11.8 billion market by 2021. That means they’re readily available, and there are many resources on how to organize any problem area in your home. Any organization materials you buy can be brought with you to your new home, so not only are they useful for staging your current home, but they’re reusable in the future.

Touch Up Paint

If there are any areas of your home that don’t need to be fully repainted, but have some spots that seem to be chipping, it’s a good idea to touch up the paint before you list your home. If you don’t have your exact paint color still, you can remove a small square from your drywall and take it to your local home improvement store to be color-matched. Make sure to spackle and sand the spot where the paint was before you add your touch up paint. You should also do a spot test to make sure the paint actually matches before you paint an entire spot.

Paint Bright Rooms a Neutral Color

If your children insisted on brightly colored bedrooms, they may have to deal with some neutral colors while your home is on the market. Although paint is something that can be easily fixed by new owners, many buyers would rather see a home that is completely move-in ready as opposed to mostly move-in ready except for a few small projects.

If you’re completely repainting any rooms, make sure that you’re using neutral colors. Choose grey, beige, cream, or white to make your rooms seem like a blank slate for homebuyers. If you’re unsure about what color to choose, your local home improvement store may have some recommendations for you.

Deep Clean Everything

If your home is looking a little bit dingy, a nice deep clean can help fix that issue and make things seem brighter and newer. If cleaning is truly not your specialty, it may be a good idea to arrange for a service to come in and deep clean your home. After you’ve deep cleaned your home, you just have to keep it tidy during the selling process. Before any open houses or viewings for potential buyers, make sure that you wipe down counters and other surfaces that you come in contact with routinely to really make the home shine.

Stage Your Furniture

The key to selling your home is making sure that potential buyers can see themselves living in it. This means you might need to rearrange your furniture to show off the space and how someone else could live in it. It may be a good idea to remove personal accents such as family photographs or children’s drawings. Although these things make a home look lived in, it shatters the potential buyer’s vision of the home as their own. Leaving blank areas allows the buyer to envision where they would put their own child’s artwork or hang their own family portrait.

If any of the rooms in your home seem to have more furniture than they should, make sure to move some furniture into storage or your new home. An overcrowded room can make everything feel significantly smaller than it is, and you want to make sure that any potential buyers are able to really see the potential of your house.

To make sure that you get the best possible price on your home, you can take on these inexpensive and free projects to get a higher resale value. Make sure you’re keeping in mind that a potential buyer wants to be able to see themselves in the homes they’re looking at.