When first impressions count the most
There's no need to spend a ton of money remodeling your home before you sell. A few key improvements could significantly increase your selling price and make for a faster home sale.
Curb Appeal
- Keep your front entrance well-maintained
- Repaint your front door
- Repaint or replace door hardware
- Repaint or replace house numbers to make them easy to see
- Repaint the mailbox
- Make sure the doorbell works
- Repaint or replace stair railings
- Do a little landscaping
- Garden beds need to be well defined and freshly mulched
- Keep the lawn edged, cut and watered regularly
- Trim hedges, weed lawns and flowerbeds, and prune trees
- Add a few showy annuals, perhaps in pots, near the front entrance
- Take care of other exterior features
- Check the foundation, steps, walkways, walls and patios for cracks and crumbling
- Inspect doors and windows for peeling paint; keep the windows clean and free of spider webs and vines
- Clean, align and secure the gutters
- Inspect and clean the chimney
- Keep shutters in good condition, freshly painted and hung straight
- Repair or replace loose or damaged roof shingles
- Repair or repaint loose siding and caulking
- Keep the garage door closed
Walk into Something Wonderful
- Give every room in the house a thorough cleaning. Wash the windows inside and out, clean the carpets and wash the walls.
- If the walls and carpet are especially dingy or brightly colored, repaint or re-carpet with a neutral shade, such as off-white or beige.
- Get rid of the clutter and make your house appear bigger and brighter.
- Rent a storage unit
- Have a garage sale!
- Donate your excess "stuff" to charity
- Repair cracks, holes or damage to plaster, wallboard, wallpaper, paint and tiles
- Replace broken or cracked windowpanes, moldings, and other woodwork
- Inspect and repair the plumbing, heating , cooling, and alarm systems
- Repair dripping faucets and showerheads
- Re-caulk bathroom shower or tub if necessary
- Spruce up a kitchen or bathroom with new cabinet knobs, curtains and towels
- Repair anything that could be construed as dry rot
- Repair a leaking roof or wet basement
- Make sure every electrical outlet and light switch is in working order
- Replace all lightbulbs with the maximum wattage bulb permissible. Light sells!
