So you've decided to sell your house, now what? Should you remodel your home to try to get top dollar or should you just do nothing and sell your home as is, so as not to lose any money? These are questions that most sellers have and will usually ask your agent about. In fact earlier this year I actually asked 24 other industry experts how would you spend $5000 to best increase your home value and made a post about it. In this post however I thought I would run through some of the things that I have done on my listings or things that my clients have mentioned during showings.
Normally when I walk through a house before taking the listing to market I am looking for anything inexpensive that I can do which will make a big difference. As an example if you have older cabinets in the kitchen or bathroom, but your aren't about to remodel your kitchen before selling the home, an easy fix is to paint the cabinets and just buy new knobs and handles. This will make your kitchen or bathroom look much newer and won't take much time or money!
Another easy thing to that can make a big difference is bathroom light fixtures. If you have older fixtures in your bathroom you can swap them out in 10 minutes and lights are cheap at home depot and lowes. Burnt out bulbs and old fixtures have buyers wondering how much they are going to have to spend before they can move in. You can also get fixtures on Amazon if you are a prime shopper like me!
Another expense that isn't cheap but could potentially make a big difference is your front door. If you have an old door and it looks beat up or generally unappealing do you really want that to be the first thing every potential buyer sees? Again this is not a super cheap fix but unless you are selling a true fixer upper or original condition home this can really be a boost in the right direction.
Another addition that can add a lot to your room without breaking the bank is to add crown molding. Now this doesn't work in all homes or even all rooms. Each home and room is different but crown molding with a new coat of paint could really transform the whole feel of a room.
The last item worth mentioning is flooring. If you have pets and your floors are destroyed, and you don't want every buyer to beat you up about it, do them yourself first but do them inexpensively. Whenever I sell homes in North Tustin this is something that comes up as a lot of the homes built in the mid 50's with original owners. Wood laminate flooring is pretty inexpensive these days and can make your home look brand new. For a lower end but good looking laminate expect to spend around $2 per square foot installed. Quick math if you have a 1500 square foot house that would mean you could have brand new flooring throughout for $3000. Again if your flooring is beat up, this is a no brainer and might give you a 3-4 times return on your money.
There are a number of other helpful tips in the post that I made earlier this year but these alone could help you sell your home for thousands more then it would have otherwise.
