Planning to sell your home? Don’t put it in the home listing yet! Don’t hire a property agent to spread the word either. Ask yourself: is there anything you can still do to improve your home’s appeal? Can you find ways to make your prospective buyers see it in its best condition? Most importantly, is there a way to increase its sale value?
We’re not talking about those fancy renovations with steep price tags that won’t actually add value in every market. We’re looking at low-cost, fundamental improvements that garner great returns. Here are 7 of the cheap (others, even free) ways to boost your home’s appeal.
1. Making your home spotless
Maybe your home doesn’t need renovations – rather, it just needs a cleaning job. Before making such dramatic improvements that come with a price, make sure your home is clean first. Perhaps you don’t need repainting – you just need to scrub those ashy walls.
Get rid of the cobwebs. Scrub the walls, mop and polish the floors, vacuum the carpet, dust and polish furniture and other surfaces, and replace the curtains and throws with freshly-laundered ones. Declutter too. Don’t forget to powerwash your exteriors.
Making your home spotless makes it more likely to be sold. While this is a pretty obvious fact, it’s surprising that a lot of sellers don’t realize that they need to clean it to help the property sell.
2. Repairing major issues
Put yourself in your prospective homebuyer’s shoes: would you buy a house that’s cheap but comes with a lot of things that need to be repaired? I bet you’ll think twice.
Small repairs and maintenance tasks are often needed to show your prospective buyers that your home is well taken care of. It can also streamline the negotiation process.
Just to give you an idea, here are the things you need to tackle before taking on bigger home improvements:
- Replace broken mechanicals, including your appliances and HVAC system
- Repair broken plumbing
- Replace cracked tiles
- Take care of overgrown landscaping
3. Boosting its curb appeal
What’s the first thing buyers see both online and in-person? Your home’s exterior, of course. Homes with amazing curb appeals make great first impressions but that doesn’t mean you’ll spend thousands on landscaping.
Start by repainting your front door to make it pop. Doors in charcoal, jet-black, or smoky-black look stunning against a white backdrop. You can also frame your front door with millwork.
If you have a porch or a bit of open space in your front yard, adorn them with outdoor furniture pieces and other gardening features, like a small, free-standing fountain. Then, consider landscape lighting so your home will look picture-worthy even at night. Lastly, embellish your exterior with lovely plants.
4. Refreshing your interiors with paint
Okay, so your walls that are full of nasty patches can’t be tamed by water, soap, and bleach? It’s time to renew them with a fresh coat of paint. You may also repaint doors, shelves, cabinets, and other fittings that need an updated look.
Important reminder: be careful of the paint colors you’re going to use. According to experts, bold colors tend to turn potential buyers off. It’s best to stick with light neutral colors like white, cream, beige, light taupe, and “greige”. Make your walls feel like a clean canvas wherein your prospective buyers can easily visualize how their future space will look like.
5. Improving your home’s natural and artificial lighting
Great lighting is key to showcasing your home’s lovely features. If your home doesn’t receive lots of natural light, consider going for window treatments that help bring in more light. You may also add a few pendants in the kitchen. Lastly, it’s nice to have a lot of lighting sources all over the house.
6. Giving your bathrooms a face-lift
According to property buyer’s agents, one of the key remodeling projects that increase your home’s value is bathroom renovations. Adding another bathroom, expanding your existing bathroom spaces, and adding all-new fixtures are great options.
If you don’t have the budget for major bathroom updates, you can give your bathroom a face-lift using a few low-cost tips. These include replacing the vanity lights, reglazing the tub (instead of replacing), replacing the tiles, and refreshing cabinets with new hardware.
7. Investing in landscaping
Are you blessed with adequate front, side, and back yard? Well, why not maximize that space by improving your landscaping?
Don’t go overboard: investing in high-end landscaping and water features don’t always pay off. Keep your upgrades simple, cheap, yet expensive-looking. Start by mowing the lawn and cleaning the yard. Then, invest in a few inexpensive landscaping features like boulders, pebbles, patio or seating area, ornamental grasses, and flowers or perennials.
Author Bio: Carmina Natividad is a resident writer for Bridge to Bricks Property Buyer’s Agent, a leading property buyer’s agent in Sydney. Her fondness for architecture, interior design, and real estate makes it easy for her to write inspiring pieces of content.
