If you are preparing a house for sale, it might be necessary to spend some money on it, if you want to sell the house without delay and at your desired price. There are areas where some money may need to be spent, beyond basic decluttering and cleaning. You might not need to spend money on every area, but some cash directed to certain spots will help sell your property.
One good place to start may seem obvious. Simply give the house a good cleaning, from top to bottom. Get rid of clutter. Discard things you haven't used in several months. Wash ceilings, walls, woodwork, windows, and floors. In your tiled floors, walls, and countertops, clean the grout. Throw rugs can be washed or replaced, and carpets should be steam cleaned. Repair anything that is broken. Replace cracked or broken windows, patch or replace screens in windows, fix or replace worn or broken window shades or blinds, replace broken light fixtures, patch holes or cracks.
Be sure to make any repair work that you have left unfinished. Those issues will be found by the buyer's home inspector anyway, and if there are obvious repairs that need to be made, you are hindering offers. The overall maintenance of the home looks bad when there are unfinished repairs or projects, and are a red flag for potential purchasers. A buyer will quickly pull out of a deal and run for the hills if the home inspection report is full of repairs and safety issues.
Be sure to paint. The ceilings are where you start. More time than you would think is spent staring at ceilings. They are looking for signs of a leaky roof, but what you don't want them to see are stains from grease or smoke and ceiling cracks. New paint is the most cost effective improvement, and nothing else says freshness like it does. On large cracks, use fiberglass tape and cover it with joint compound and sand. A good neutral color for paint is a light tan.
Old or stained carpet could be replaced before it goes up for sale. Often a professional cleaning is enough to get it ready to show, but sometimes that just won't do the trick. Stained or dated carpet is a huge turnoff to potential buyers, especially if you have pets. Even pet lovers are not interested in buying a home with carpet stained by other peoples' pets.
The light available in your home should be maximized. After location, good light is the one thing that every buyer cites that they want in a home. Clean the windows, change the lampshades, take down the drapes, increase the wattage of your light bulbs and cut the bushes outside to let in sunshine. Do what you have to do make your house bright and cheery - it will make it more sellable.
Fixing up your home can be painless and inexpensive, if you do it yourself and use some creative planning and ideas. You're off to a good start with these tips.
One good place to start may seem obvious. Simply give the house a good cleaning, from top to bottom. Get rid of clutter. Discard things you haven't used in several months. Wash ceilings, walls, woodwork, windows, and floors. In your tiled floors, walls, and countertops, clean the grout. Throw rugs can be washed or replaced, and carpets should be steam cleaned. Repair anything that is broken. Replace cracked or broken windows, patch or replace screens in windows, fix or replace worn or broken window shades or blinds, replace broken light fixtures, patch holes or cracks.
Be sure to make any repair work that you have left unfinished. Those issues will be found by the buyer's home inspector anyway, and if there are obvious repairs that need to be made, you are hindering offers. The overall maintenance of the home looks bad when there are unfinished repairs or projects, and are a red flag for potential purchasers. A buyer will quickly pull out of a deal and run for the hills if the home inspection report is full of repairs and safety issues.
Be sure to paint. The ceilings are where you start. More time than you would think is spent staring at ceilings. They are looking for signs of a leaky roof, but what you don't want them to see are stains from grease or smoke and ceiling cracks. New paint is the most cost effective improvement, and nothing else says freshness like it does. On large cracks, use fiberglass tape and cover it with joint compound and sand. A good neutral color for paint is a light tan.
Old or stained carpet could be replaced before it goes up for sale. Often a professional cleaning is enough to get it ready to show, but sometimes that just won't do the trick. Stained or dated carpet is a huge turnoff to potential buyers, especially if you have pets. Even pet lovers are not interested in buying a home with carpet stained by other peoples' pets.
The light available in your home should be maximized. After location, good light is the one thing that every buyer cites that they want in a home. Clean the windows, change the lampshades, take down the drapes, increase the wattage of your light bulbs and cut the bushes outside to let in sunshine. Do what you have to do make your house bright and cheery - it will make it more sellable.
Fixing up your home can be painless and inexpensive, if you do it yourself and use some creative planning and ideas. You're off to a good start with these tips.
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