Home Remodeling Tips to Sell Your House Faster

White House

Improving Your Home’s Selling Power!

I hear many people saying things like “my neighbors home isn’t selling, why would mine”, or “my home has been on the market for too long it just isn’t selling”, and worst of all “I can’t do anything about it”. The reality is, you can always do something to improve your selling or buying situation. It’s true home buying is down, but there’s still very much a buyers’ market out there. Hundreds of thousands of homes were built in recent years with many of them purchased, and  many more are going to be sold.

Like anything else, it is the little details that add up. If you want to sell your home, you simply have to make everything as good as you can, and get rid of anything that would make someone think twice about buying. Sounds simple, and it can be. It’s true that sometimes people make major remodels to their house to boost value and help it sell. Often though,its not really necessary. You can make your house shine with some pretty basic updates that can have surprising results. Better lighting and a new coat of paint is a budget-friendly and simple idea for any room. However, in my experience, inviting and functional kitchens and  bathrooms are what sell homes.

Kitchen Remodeling May Help Sell Your Home

When it comes to the kitchen, start with simple touch-ups. Clean your stove top and oven, or run bleach through your dishwasher to remove any stains.Try adding color in the form of paint (on the walls and/or cabinets), or a new back splash. Changing up the cabinet hardware can have pretty impressive results as well. If you have a larger budget, or even a little bit of home improvement experience, there are a few other things that you can do:

  • One of the biggest things about a kitchen that sells is the appliances. If your current appliances are beyond improvement, consider buying new ones.
  • Next in line is the counter top. If your existing counter top is nicked and scratched, replacing it will have a dramatic effect.
  • Cabinets are important as well. As stated above, you can give them a facelift with just a fresh coat of paint or stain, some new hardware, and replacing broken hinges or latches.
  • Some smaller fixes could include updating your sink faucet, replacing your range hood, or maybe even installing some shelving for additional storage.

Make Your House Sell Faster With a Bathroom Remodel

For bathrooms, the main things to focus on are the walls, storage, and tub/shower units. One of the biggest challenges here is to provide the sense of spaciousness within, typically, an 8′x10′ space. Functionality is another important factor. Now, I’m not saying that you need to gut and completely re-do your bathroom, but you need to keep these two factors in mind during your updates; you don’t want to install a new sink just to find out that it juts out too far and impedes the pathway.

  • Some bathroom updates can be as simple as applying a fresh coat of paint in a shade that helps allude to a sense of spaciousness. Painting the ceiling is acceptable as long as it is not too dark and blends well with the wall color.
  • Changing the light fixtures is another budget-friendly update. Whether it’s a wall mounted fixture or a ceiling fixture, you can upgrade from a one-bulb to a multi-bulb fixture which will create more light and help eliminate shadows, which adds to the illusion of a spacious bathroom.
  • Replace mineral-laden shower heads and faucets with new ones.
  • If your budget can handle it, and you feel it necessary, go ahead and install a new toilet and sink. Replacing a pedestal sink with one that includes cabinetry is a great improvement as it offers storage space in a small room.
  • If you do nothing else, be sure that your tub or shower is not stained, cracked, or damaged. If so, that should be your priority. Replacing a bad tub or shower with a standard new one will be one of your best investments to sell.

With basic kitchen and bathroom updates it’s quite common to see an 80 percent or higher return on investment. Sometimes more.