Are you considering selling your home sometime soon? Are you waiting to sell your Locust Grove home after Virginia’s winter season? If so, you may be thinking about ways to improve your home so that it is ready to go on the market when you are ready to move. While you may not want to invest in upgrading your countertops or redoing a bathroom, there are some inexpensive ways to improve your home’s appeal that may help sell it faster.
1. Consider the buyer Ask yourself, “who is likely to buy my home?” to determine where you should put your focus. Is it a family? Is it a couple or a single professional? Families with children may look for space to stash toys, a living room area, or a well maintained yard. Couples or singles may be looking for low maintenance yards or more entertaining areas. Focus on improving these areas first.
2. Deep Clean Rooms Take a room at a time and thoroughly clean it. Check those ceiling fans, light fixtures, base boards and corners for dust. Use a carpet cleaner to clean the carpets or invest in the professional companies if you’ve got some tough stains or pets.
3. Declutter the closets Now is a perfect time to go through closets and decide what you want to take with you to a new house and what you want to give away. Doing this now will save time later when you are packing boxes and buyers will better be able to visual their belongings in a closet that has some empty space.
4. Paint Nothing can increase your home’s appeal like a fresh coat of paint. Do you have a lot of scuffs on the ways from kids’ toys or handprints on doors? Look around your home and paint the surfaces that have seen some wear and tear. Consider lighter colors in rooms that don’t get a lot of natural light as a way to open up the space.
5. Let there be light Make sure that all the light fixtures in your home have the same color bulbs. If you have a room that is naturally darker, add some table or floor lamps so that buyers visiting in the evening will be able to see the room.
6. Windows Check you blinds to make sure they are working properly. Replace ones that have been broken by dogs or children, but try to make it match the others in the room. Make sure the windows are working and, my least favorite thing to do, make sure they are clean.
7. Fix It Start to tackle some of the known repairs your home needs like if the kitchen faucet drips, there is a hole in drywall, or one of the electrical outlets doesn’t work. Starting early on these small projects will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed later.
Putting a little work into getting your home prepared to sell can help make the selling process easier and less stressful for you. It will also help to increase your home’s appeal. If you aren’t sure where to start or what would project would bring the best return on investment for your home, give me a call. I’m happy to help!
