So, you’re ready to sell your home? Great! If you read last week’s post, you should be well on your way to hiring a fantastic real estate professional to help you market and sell your home and take full advantage of the hot spring market. I know it seems that spring will never, well… spring, but I assure you it will and buyers will be coming out in droves with fat pockets full of tax refunds! Be ready!
Since we have temporarily sunk back into winter’s cold grasp, let’s save the exterior home improvements for another (hopefully, warmer!) post. Today, we’re going to tackle some interior projects that will boost your home’s equity and value and make it stand out in buyers’ minds. Do remember that the money you’ll spend making these improvements will come back to you (and often even more than you spent) when you sell your home.
Give them a clean slate. Buyers will be impressed with fresh paint, particularly in high traffic areas and highly visible rooms like kitchens, great rooms and master bedrooms. Especially popular right now, white on white schemes make rooms appear brighter and bigger and help buyers visualize lots of different decorating possibilities with their own furnishings. In general, neutral colors should dominate your painting plans as your prep your home for sale.
Spend some bucks in the kitchen by upgrading countertops to granite or luxury stone. I know that installing granite countertops comes with a big price tag, but this is definitely one of those investments that will more than pay for itself at your sales closing. Granite comes in a variety of colors and hues. Choose a nice neutral slab of stone. Investing in this improvement helps your kitchen strike the perfect balance between function and style and is resistant to scratches, staining and burning. It also impresses potential buyers!
Consider renting a storage unit and empty closets, cabinets and your garage by half. I know it seems intrusive, but buyers will open drawers and doors and overly packed closets can seem smaller than they really are. When you’re selling your home, less is definitely more, especially when it comes to storage areas. You should also talk to your Realtor® about “staging” your home. If he or she doesn’t have expertise in this area, they should be able to refer you to a stager who will help reorganize and shuffle your furniture and decorating pieces to help showcase your home in the best possible light.
As always, I have a trusty list of painters, granite installer and stagers, so do not hesitate to message me if you need a referral. Happy home selling!
