Getting ready to sell your home can be overwhelming, especially with countless books offering intimidating to-do lists.
However, experts suggest five affordable repairs or renovations that can boost your home’s sale potential without straining your budget or increasing stress. Relax – these tips simplify the process.
Before reaching for paint or tools, grab a scrub brush and cleaning supplies – or hire a cleaning service. Start with a thorough cleaning, scrubbing ceilings, floors, and everything in between. A trip to your local discount store can provide all the cleaning supplies you need to make your home shine. Once it sparkles, you’ll be ready to tackle the rest!
1
Painting
Many experts rate painting the house just as high as cleaning on the importance scale. Usually the cost of the paint is lower than the value it adds to the house. This applies even if you hire a professional, which may be wise for a quicker, cleaner job.
Choose light, neutral colours like white or beige and paint every room the same shade.
These colours attract more buyers, brighten rooms, create a sense of space, and provide continuity throughout the house.
Use a flat finish for walls and high gloss for doors. Don’t forget the ceilings, which can darken over time. After cleaning, painting is essential to prepare your home for potential buyers.
2
Replacing Carpet
Think your carpet looks fine and doesn’t need replacing? Think again. Experts recommend replacing carpet older than a year. Remove worn, dated, or bold-coloured carpet and opt for a tight weave in neutral shades like white or beige.
Lighter colours can make a room seem larger. Carpet doesn’t have to be expensive to enhance your home’s appeal to buyers and can contribute to a higher selling price.
3
Landscaping
Investing time and effort into landscaping significantly enhances your home’s curb appeal, shaping the first impression for prospective buyers.
There’s a trade-off between time and money: planting grass seed is cheaper than sod, which is pricier but instantly green. While seeds take longer, they offer better value over time.
To brighten your yard, clear out dead foliage and replace it with flowering plants. Adding fresh topsoil and mulch around flower beds is essential. Prune shrubs for health and mulch them to prevent weeds. Once you’ve improved your landscaping, maintain it with regular watering, fertilizer, and edging.
4
Driveway Repair
While discussing curb appeal, the importance of your driveway can’t be overlooked. It’s the first thing buyers see upon arrival.
While a good driveway may not cause excitement, a poor one can create a negative first impression that’s hard to overcome.
It’s best to repair any damage. Buyers will notice oil stains, rust, and cracks, so fix up the driveway as much as possible.
Commercial cleaners and bleach are effective for cement driveways and are easily found at discount or home improvement stores. Cracked areas can be cut away and re-poured without needing to replace the entire driveway. For asphalt driveways, applying a new coat of tar or resealing gives it a fresh appearance.
Brick driveways should be checked for loose or broken bricks; replace any damaged ones, ensure all bricks are aligned, and spray weed killer between them.
5
The Front Door Area
The front door is the entrance to a prospective buyer’s new home, so it should be clean, in good repair, and inviting. A new hardwood door can elevate the entrance’s appearance significantly. If not, a thorough scrubbing and a couple of paint coats will help.
Fix squeaky or sticky hinges, ensure door knobs work smoothly, check the doorbell, and replace light bulbs. A new welcome mat and a potted plant can add colour and welcome visitors to your sparkling clean home!
Now that we’ve set aside major projects, we can focus on cleaning, painting, and carpeting. Aim to do the least amount of fixing up needed to achieve the maximum selling price.
Spend a Little, Get a Lot
✅ A new door mat will spruce up an entryway.
✅ Mirrors make small areas of the house appear larger.
✅ Replace old or discoloured shower curtains with new ones in a neutral or coordinating colour.
✅ When your house is on the market, turn on lights that can be seen from the street from sunset to bedtime to make the house look inviting to buyers driving by at night.
✅ Like rooms, closets will look larger if they are organized.
✅ Liven up a drab kitchen with bright curtains or window toppers.
✅ Stained grout will stand out in an otherwise sparkling bathroom – use a bleach pen to clean it or re-grout between tiles.
Want early access to serious buyers?
If you’re going to be moving in the next six months, what you might not realize is that there are a significant number of buyers searching for homes like yours.
In fact, for every buyer actively viewing homes right now, there are 5-10 more about to begin their search, or eagerly waiting for the perfect property to come up.
If you’re interested in getting a head start on finding a buyer for your home, leave us some details below… We’ll see if we can find a match!
Want to know what your home is worth?
Before you put your house on the market, you need to find out how much it’s worth in today’s market, so you can make your plans based on the most current information available.
We can prepare a detailed Pin-Point Price Analysis for you that shows the most current market activity in your area for homes like yours, and we can recommend an optimal marketing price range that will give you the best odds of selling quickly – and for top dollar!