1. Curb appeal
This is your first and most important chance to make an impression with your Lynn Valley Home. Simple things like mowing the lawn and turning over the garden areas with new soil and plants go a long way. Trim the shrubs. Buy a new welcome mat. Add a hanging plant next to your entrance, or some large terra-cotta pots filled with colorful blooms. This is crucial – online pictures of your front door will likely be the introduction to prospective buyers.
What buyers see when they first drive by your home is really important and often overlooked.
2. Kitchen.
For many potential home buyers, the kitchen is the heart of the house. When I’ve held my open houses in Lynn Valley, it’s amazing how potential home buyers make a beeline for this room when they first view a home for sale. So make sure your kitchen looks clean and reasonably updated.
For a few hundred dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet set, add new cabinet door handles and update old lighting fixtures with brighter, more energy-efficient ones.
If you’re working with a slightly larger budget, you can give the cabinets a makeover. Rather than replace your kitchen cabinets, there are some excellent refinishing.
3. Paint.
In Lynn Valley, it’s easy for the weathering to leave it’s mark over the winter and fall. Nothing can instantly transform a room like a new coat of paint. That’s especially true if you’re going from something dark and dingy (and scratched and dirty) to something light, bright, and white. Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to change and improve a room’s appearance. Anyone can do it. I know, because I have. A bedroom upstairs and the kitchen and dining room in my main house, and two bedrooms in my parents’ home. HUGE difference.
4. Clean and de-clutter
Cleaning is obvious – we shouldn’t even have to mention that a dirty kitchen or bathroom will cost you customers. But clutter is another matter. Step back and try to look at your home the way someone else would for the very first time.
And what about the garage? If you use it to store everything but your car, clean it out so a prospective buyer can imagine pulling their own vehicle in there. (Although they’ll probably do just like you and use it for storage.)
5. Create rooms
Substituting one room’s use for another is a cheap way to transform a three-bedroom home with a den into a four-bedroom home. If it doesn’t have a closet, add an armoire. Or maybe your home has a formal dining room that’s never used. Add doors if it doesn’t have them and a freestanding wardrobe – and you’ve got an instant main floor master bedroom
6. Lighting
Ceiling fixtures tend to get hung, then forgotten, which means they look dated before long. Inexpensive replacements from a home improvement store can brighten up the interior and make a room look more current.
7. Add storage
New homebuyers are always looking for storage space. Maximize what you have by adding a closet storage system, incorporating shelves, two-tiered hangers, and the like. Storage doesn’t have to be deep to be useful. Open up a space between studs and walls, install shelving, and you’ve got the perfect place for a series of small shelves
8. Staging
Potentially this could be the most expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Staging a home is just about making it more like an uncluttered luxury hotel suite and less like your family’s home. Do it on the inside and outside and your home will probably sell faster and for more.
9. Clean Carpets
Carpeting is another detail that can quickly update a home and make it look cleaner. A professional carpet cleaning is an inexpensive investment, especially if your rugs are in good shape and are neutral colors.
10. Shine the bathroom
Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are often the most important rooms to update. You can improve the look without a lot of cash. Simple things like a new toilet seat, shining faucets and possibly a pedestal sink are pretty easy for homeowners to install, and they make a big difference in the look of the bath.