If all you look at is the TV shows and magazines you will think that you have to make expensive upgrades on your house in order for you to sell it. You can however ‘over upgrade’ your house which will end up costing you extra time and money and you will likely not get back what you put into it, money wise.
What upgrades will give you the maximum return on your investment?
Look at your Competition
You do not want the cost of selling the house to cut into your profits, so before you cull through magazines and research updating ideas, perhaps the first place you should look is your own neighborhood. Looking at your competition will give you a clear idea of what things will sell a house quickly. Attend open houses or a few showings with your real estate agent to see what the houses are like. You may find out that your home lacks certain things that are normal in all your comparable homes or your home may have something special that few other homes have that you can use as a selling feature. For example, hardwood floors are quite the rage right now and if all of your competition is sporting such flooring, you may have to invest in flooring to if your home contains carpet. On the other hand, if all the homes in your neighborhood have linoleum flooring while your home contains tiled bathrooms, then this is definitely a feature to bring up to prospective home buyers.
Flooring
If you have hardwood floors that have been covered by carpet this would be a great time to rip it up and refinish the hardwood underneath. If you are going to replace the carpet then you will want to stick with neutral colors which will give you great value. If you have any chip or cracked tile you will want to get that fixed before anyone comes by to look at the house. Ceramic tile looks great but for many houses it is much too expensive an upgrade to get your money back from it.
Add A Fresh Coat Of Paint
You may not think that buyers will look at your ceilings much, but they will analyze them if only to inspect them for possible roof damage, water leaking, or other structural problems. Do not allow them to mistake stains for possible structural damage. Repaint the ceiling so it is free of smudging.
This same information also goes for your walls. You may have some cracks and holes from many years of abuse and general living. Make sure that you repair any damaged sections of walls and then paint them with a bright neutral color that will make your house look more spacious and be popular with the highest number of people. If you have any wallpaper you will want to get rid of it because you are very unlikely to find someone that is going to have the same taste as you when it comes to an item like that. A fresh coat of paint is what is going to be the best at attracting the highest number of people to your house.
Kitchen Remodel
Kitchen remodeling has a huge return value so if you are thinking of making updates, start with the kitchen and bathroom. Analyze your faucets and cabinet handles. Do they look dated? Consider having them replaced with fresher, sleeker designs such as chrome instead of those old fake crystal looks. Consider resurfacing and repainting your cabinets, and it goes without saying that your kitchen must look sparkling clean at all showings.
Bathroom Remodel
Just like the kitchen the bathroom will have a great return on your investment. The best place to start is cleaning to make sure that you get rid of any traces of dirt and then go back and reanalyze how the room looks. You should upgrade the bathroom with new lighting fixtures, sleek faucets, and nice looking cabinets.
Conclusion
Overall, traditional buyers want move in ready homes, and fixing up repairs or making some minor updates can ensure a fast home sale.