Window Treatments, New Flowers, and Other Simple Upgrades Boost Home Resale Values

From landscaping the yard to repainting the bathrooms, many home improvements could make your old residence more attractive to buyers. When it’s time to sell your home, you’ll face the difficult decision about where to focus your home improvement cash to increase the chance of increasing your property’s sales price.

First impressions are critical when you’re staging a home. There’s plenty of competition in your city, let alone in your own zip code. It’s important to make your home stand out as inviting, warm and welcoming.

No one can control everything with a home sale. The market fluctuates and buyers’ appetites shift based on personal preferences. But you have control over things like the lighting, décor and general spirit of your up-for-sale home. Here are some ways to spruce up your home before you put it on the market:

Springtime cleaning and color

Simple accents like colorful throw pillows or hand towels help potential buyers envision themselves living in the home.

If you’re putting the home on the market now, it’s time to think about planting some spring flowers and organizing the front garden or back patio in a way that highlights the colors around the property.

The dusty rack of outdated magazines, the pile of shoes by the door and heap of backyard tools — it all needs to go. The idea is to present the public with a tasteful, uncluttered sense of what your home could look like if they lived there.

When you’re rearranging things, envision how people could imagine themselves in your space and remember that “seeing clothes in the closet, family photos, and random tchotchkes prevents them from doing so,” according to Susan C. Kim of Houzz.com.

Basic redecorating, like adding a mirror or accessorizing with smaller furniture, can go a long way to open up a room.

More significant upgrades

Consider where your home might need some patch-up work, and what really deserves your attention from a monetary standpoint.

Is remodeling the bathroom really necessary if you’re never going to use that new shower or toilet? Not necessarily. Lisa LaPorta of HGTV suggests that the grimy shower door might not need to be fully replaced, though a thorough cleaning will prevent it from “washing out your sale.” However, smart or cost-effective upgrades to eliminate wear and tear on things like walls, outdoor siding, fixtures and tiles will reduce the chance a potential buyer will think those elements are an indication the property could have other flaws that they’ll need to address later.

Windows are a great area to focus your dollars to increase return on your investment. Roller shades or drapes could really help make your home to stand out by improving lighting, highlighting open spaces, and artfully covering windows.

Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate suggests that, depending on how much money you’re willing to spend, you might also consider fixing leaking faucets, patching nail holes or repainting, and fixing any busted flooring. These are all little changes that don’t break the bank. It entirely depends on the house upgrades that need the most attention, and how the price of those upgrades could impact your bottom line toward the overall sale.

Since it’s spring, now is a great time to take advantage of that spirit of renewal and take a fresh look at your home to get the greatest return on your modest home-remodeling investment.

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