Increase your home's sale value

I have assembled a list of no cost and low cost strategies that home sellers can easily use to sell their homes quicker and for better prices. Most of these ideas will cost nothing more than some time and good hard work. None of these ideas should individually cost over $400 depending on your region and the size of your home and that money spent should be returned by double or even triple when your home sells.

• Think curb appeal: Remember that the first thing a potential buyer will see is the exterior of your house. Get that yard in shape and pay attention to the details. Step outside, go to the street and take a critical look at the whole house exterior presentation. Ask a neighbor to look at it with you. All those things which make a yard look manicured should be done. Everything needs to be cut, trimmed and cleaned up. Any existing flower beds should be well kept and vibrant. There should be no exterior storage of anything that doesn't belong there. Boats, campers and extra vehicles should be removed to temporary storage. If appropriate, consider having a professional lawn and landscaping firm come in for a one time spruce up.

• Check out the trim: Take a walk around the exterior of the house and make a critical assessment of all doors, windows, shutters, trim, facia and soffit. Your front door should look immaculate, without blemish or injury. If the door is in good condition, consider painting the trim. Take a good look at the door jam while the door is open also. Address any friction damage or splintering. When you close the front door it should close with a nice solid "thud" without any extra pulling or stress. Have someone who's handy give your front door a good once over. Consider painting all exterior trim. Paint is cheap when compared to the value it can add. Freshly painted trim can take a decade off the exterior appearance of your home and it shouldn't be too hard to find a responsible teenager who will do the job for $75 to $100. All windows should be washed inside and out. If work needs to be done on the soffit and facia, you may wish to consult a professional contractor. Take a good look at shingles, gutters and downspouts also.
  

• Clean the basement and garage! I cannot stress this enough. Declutter, declutter, declutter and then declutter again. Sell, discard or place into storage everything you don't need for day to day operations. You want to create an atmosphere which allows potential home buyers to mentally place themselves within the space you are selling. The more you vacate that space, the more your prospects will be able to see themselves in it. Every closet, cupboard and shelf should be inspected for items which can be removed. Go on a cobweb hunt with a heavy duty shop-vac and hit all the corners. If your basement smells musty at all, consider setting up a dehumidifier and ventilate the basement as well as you can. Do a complete cleaning of plumbing and heating equipment. You may even consider putting a coat of auto wax on the water heater and furnace. Remember that in the home selling process, nothing can look too good.

• Never fear the paint: Everything which needs painting should be painted. Don't be tempted to think that your buyers are just going to paint everything the way they want it when they move in. You are in the business of presentation and nothing says your house was cared for more than a coat of fresh paint. Stick to light, neutral colors like beige and eggshell. These colors will help to open up your living space and make it brighter and more inviting.

• Inspect window treatments: All draperies, curtains, valences and blinds should be inspected for wear and damage, especially if they're to be sold with the house. You would be better served by a naked window than by a window with faded curtains or damaged blinds. Most dry cleaners offer drapery cleaning services for reasonable prices. Weigh your options, but do properly address all your window treatments in some manner as needed.

• Clean those floors: I recommend having all you floors professionally cleaned but perhaps that's just because I dislike cleaning floors. There are many very good rental options for floor cleaning, including systems that use no water. You can probably do a fine job of floor cleaning on you own but personally, I think that professional floor cleaners always produce the best results.

• Inspect all woodwork: All interior doors, cabinets, moulding and trim should be inspected for damage and fit. Replace any pieces which are damaged beyond repair and make sure that there are no loose pieces. It can be a good idea to go over all your built in cabinets with a good, high quality scratch cover and then buff and polish them with a soft cloth. If you know someone who has a critical eye for wood work (don't we all), have them come in to look things over for you. Once again, pay attention to detail and remember, this task can mean dollars gained for you.

This is only a partial list of some of the best and least expensive tasks you can accomplish to wring more dollars out of that house you wish to sell. Not only can these strategies assist in raising your home's selling price, they can improve your chances of selling at all. Be mindful that home selling is a competition and you are not simply working against the clock. You need to make potential buyers believe that out of all the available homes for sale, your house presents them with the most desirable value for their money. It may take some extra time and work on your part, but I think that you can do it.