Increasing Your Home's Value

Do you want to sell your home for the most money without spending a fortune preparing your home for the sale?  Take a look at these 9 tips to increase your home’s value without breaking the bank.
 
1. Spruce up your front yard
The first thing a potential buyer is going to see when they look at your home is the outside. You want to deliver a great first impression.  Plant flowers in the front yard, power wash your sidewalk and porch leading up to your front door, and make sure leaves are raked regularly. It's also a good idea to put a fresh coat of paint on your front door.

2. Paint!
A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for your home value. Paint the inside walls of your home a neutral color to brighten the room and make it appear larger. Cans of paint generally cost around $25, so grab a few and start sprucing up those rooms. If you don’t want to paint the entire wall, make sure to touch up any scratches or dings.

3. Replace handles and knobs
You might not be able to afford brand new cabinets in every part of the house, but you probably can afford some new handles. Purchase new handles or knobs for your cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom to give the rooms an updated look.

4. Re-Caulk the Kitchen (and Bathrooms)
Caulk can get yellow and brittle after a few years, especially around sinks and bathtubs. Make your kitchen and bathroom look like new by re-caulking. A tube of caulk costs around $5 and can update a home's look (and value!)

5. Match your Appliances
Is your mix and match kitchen giving you a headache? Did you know, you don't have to buy brand new appliances that are all in the same hue – most appliances have front panels that can be removed and replaced. Give your appliances a facelift by buying matching front panels to give your kitchen a consistent feel.

6. Clean!
I mentioned the first impression at the beginning of this post.  If a buyer enters a home that's dirty, it will be hard for him or her to look past the state of the home. Clean your floors, windows, walls and baseboards. Give your home a good scrubbing. This will let in light, allow buyers to see the views and increase the marketability of your home.  You will also want to de-clutter and de-personalize.  Remove family photos and religious items.  Another trick I like to tell my Austin sellers is to remove about half of the items in your closets and pantries so they appear larger.

7. Lighting
Outdated fixtures can make a home less appealing to prospective buyers. You can spend a decent amount of money replacing fixtures, but you don't have to spend so much to get the same results! Purchase discounted lampshades to perk up an older lamp, and change switch plates on your light switches to give your home an updated look. Make sure your switch plates and outlets match throughout the home.

8. Replace faucets
Purchase a new faucet for your sink and shower in your bathroom, and you'll increase your home value. Make sure the faucets for the sink and shower match – most of the time new faucets will cost around $30 to $60. It's not a bad idea to update your kitchen sink faucet, too!
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9. Update your flooring
Another part of the home that ages a house is the flooring.  You may want to have wood floors refinished or concrete floors polished. Rugs or carpet that have gone out of style or seen better days can decrease your perceived home value. If you have enough money to replace the carpeting, go for it! However, if it’s not in the budget, you may want to display a sign with carpet swatches that advertises an allowance will be given to buyers to replace with their preferred carpet after closing.