Four Affordable Improvements to Prepare Your Home For Sale

Your home is fitted out for your own comfort and to your own taste.  As you begin to prepare to sell your home there are a number of renovation and brush-up items that may be required in order to make it suitable for a real estate listing.  

If a formal structural renovation is not in the budget, there are a number of smaller scale improvements that you can make that will improve the showroom appearance of your home and help you get the best possible price for your property.

Light Switches

How dated are your lighting fixtures?    It is simple to shop for affordable fixtures and upgrade the appearance of any room by removing outdated, stained or cracked light switch plates.   

Typically quality light plates can run in price from £1.50 to £ 14 or more at the local hardware or supply store. While there are many manufacturers of creative, designer light switches including cartoon themed options or artistic versions on Etsy and other websites, your best bet is to choose a fixture that is standard and neutral in design and colour.  Keep it conservative with universal appeal to all interested buyers.

Paint Your Space

A fresh coat makes all the difference when it comes to brightening and renewing an interior space.   A word about colour selection however, before you begin.   When you are preparing your house for sale, it’s not the appropriate time to start experimenting with odd colours or wall preparations and textures.  

Aim for a quality paint that requires one-coat application as it will save you both time and money, eliminating the need for more than one coat and always use a primer and quality rollers and brushes for perfect results.

Window Coverings

Chances are that the future buyers of your home will remove the window coverings and replace them with their own preferred style and colour. New home owners however may not change the window coverings immediately, and so they will judge the quality and appeal of the window coverings which are already installed and those which will come with the home in sale.

Quality window coverings such as natural wood venetian blinds or roman blinds enhance the asthetic quality of your home giving it a fresh new look that is appreciated by perspective buyers.   

If replacing your window coverings aim for a neutral fabric (no pattern) in order to appeal to the broadest group of buyers, or opt for the perennial favourite venetian blind.  

If you want to sell your home, choose wisely and select something that will marry well with their furnishings and colour scheme, not something that you personally enjoy.

Curb Appeal

Has the garden got out of control?  The hedges, trees and bushes in the front of your home can either enhance or deter prospective buyers.  Well maintained foliage and lawns make a great impression and can help you sell your home more quickly and for a better price than poorly maintained grounds.  

Basic lawn seed, topsoil and fertiliser and some manpower will get your grounds looking their best before any buyer visits. The smaller things really do add up when it comes to presenting a home that is desirable to buyers. 

Invite family or friends over to be candid and honest about the things that ‘stand out’  and could use some upgrading or improvement, make a list and allocate some time and money to fixing any issues that might delay the sale of your home.