If you are not thinking of making a lifetime living out of your home, and may one day want to sell it, it makes sense to improve and rejuvenate the areas of your home that could be a possible flaw whilst trying to sell the property. Doing this while you are living there is much easier because you do not have to rush into any jobs, as certain things can be quite expensive. Taking your time over improvements and extensions allows for comfortable living and the possibility of a higher selling price than you bought the house for.
You may also want to buy a house to improve it and sell it on as quickly as possible. If you know what you are doing this can be a quick and easy way to assure a good profit from the homes you go on to sell. Below are some tips on simple improvements that are quick, but make a difference:
- Spruce up the yard. Get rid of trash and yard waste. Keep your lawn in good condition and mow it. If you don’t have much to work with, plant some flowers or install some landscaping appropriate for your home and climate.
- Eliminate clutter inside the home. If you’re going to be showing the house to potential buyers, get the house organized and get rid of clutter or put it in storage. A nice, tidy house will seem larger and more elegant.
- Wash walls and windows. It’s a lot cheaper to wash than to repaint then, and many times a good cleaning will make your home’s finishes look good as new. Pressure-wash your home’s exterior, and wash interior walls. Keeping your house clean is a sure way of sparking interest.
- Add a fresh coat of interior paint. Sometimes you just really need to repaint, but you can do it yourself relatively cheaply on interior walls.
- Put up new curtains and blinds. Blinds don't cost much, and curtains can be cheap also. Over time, the sun fades the colours from your blinds and curtains, so new ones will make a better impression than old ones.
- Clean your carpet. You can shampoo or steam clean your carpets, or you can use a dry cleaning system, which requires no water or steamer rentals, and which dries instantly and kills virtually all mould and bacteria. If all else fails, get a professional to do the carpets for you.
- Consider flooring options. If your carpet is in really bad condition, you can replace it, or you can restore the original hardwood floor. Hardwood floors are very, and in a lot of cases old houses have nice hardwood flooring underneath the carpet. Rip up a bit of carpet under a closet or other inconspicuous area to check the floor’s condition, and compare the price of restoring the hardwood to that of installing new carpet.
- Install modern light switches and outlets. Some of the new style switches can be easily installed using the wires already running to the old switches. Just be sure to turn off the power to the room or entire house before doing any work. Dimmer switches are especially desirable.
- Install ceiling fans. If you live in an area where warm weather is common, replacing built in ceiling lights with ceiling fans will improve the form and function of your home.
- Refinish kitchen cabinets. Outdated or worn cabinets can bring the whole kitchen down, but refinishing them is relatively cheap and easy to do. If you have a dark or small kitchen, make it look larger and brighter by using a lighter finish on the cabinets.
- Consider turning on all the lights when the real estate agent arrives with potential buyers. A light home is often more desirable than a dark and dreary looking interior.