You don’t have to spend a fortune and hire a team of professionals to spruce up your home pre-sale. If you can dedicate just one weekend of effort, you will be amazed at the difference that you can make.
The easiest way to improve the value of your home is to give needy areas a great paint job. Identify the areas that are most in need, prioritise, and address whatever you can within the time you have allowed yourself. If you don’t have much budget and/or time – focus on the living areas and front aspect of the home.
If you don’t have time to paint the entire room, maybe the addition of a feature wall will help to brighten and add interest. Select a colour that will complement existing furniture and décor.
Remove any clutter in your home (family photos, memorabilia, books and DVDs, animal bedding, toys etc) – this will allow prospective buyers to more easily get a feel for the size of the rooms and will make the rooms feel larger, more airy and appear to have more light. Installing open shelves in the kitchen, bathroom, laundry and study is a simple way to introduce more storage opportunities into your home, will help in the tidy-up and will also be appreciated by any potential buyer.
Outside the home check for and tidy away garden hoses, rubbish bins, bicycles and washing.
Clean your property thoroughly – both inside as well as outside. Ensure that there are no pet smells in the home – this can deter would-be buyers unnecessarily.
Ensure that your garden is tidy and well-trimmed with weed-free, well turned beds. Planting a few seasonal bedding plants can make all the difference to the kerb appeal of your home. If you have a courtyard or patio – a few well-placed potplants which are green, healthy and well watered will enhance the appeal of this area of your home.
Attend to basic maintenance – go round your home and identify all of those basic maintenance jobs that need to be done. Leaking toilets, taps, grubby walls needing a coat of paint, loose handles on doors or cupboards and so on. Attend to worn/marked carpets and refresh any dirty grout in tiled areas.
