Published February 21, 2020
How to Prepare Your House to Sell Without Spending a Fortune
Investing in home improvements before listing
can pay off big for home sellers with faster sales and higher offers. But what
if you need to sell quickly and don’t have a lot to spend? You could list your
home as-is and hope for the best, but as-is sales tend to fetch rock bottom
prices.
Luckily, there’s a middle ground. When you
want to impress buyers but don’t have a lot to spend, these projects help you
prepare your home to sell on a budget.
Step One: Know Your Budget
Before getting started on home improvements,
you need to do your homework. The home selling process moves quickly, and
you’ll need a clear picture of your to-do list and the costs involved before
diving in.
Start by researching recently-sold properties
to estimate your home’s market value. Then, talk to listing agents to learn
their fees, estimate what you’ll spend on closing costs, and get quotes for professional
listing photos. While some sellers shy away from professional photography due
to cost, homes with professional photography sell for $3,400 to $11,200 more than properties with
amateur photos.
Once you understand the costs involved in
selling your house, determine what you can afford to spend getting it ready.
You’ll need to clean and stage the house as well as make small repairs and
improvements. While nothing is too expensive, the costs add up! Set a budget
now to avoid overspending.
4 Affordable Home Improvements
for Sellers
Repainting
A little bit of paint makes a big impact on a
home’s interior. It’s also an easy DIY project, making it a great choice for
sellers on a budget. To save money on paint and supplies, use an online calculator to determine how much paint
you’ll need and buy self-priming paint instead of paying for primer separately.
You’ll also spend less if you’re flexible on color. Instead of setting your
heart on a shade, see what neutrals are available in discounted or mis-tinted paints.
Improving Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is another area where a little
effort goes a long way. Weeding unruly garden beds, washing windows, and mowing
the lawn are all free, but don’t be afraid to invest a little money into your
front yard landscape. Repainting or staining the front door, replacing the welcome mat, hanging a wreath, and placing
potted plants on the patio turns a drab exterior into an inviting entrance.
Don’t have a green thumb? Rather than risk butchered shrubbery, invest in a
landscaping service. Minor landscaping projects average $500-$700,
whereas curb appeal can increase a home’s value by 7% or more.
Simple Staging
Some sellers rent furniture and hire interior
designers to stage their homes, but sellers don’t have to spend a lot to make a
big impact with home staging. Inexpensive décor like accent pillows, duvet
covers, wall prints, and house plants breathe new life into existing
furnishings and can be found affordably at major retailers. That’s especially
true if you take the time to look for deals before you shop. Big name stores
like Target offer a lot of ways to save; Rakuten offers 17 tips for saving at Target, including taking
advantage of deeply-discounted clearance sections, digital coupons, and cash
back offers.
Pre-Packing
No amount of staging can compensate for a cluttered home. Perhaps the most important thing sellers can do before listing a home for sale is to declutter and pre-pack as much as possible. While you don’t want to leave the house empty, it should be as close to a model home as possible. Luckily, pre-packing has benefits for sellers too. By packing now, you make it easier to move later. While storage units are inexpensive at an average cost of $87.15 a month, sellers can save even more by renting a unit in an out-of-the-way location for lower prices.
Suzie Wilson
