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Accredited Seller Representative 

Accredited Home-Staging Specialist 

 Low Cost & Quick Home Improvement Ideas

 To Help Sell Your Home

When selling your home - first impressions do count! The first thing to do is clean the interior of your home from top to bottom. Dust every nook and cranny. Cleaning is the cheapest home improvement any seller can undertake. It just takes a little time and effort.

Here’s a quick 16-point home interior checklist to get you started:

Home Improvement Idea 1.
A fresh coat of paint is often one of the easiest, cheapest and most dramatic improvements you can make to the home interior. If you do nothing else, at least consider a paint touch-up. It will freshen up your home and make it more comfortable for you to live - and it may help with selling your home.

Home Improvement Idea 2.
Indoor/outdoor flow is important too. If it is a nice day and you have doors to the outdoor decking, then open them up. Give the idea of outdoor living by adding an outdoor table and chairs... maybe a colorful umbrella.  I did this when I sold my last house.

A local outdoor furniture store was closing down so I lashed out and spent $140 on a table and 4 bright colored chairs and a matching umbrella. It looked a million dollars!

Home Improvement Idea 3.        
Get rid of items that you never use. Check the garage, attic and every room.

Home Improvement Idea 4.        
Organize the home interior to make it look uncluttered. Rearrange furniture to make each room look as spacious as possible.

Home Improvement Idea 5.        
Put anything you don’t need in storage – hire a storage unit. Any pieces of furniture that look “comfortably warn” should be taken off show.

Home Improvement Idea 6.        
After you have cleaned the walls and checked for fingerprints, smudges, dents etc do another careful home interior inspection. If the walls are still not 100%, consider a fresh coat of paint. Check woodwork, tiles, vinyl, wallpaper etc for signs of wear and tear. 

Home Improvement Idea 7.        
Check windows and windowsills carefully. Look for chipped paint, signs of leaks etc. Even check regularly for dead flies. Consider taking down the curtains or drapes for
washing or laundering.

Home Improvement Idea 8.        
Wax any linoleum flooring. Clean around the edges and make all the floors look sparkling clean. Make your whole home interior sparkle!

Home Improvement Idea 9.        
Get rugs and carpets shampooed or hire one of those “do it yourself” carpet-cleaning machines. It is better to spend a few dollars now rather than have the buyer ask for a “new carpet allowance” as a condition of purchase.

Home Improvement Idea 10.        
Look carefully at the color coordination throughout the house. Does the home interior color scheme flow? Does anything clash horribly with the rest of the house?

Home Improvement Idea 11.        
Check for leaking faucets, running toilet systems etc. Strange noises or sounds of water flowing can spook a buyer. Small things can make a buyer wonder what is wrong or not working.

Home Improvement Idea 12.        
Bathrooms need to be cleaned as if you could eat off any surface. They must be spotless! Clean baths, showers, toilets and sinks. Replace the shower curtain if it has mould on it. Look for water stains or rust in basins or around the fixtures. Check that the chalking around the shower, tub and sink is in immaculate condition. If not – replace it!

Home Improvement Idea 13.        
Organize the closets to make them look spacious. Store your out of season clothes in the storage unit you have hired. It is important that closets look as large and as spacious as possible. Also make them smell nice (not of foot odor from smelly shoes).

Home Improvement Idea 14.        
Look at replacing light switch surrounds. Check that light shades are clean, dust free and in keeping with the décor.

Home Improvement Idea 15.        
When people visit a strange house their senses are alert to anything unusual – sights, sounds and SMELLS. If you have a smoker in the house, then make sure your home interior does not smell like an ashtray. Spray some neutral air-freshener or use one of those plug-in types. Maybe the old trick of using the smell of baking or freshly brewed coffee might be worth considering.

Home Improvement Idea 16.        
If you have pets, then put them outside when a prospective home buyer calls. Check for fleas, cat fur, dog hairs etc on furniture and flooring. Also be aware that some people hate animals and some people are easily frightened and intimidated by a barking or over boisterous dog.

The trick when sprucing up the home interior is to spend money wisely.

When selling your home, don’t be afraid to invest a little to make your home more presentable. However, be careful what you spend your money on. Any major improvements or structural changes should be carefully considered.

Will costly changes bring you enough money from the sale, or would you be better off not spending the money at all? There’s an old real estate saying “Never put a nickel into your house unless you can get a dime back out!”