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You’re ready to sell your home but you don’t have a few thousand dollars in hand to do the necessary updates? I got you! Here’s what you need to know……
All good REALTORS will tell you the same thing when it comes to home updates: focus on the kitchen, bathrooms, and curb appeal. But those updates can add up FAST! And you may be temped to save your Ben Franklins by DIY-ing everything or using less-than-desirable finishes.
After showing countless homes in varied price points to a myriad of buyers, I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that CLEAN BEATS UPDATED, especially if the updates are not done to perfection.
When a buyer sees clean, they think phrases such as “well-maintained,” “conscientious home owners,” “loved home,” etc. They might say things like, “We may not even need an inspection!” (Note: as a Buyer’s Agent, I never encourage skipping the right to an inspection! But as a Listing Agent, I will give more weight to an offer that waives that right. Just something to keep in mind!)
The ideal solution would be to hire a reputable, deep clean company. But if that option isn’t in the cards, here are some tasks to put on your cleaning checklist…….
- Dust Ceiling Fans – those wonderful fans get yucky fast but you may not have noticed just how dusty they are, especially if they stay on all the time, like mine do.
- Magic Eraser Door Frames – door frames can collect a lot of grime! Take a Magic Eraser to them to reveal a brighter surface while foregoing fresh trim paint. (Bonus Points if you can do both!)
- Scrub Baseboards – uuggghhhh. No one likes scrubbing base boards, but you’ll be shocked at the overall difference it makes in your home’s interior appearance.
- De-grease Kitchen Cabinets – even if you don’t cook a lot, this is a must! Buyers will be opening and peeking into your kitchen cabinets, so make sure they are squeaky clean. Level up by removing the hardware and giving them a good soak.
- Brighten Grout – I can hear you groaning all the way over here, haha! but giving your bathroom tiles and shower a good scrub is well worth it, I promise!
- Shampoo Carpets – you can rent a machine from a local store or hire this job out to a steam cleaning company.
One very important note: consider the scents you are using in your cleaning products! If you can, avoid the overuse of bleach because the scent of bleach to a buyer means one thing: mold. Choose mild-scented cleaners or, better yet, naturally scented cleaners. This goes for candles, plug-ins, and wax melts, too. You don’t want to give the impression that you’re trying to cover up an unpleasant scent with cloying sprays, and you also don’t want to give a scent-sensitive buyer an allergy attack. Keep those scents as mild as possible!
There you have it! You can get your home Open House ready even without expensive updates, as long as you’re willing to put in some sweat equity. Happy Selling!
