Selling Your Home? 8 Ways to Upgrade for a Quicker Sale

Selling your home can be stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. If your home hasn’t been recently renovated, you’ll need to transform it quickly to get the best price. You can tackle basic repair and cosmetic improvements first to ensure prospective home buyers can envision themselves in the home without zeroing in on small flaws. However, depending on how much you’d like to ask for your house, it’s crucial to invest in small and fast improvements that allow for a quicker sale. Here are some home improvements to make before selling your home: 

1. Painting

Painting is a low-cost and quick home improvement you can make for a high return on your investment. Many home sellers choose to paint the interior and exterior of their homes before putting them on the market. If you’ve lived in your home for many years, you probably painted it in various colors you like. However, your purple bathroom and bright yellow living room can deter prospective buyers. Instead, paint your home with neutral colors that allow buyers to picture themselves in your home. Most people will want to see a completely blank canvas and let their imaginations run wild, so the blanker the canvas, the better. 

2. Landscaping

Curb appeal is crucial because it’s your house’s only chance for a good first impression. The outside of your home should have beautiful, lush grass that’s perfectly mowed, and dead plants should be removed before home viewings. You can refresh your lawn by resodding and planting seeds or hiring a professional landscaping company to take care of your hard work. 

If, after taking care of the yard, the exterior of your home still looks bare, consider adding shrubs or flowers to make it look more finished. 

3. New Flooring

Some buyers will want to replace any flooring in your home with something that’s more of their unique taste. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend a little money fixing up your floors. Replacing old, stained carpet or repairing flooring is a cost-effective improvement that can help you attract more buyers. 

If you’ve taken care of your flooring over the years, you might get away with a deep carpet cleaning and fixing any areas that need improvement instead of investing in completely new flooring. 

4. Bathroom Updates

The bathroom is one of the most important rooms to buyers, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands of dollars on a complete remodel. Instead, consider replacing countertops, tubs, and showers. Outdated bathrooms can deter buyers, so even small updates can make a home look more modern, such as new cabinets and fixtures. 

Of course, countertops and new tiles can be expensive, so if you have a limited budget, consider cleaning the grout to make it look brand new. You can also paint cabinets neutral colors like gray or white for a cleaner appearance. 

5. Lighting Fixtures

Replacing lighting is a small detail that is well worth the investment. Look at different types of lighting fixtures, including lamps, chandeliers, and ceiling fixtures, and try to keep your options consistent with the metals you use in your home. For example, if you have gold hardware in the bathroom, your lighting fixtures should have gold rather than silver. 

You can also upgrade your aged light bulbs for something more elegant and bright, especially in rooms with less natural light.

6. Kitchen Upgrades

Like a bathroom remodel, a true kitchen upgrade can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Most home sellers don’t have that kind of money, but you can do a few things to upgrade the look and feel of your kitchen. Here are a few upgrades you can make to transform your kitchen:

• Paint: Painting the walls, baseboards, cabinets, trim, and entryways can make your kitchen look more modern. Like the rest of your home, try to keep these colors neutral instead of vibrant to help the room look larger and clean. 

• Appliances: Some kitchen appliances are more expensive than others, but the good thing is that you don’t have to include the appliances when selling the home. You can either take them with you or increase your asking price to include these upgrades. 

• Countertops: Countertops are expensive, and as long as your kitchen matches and looks modern, you don’t have to swap them out for something else. Instead, look for issues like cracks or dirty grout.

7. Front Door

A new front door is another affordable upgrade that can transform your home’s character. While many buyers want to be able to visualize themselves in the home, a unique and colorful front door can help your house stand out from the crowd. However, if you like your home’s personality the way it is but your door has seen better days, you can reinstall a new front door that looks exactly the same without dents, dings, or scuff marks. 

8. Clean Everything

Cleaning everything in your home is crucial before you stage it. If you’ve hired a staging company, they’ll furnish your home for viewing. However, if you want to stage your home as is, the best thing you can do is ensure everything is clean. Pay close attention to your walls, doors, and flooring. Remove any scuff marks, and consider vacuuming your furniture to remove any pet air or dust. You can also rent a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner from a local hardware store or purchase one of your own to ensure visitors aren’t distracted by clutter or dust. 

Sell Your Home Faster

Low-cost home improvements are a unique way to sell your home faster. But, of course, improvements aren’t the only consideration to make to sell a home quickly. Additionally, many upgrades can give you a huge return on your investment, allowing you to increase your asking price. 

Keep in mind that the time it takes to sell your home will vary depending on current market conditions, demand in the area, and even things like the credit score of applicants, so even a house with completely upgraded and updated rooms may sit on the market if there aren’t enough buyers. 

Ashley Nielsen

Ashley Nielsen earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration Marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. She is a freelance writer who loves to share knowledge about general business, marketing, lifestyle, wellness, and financial tips. During her free time, she enjoys being outside, staying active, reading a book, or diving deep into her favorite music.