Remodeling to Resell

If you are in the market to sell your home, there are number of considerations to make before picking up the phone and calling a real estate agent. Is your home ready for reselling? This is an important question because, the bottom line, you want to get the most money for your home as you possibly can.

Look at the following areas of your home:

• Is the kitchen up to date? Meaning, do you have old or up to date cabinetry, appliances, flooring, and windows.
• Are your paint colors too bold? A neutral color palette is an easier base to work with when buyers are trying to determine how their things will potentially look in a house. If you have bold color paint, busy wallpaper, or tiles that look like they are from the 50’s it may be too difficult for buyers to envision decorating these spaces with their possessions.
• Do you have clutter everywhere? If you’re a slob, clean your house! No one wants to see other people’s dirt, papers, boxes, or anything else. Keep the decorating clean and simple. If you like a lot of knick-knacks, that doesn’t mean your buyer does. Edit the rooms down, put things away, and keep only a few decorative pieces out in the open.
• Will buyers see function or frustration? If it looks like you don’t have enough room in your house for all of your things, buyers will feel that way about their things. If it looks like the living room isn’t conducive for entertaining or comfortable TV viewing, rearrange things. Remember, you’re setting a stage!

Staging a home is difficult, that’s for sure. You may need to remodel the bathroom, change out insufficient windows, fix leaky doors, and paint the rooms. If you have an old hardwood floor, consider renting a floor buffer and adding a new finish. Making these small investments of time and remodeling will pay off in the end.

Brought to you by Sharon Kreighbaum, Staged Makeovers