Last year we moved from Florida, USA to Alberta, Canada and in the year leading up to us selling the home we knew that we had to do something to help us make our home more appealing. Back in the US I used to work for Investar USA, who acted as a lender to help people renovate their homes, and improve communities.
As a result of this I knew a little about how to add value, but I’d be a fraud if I told you that I knew it all. I used my contacts from my old job to give me some advice on what people are looking for in homes, and we were able to make some small, budget touches which you can make that will increase the salability of your home.
Gardens
House hunters want gardens which are tidy and which require minimal work on their part. This is not to say that you have to completely renovate your garden of course, there is no need for such an expense, but you will need to give it a look if it isn’t already in good shape. For the most part a good clean up and a weeding session, as well as some simple additions can really give your garden a new look at may it much more attractive to a buyer.
Details
One of the easiest ways of giving your house a nice new look and make it far more appealing is to deal with some of the details in the home, small touches which may not seem noticeable, but can make a big difference. The details which we are talking about here are the light switches around the home, the door handles, painting the skirting boards and changing up the plug sockets. You may think that these details aren’t important but I can assure that they make a massive change once you have completed them.
Paint
Giving your home a new coat of paint will really make it stand out and it will add a bit more of a wow factor to people who are coming to visit it. Remember that you only get one chance to make a first impression and as people arrive to your house to view it, the first thing that they will notice is a clean and fresh coat of paint on the outside of the home, which will instantly make them feel positive about what they are about to see.
Entrance
In line with this first impression theme, it is really important that you focus on the entrance to the home, as this will be where many decisions are made, you won’t get a buyer based on this, but you could easily lose a buyer if the entrance isn’t up to scratch. Give the area a new coat of paint, add some artwork or a new rug, whatever you need to do in order to make people feel right at home.