Brightness - We’ve never heard a buyer say ‘This house is too bright’. Usually, the opposite is said. When preparing your home, one of the cheapest updates you can do is to change your current light bulbs with higher wattage bulbs of at least 100W. Your home also looks best and most cohesive when all bulbs in your home are the same hue. Buyers prefer neutral white or soft white as opposed to daylight or cool white. Simply changing light bulbs can provide a massive impact for under $100.
Neutral paint - There’s nothing worse than a buyer getting turned off by paint colours. Tacky feature wall? Neon green bedroom? Patterns from the 90’s? Buyers love neutral paint colours, period. When buyers are searching for homes, they are looking to make the home their own. They aren’t looking to move into your space. Spending a few hundred dollars on neutral paint not only makes your space look brighter, it also allows buyers to visualize themselves in the home. Dollar for dollar, updated neutral paint provides sellers with the best return on investment of any home improvement.
Pet and child damage - When buyers see wear and tear, they actually see dollar signs. Every part of your home that has pet or child damage will be seen as a negative by buyers and used against you in negotiations. In most cases, we strongly suggest repairing or replacing the parts of your home that are damaged by pets or children.
Curb appeal - Nothing is worse than a buyer walking up to your front door with a disappointed look on their face. Buyers already formulate an opinion of your house when they see the exterior picture online or when they pull up in front of your home. Ensuring your front yard is clean, maintained, lawn cut, snow shoveled and leaves raked can have a major impact.
A clean home - None of the above items matter if your home isn’t absolutely spotless. We can’t stress this enough. The #1 thing that will make a buyer walk out of a showing is a dirty home. A clean home shows buyers that you respect and take care of your home and can be a big factor in a buyer deciding to write an offer.
Bonus: Kitchen and bathrooms - An updated kitchen and bathroom in a home are, by far, the most common items on a buyer’s ‘want’ list. While these are two of the most expensive improvements you can update in a home, a properly improved kitchen and bathroom can put your home at the top of a buyer’s list.