What to Update to get you home ready to Sell

This post is a tough one. There is no single answer to the question of what to update in your home to increase the value and help it sell faster. Once you have done the easy, inexpensive stuff like cleaning up the yard, removing a lot of clutter and painting, the rest is a matter of money and how much you can spend. The biggest updates that help sell a house for more are the kitchens and bathrooms. If you are not a contractor, these projeccts are probably not something a do-it-yourselfer should try to tackle. You can spend $20-40,000 on a kitchen and $10,000 for each bathroom. Surveys have shown you only get about 90% return on your money for the updates. So those items may not be the best thing to try to accomplish just to get your house sold. I just did comparables for a seller in the Thrashers Corner area of Bothell and there was $100,000 difference in the selling price of nearly identical homes that had been completely updated vs ones that had not. Of course the updates cost $100,000 so it would be a wash for making money when you are trying to sell. Here is my list of updates i would do from the least expensive to the most. I cannot say exactly how much each of them would gain you in price, but even the cheapest will help your house sell faster. 1. Cleaning. You will have to clean up to move anyway, why not make your house look like a model home to start with? The only expense is your labor. Isn't that what kids are for? Get them to help keep the house clean for showings. 2. Yard work. Get those over grown shrubs and bushes trimmed back, the lawn mowed and the flower garden planted with fresh flowers and new bark. Might cost $100 and will make an inviting first impression. 3. Paint. Inside and out. You may love that bright pink room with pink shades, or the deep blue bedroom with the funny wallpaper around the edges, but most buyers will not. Keep it neutral. This one will cost several thousand dollars if you are not skilled at painting, but will definatly give you a good return on investment. 4. Update the light fixtures. No one likes those old 60's bedroom lights anymore. You can get nice ones for $15-20 and it is amazing how much better it makes a room look. 5. Sink fixtures for the bath and kitchen. This will set you back $3-400, but will help update the rooms without spending thousands. 6. Baseboards and window and door trim. This is another one that is best left to the professionals. An poor job on trim will be worse than not doing them at all. This is another multi-thousand dollar job, but it will give your home an updated look. When we replaced the windows in our home we redid all of the trim and it is unbelievable the difference it makes in the look of our house. It was about $3,000 and well worth it. 7. Floor coverings. Pick the worst areas to do first. If the kitchen or bathroom floors are nasty do them and leave the carpet. If there are dog stains and worn spots on the carpets then that is where you need to go first. Keep the colors neutral and put in a medium grade. This is a big item so allow $3-5,000. If your carpets are shot this will make the biggest difference in the value of your home. In the next segment i will continue this conversation.