Making improvements can go a long way towards making your house feel more like home. But if you’re trying to sell your house fast, it’s also a great way to boost the value and make it more appealing to buyers. Of course, home improvement projects can be expensive, but they don’t all have to be. There are quite a few projects you can undertake quickly and cheaply that will benefit you greatly when it comes time to sell. So if you decide to try to spend some money to sell your house instead of selling it as-is to a cash buyer, here are the seven best projects to do now to sell your house fast in Nebraska.
Best Projects to Sell Your House Fast:
Make Your Welcome More Welcoming
First impressions are a huge factor in home sales, especially when you’re considering curb appeal. If someone is looking at a dozen homes over the course of a weekend, they’re going to start looking for easy reasons to say no and an unkempt entrance area is one of those. So it’s up to you to take care of some very simple things to make your front entrance a very appealing one. Get rid of weeds and trim plantings. Replace any old or outdated address numbers with modern ones. Paint the front door and keep decorations tasteful. Make sure the front area isn’t crowded with nonsense and that it’s clean. It might all sound simple but it makes a major impact.
Consider the Kitchen Counters and Cabinets
As a home gets older, the more your kitchen cabinets are going to get worn down. Years of opening, closing, kicking, and slamming add up and leave you with a collection of cabinets that don’t measure up. Consider either giving your old cabinets a new coat of paint or replacing them outright with an upgraded look. Replace the knobs and fixtures to see what effect that has as it might be enough to give you what you’re looking for. A little bit goes a long way here.
It’s probably a good time to take a look at your counters as well Depending on the type of counters you have, a fresh coat of paint might do wonders. You can make them look like they used to or change things up with a bold new color. Other options include creating your own tile counter or adding a butcher block countertop, but only if you feel as though you can make that happen quickly since we’re trying to sell fast.
Make the Bathroom More Comfortable
This might sound odd but there’s something to be said for adding comfy features to the bathroom that really take the entire experience up a notch. You want buyers to be impressed when they walk into a bathroom and a few easy tweaks will go a long way to make that happen. Install a towel warmer and drape it with colorful towels. It’s pretty easy to add a freestanding or wall-mounted version without going overboard on your budget. Make sure you understand the electrical issues involved before embarking on this. And consider upgrading the towels that will hang on it simply to up the wow factor.
Add Energy-Efficient Windows
Adding energy-efficient windows is the kind of upgrade that doesn’t sound like a big deal but will have profound effects on the sellability of the home. In Nebraska, drafty windows that are older than the people coming to buy the house are a huge turn-off. People want to know they’re getting good windows that keep out the heat and the cold. From a practical standpoint, it just makes good sense to upgrade to energy-efficient windows in order to make your entire house more insulated. Plus, it’s a money-saving feature to tout. HGTV says you can expect to get back 60 to 90 percent of your investment by installing energy-efficient windows. Plus, you get a tax credit if you install Energy Star-rated windows. This one could be a little more costly than the other upgrades but pays dividends.
Wood Trim Adds Wow Factor
An easy way to upgrade the look and feel of a room is to add moldings and trim to the walls. Trim adds depth and character and can help contrast a painted wall to really make the colors and texture pop. It starts with the baseboards and the story of a room comes together from there. If you have hardwood floors, consider shoe molding as well. And a crown molding can take a mediocre room and give it an extremely regal finish. You don’t want to overdo it with crown molding so make sure you’re being judicious in how you lay it out.
Create More Space (Or So It Seems)
Knocking down your ceilings in order to create more room just isn’t viable, especially when we’re looking to make quick changes. Instead, do what you can to present an illusion that space is bigger even without changing the actual proportions. Start by raising your window treatments, which can be done cheaply by adding fabric to existing panels. Another way to add the idea of space into your home is by adding mirrors to rooms. Strategically placed mirrors can reflect the rest of the room back to you and guests, making it appear to be much larger than it actually is. Yes, it’s a little bit of a trick but it will make everything feel a little more spacious and increase the luster of everything already in the room. While you’re at it, push the furniture further apart so that it feels like there’s more space when people are sitting in it.
Upgrade the Garage Door
Upgrading the garage door isn’t the sexiest upgrade you could possibly do, but taking your outdated garage door and replacing it with a modern model is an easy way to make the look of the house feel more enticing. Plus, it’s going to benefit you in ways beyond having a place to park your car. A garage door made of durable materials with high-performance additions such as insulation or glazing will help cut down on heating and cooling bills. You’ll obviously want to get one with remote control and you’ll want to get something weather-resistant, like a fiberglass and wood composite. Consider a smart garage door that can be controlled in various ways, a big bonus for modern buyers.