5 Affordable Home Fixes Before You Sell

Are you preparing to put your house up for sale? If so, then of course you want to make as much of a profit as possible by doing so. Yet for many people, here’s the challenge: although you want to make money from selling your home, that doesn’t always mean that you have enough in your budget to invest in the kind of “upgrades” that it might need.

The good news is that if this is currently your dilemma, we actually have a few tips for how you can make some affordable home fixes before you sell your house. Just check these out below:

Care for the lawn. No one wants to drive by a house and see brown grass, a rusty mailbox or a dirty driveway. So, before you do anything else, make sure to do some landscaping to your front and back yard. This would including cutting the grass (and planting some new seeds if necessary), painting your mailbox and rinsing off your driveway.

Get a low-flow showerhead and toilet. You might have read that one thing many prospective homebuyers are looking for is a house that has some eco-friendly improvements made to them. Although you might not be able to afford solar panels, there are two things that you can get for less than $200 that can still make a significant difference. A low-flow showerhead and toilet can reduce the amount of water that you annually by as much as 30-40 percent. Plus, being that a nice bathroom is always an important feature, it can always work to your advantage to have a new toilet installed.

Add some paint. If you’ve been living in your house for a considerable amount of time (especially if you have children or pets), then there’s a pretty good chance that you have some scuffs and marks on your walls. Luckily, adding a fresh coat of paint doesn’t require a lot of money or take a lot of time to do. Just remember that since you’re planning to sell your house, it’s best to use as neutral a shade as possible.

Install some hardwood laminate flooring. Yes, we’re pretty sure that some of you just read that and thought “Now how is that possibly affordable?” but you might be surprised. For one thing, when it comes to the kind of flooring that can get you the most for your money in a sell, hardwood is definitely your best bet. Secondly, to have it installed is not as much as you probably think. In many cases, the average cost per square foot is between $5.00-7.00.

Replace an appliance (or two). Did you know that by simply purchasing an Energy Star dishwasher, you can save as much as 10 gallons of water for each cycle? That can easily equate to saving as much as 3,650 gallons of water each year. So, whether it’s an energy efficient dishwasher, washing machine or refrigerator, think about replacing your current appliance with an Energy Star one. It is a surefire way to increase your house’s property value, plus it comes with its own home energy audit benefits too and that’s always an added bonus!