Here are budget-minded enhancements from Realtor Magazine to make your home stand out:
1. Tidy up kitchen cabinets.
"Potential buyers do open kitchen cabinets and look inside," says Heidi Morrissey, vice president of marketing and sales at Kitchen Tune-Up in Aberdeen, S.D. "Home owners can add rollout organizing trays so when buyers peek in, they feel like there’s lots of room for their stuff."
2. Add or replace tile.
"By retiling very inexpensively, you make a room look way cleaner that it was," says Javier Zuluaga, owner of Home Repairs and Remodeling LLC in Tempe, Ariz.
3. Add a breakfast bar.
When a wall separates a kitchen from a family room, consider cutting out an opening to create a breakfast bar.
4. Install granite tile instead of a slab.
"Everybody is hot for granite kitchen countertops, but that can be a $5,000 upgrade," says John Wilder, a general contractor and owner of Fence and Deck Doctor in New Castle, Ind. "Instead, home owners can put in 12-inch granite tiles for about $300 in materials and get very high impact for little money."
5. Freshen up a bathroom without retiling.
"With a dated bathroom, I recommend putting in a new medicine cabinet for $100 to $150, light fixtures for about $100, a faucet for $50 to $75, and a vanity for $200 to $300," says Wilder. "And instead of replacing the tile, the existing grout can be lightly scraped and regrouted, which leaves a haze that can be buffed out and will make the tile look brand new.
6. Freshen up the basement.
"If home owners have cement block or poured concrete walls in the basement…have a contractor fill in cracks with hydraulic cement and then paint with waterproofing paint," recommends Wilder. "They can then add a top coat to add color. They can also paint the basement floor with a good floor paint, which spiffs it up.
7. Add a room.
Look for large spaces that can be enclosed to create a new bedroom for just the price of creating a wall. "One time, we closed off a half-wall to an office and added a door to the other side of the room, thus creating another bedroom," says Quinn, a sales associate at Quinn’s Realty & Estate Services in Falls Church, Va. "That $400 procedure, which took a contractor one day, netted about $40,000 in the sales price."
8. Spruce up cabinet fronts.
Update tired-looking kitchen cabinets. Reconditioning is the least expensive move for under $1,000. "If the wood is starting to look shabby from use or contaminants in the air, we take out the nicks and scratches, recondition it with oil, and put new hardware on," explains Morrissey. For $1,500 to $4,000, owners can replace the cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and for $4,000 to $12,000, they can have all the cabinets refaced.
9. Replace light fixtures.
"In a foyer and in bathrooms and kitchens," says Wilder, "replacing overhead light fixtures provides a lot of pop for a little money." If the kitchen has track lighting, Zuluaga suggests the home owner spend $450 to $600 to have an electrician replace it with recessed canned lights on a dimmer switch to add ambience. For about $700, Zuluaga also suggests installing pendant lights over a kitchen island or peninsula.
10. Tech-up the garage.
"Sometimes we replace the garage door opener with a remote touchpad entry system," says Zuluaga. "That costs about $425 and makes it look like a high-end system."
1. Tidy up kitchen cabinets.
"Potential buyers do open kitchen cabinets and look inside," says Heidi Morrissey, vice president of marketing and sales at Kitchen Tune-Up in Aberdeen, S.D. "Home owners can add rollout organizing trays so when buyers peek in, they feel like there’s lots of room for their stuff."
2. Add or replace tile.
"By retiling very inexpensively, you make a room look way cleaner that it was," says Javier Zuluaga, owner of Home Repairs and Remodeling LLC in Tempe, Ariz.
3. Add a breakfast bar.
When a wall separates a kitchen from a family room, consider cutting out an opening to create a breakfast bar.
4. Install granite tile instead of a slab.
"Everybody is hot for granite kitchen countertops, but that can be a $5,000 upgrade," says John Wilder, a general contractor and owner of Fence and Deck Doctor in New Castle, Ind. "Instead, home owners can put in 12-inch granite tiles for about $300 in materials and get very high impact for little money."
5. Freshen up a bathroom without retiling.
"With a dated bathroom, I recommend putting in a new medicine cabinet for $100 to $150, light fixtures for about $100, a faucet for $50 to $75, and a vanity for $200 to $300," says Wilder. "And instead of replacing the tile, the existing grout can be lightly scraped and regrouted, which leaves a haze that can be buffed out and will make the tile look brand new.
6. Freshen up the basement.
"If home owners have cement block or poured concrete walls in the basement…have a contractor fill in cracks with hydraulic cement and then paint with waterproofing paint," recommends Wilder. "They can then add a top coat to add color. They can also paint the basement floor with a good floor paint, which spiffs it up.
7. Add a room.
Look for large spaces that can be enclosed to create a new bedroom for just the price of creating a wall. "One time, we closed off a half-wall to an office and added a door to the other side of the room, thus creating another bedroom," says Quinn, a sales associate at Quinn’s Realty & Estate Services in Falls Church, Va. "That $400 procedure, which took a contractor one day, netted about $40,000 in the sales price."
8. Spruce up cabinet fronts.
Update tired-looking kitchen cabinets. Reconditioning is the least expensive move for under $1,000. "If the wood is starting to look shabby from use or contaminants in the air, we take out the nicks and scratches, recondition it with oil, and put new hardware on," explains Morrissey. For $1,500 to $4,000, owners can replace the cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and for $4,000 to $12,000, they can have all the cabinets refaced.
9. Replace light fixtures.
"In a foyer and in bathrooms and kitchens," says Wilder, "replacing overhead light fixtures provides a lot of pop for a little money." If the kitchen has track lighting, Zuluaga suggests the home owner spend $450 to $600 to have an electrician replace it with recessed canned lights on a dimmer switch to add ambience. For about $700, Zuluaga also suggests installing pendant lights over a kitchen island or peninsula.
10. Tech-up the garage.
"Sometimes we replace the garage door opener with a remote touchpad entry system," says Zuluaga. "That costs about $425 and makes it look like a high-end system."
