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Updating an existing home for sale

Understanding Key Selection Variables (KSV)

As always, the key here is to try to do the least amount of work for the maximum impact on the value of your home. When preparing your home for sale, you need to throw aside your personal taste in style and color and consider instead neutral colors and styles that will appeal to the widest possible number of potential buyers.

Staging a home to sell is not about preparing it to be lived in, but instead its all about giving it the look of a "shiny penny" when compared to the other homes on the market in a similar price range. In some prestigious areas, updating the two key rooms in the home can put it into a completely different price range!

Insider Tips - Where to Spend Money First

A home that is cozy and practical to live in is not necessarily the best home to sell. To get an idea of what I mean, spend a day walking through the model homes of a few property developers in your area. These homes are typically "dressed" to sell! Although they look great when you walk through them, they may not be terribly practical to live in. For example, the rugs or wall-to-wall carpets will frequently be of a very light color, maximizing the feel of a large open room while being very impractical for most families with children or pets.

Property developers stage their homes to sell for the maximum price. Many developers pay an interior de-signer to decorate their model show homes so that they can get the maximum price for their remaining homes.

If you have the money, hiring an interior designer to refresh the interior of your own home before selling it can potentially add a substantial amount to the bottom line, especially for homes at the upper end of the price range.

Staging your home can involve any-thing from dressing up certain parts of the home and emptying it of clutter to the complete remodeling of key rooms. However, for many homeowners, hiring and interior designer is not an option. What then should you consider in staging your home before attempting to sell it?

This clearly depends on the present condition of the property, but no matter what the condition of the home, it is worth considering the key selection variables that drive the selection of one property over another. (Selection Variables are those aspects of the home that you have immediate control over. While style of home, number of bedrooms, total square footage, location, and other factors play a significant role in the price of a home; these factors are not easily changed without significant remodeling costs). Research has shown that it is most often the woman in a partnership that has the deciding influence in the selection of one home over another; Key Selection Variables reflect this fact.

The Home Investor Key Selection Variables (KSV's)

#1: Kitchens

As a man that loves to cook, I personally don't like the assumption that it's always the woman that looks at the kitchen, but the facts show that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms for the majority of women home buyers and increasingly it is an important room for modern men. If we accept that the majority of buyers looking to purchase your home will include a woman in the decision making team, it makes sense to adapt your kitchen so that it has the maximum impact with female home buyers.

Top Kitchen Tips:

• Replace worn-out old cupboards with new units of a contemporary style with-out going for all the expensive little add-ons and trims. The basic units are usually very reasonably priced (especially if you are handy enough to install them yourself) and they will look great. You can sometimes get away with simply replacing the doors of your old units and completely transforming the look of a kitchen in the process.
• Upgrade the counter tops to Granite or Corian (Granite tile is a less expensive alternative to solid granite for those on a tight budget).
• Replace tired, leaky taps with a sparkling new faucet.
• Consider replacing that old stainless sink with a gleaming new ceramic de-sign.
• Replace worn-out old flooring with new floor tiles, selecting a lighter color to brighten the room and add a sense of spaciousness.

#2: Bathrooms

The other most important rooms in the home are the bathrooms. My advice is this, if you put any money into your home, always put into the kitchen and the bathrooms before every other room; these rooms want to be up-to-date and to feel as luxurious as possible without actually costing a fortune to present in this way. (It is quite possible to spend an inordinate amount of money remodeling kitchens and bathrooms without any hope of ever recovering the cost in the eventual sale price of the home).

Top Bathroom Tips:

• Make sure the bathrooms are gleaming (nobody wants to buy a dirty bath-room)!
• Nothing looks worse than an old stained bath, so if your looks like it has seen too many days, get it replaced and consider upgrading it to a whirlpool style tub, especially if you have a master suite.
• Worn-out toilet seats cost practically nothing to replace! If the toilet bowl is discolored and/or cracked, a complete new toilet is a low cost item and easy to install for most people.
• If you're replacing the bathtub and the toilet, you should probably replace the sink as well, and ensure everything matches, especially the taps on the tub and sink.
• If you have a shower over the bath, make sure the shower curtain is new and it includes an exterior dress curtain with a tie back. Alternatively, install a smoked glass door for a touch of class.
• Plastic tub surrounds are very practical and look terrible. If you have one, replace it with modern tiles (avoid strong patterns which may not be to everybody's taste).
• If you have tiles, ensure the grout is gleaming white (an easy way to do this is to clean/bleach the old grout and then re-grout over the top).
• While we're talking tiles, select large floor tiles with a bright finish to lighten up the room and cover with a small light colored floor rug.
• Upgrade your lighting to make the bathroom bright and inviting. (Consider sunken ceiling spots and good lighting over the sink).

Around The House Pre-sale Tips:

• Repair damaged walls and wood trim (repair holes left from picture hangers and bookshelves if they have been removed).
• Repaint walls and interior trim in a white / off-white color (lighter colors make rooms brighter and feel bigger while whites and creams are the most neutral colors and least offensive to the majority of buyers. Most show homes are decorated in white or magnolia!
• Clean all the windows and blinds.
• Refinish wood floors.
• Have wall-to-wall carpets professionally cleaned or preferably replaced.
• Remove as much clutter as possible (put it in storage if necessary; not in the basement).
• Consider moving some furniture to storage so give a greater feel of space.
• Remove personal items such as family photos, religious icons, etc.. You want buyers to be looking at the home and not wondering about the existing owners.
• Have the house professionally cleaned prior to putting it on the market.

Exterior Tips:

• Repaint old and worn out trim.
• A new front door or at the very least a fresh coat of paint will make your home more welcoming to visitors when they come to view your home.
• Remove all toys and miscellaneous items from the yard at the front of the house.
• Cut back shrubs and trees so the house can be seen at its best from the road.
• If you can't afford to have the driveway paved, have a fresh layer of gravel spread and remove the weeds from the drive area.
• Keep the grass neatly trimmed and tidy.
• Leave exterior landscaping lights on at night so people driving by see some-thing of the home and get a cozy feeling for the location.
• Remove old cars and car parts from the driveway.