Selling a House Fast in a Declining Housing Market

Minor Home Improvements That Will Sell Your House

By Mark J. Donovan

When the housing market is declining and you want to sell your house it is more important than ever that your home look the best it can. Though making sure your home is clean, organized and uncluttered are critical factors in successfully selling a house; making some minor home improvements can also be key.

Painting, fixing crack tiled floors, gluing down curled vinyl or linoleum floors, refinishing wood floors, replacing old exterior lighting fixtures, trimming shrubs around the home exterior, eliminating old ceiling water stains from previous roof leaks are just a few of the ideas.

All of these minor home improvements can transform an older home into a new home with limited costs and time.

Paint Interior Walls

If your interior walls are looking shabby with marks and dents, and old nail holes then fill in the holes and repaint the walls. However, make sure you do a quality job by taping all trim first and cutting carefully around the ceiling. Nothing can hurt the appearance of a room more than a poor paint job.

Fix Cracked Tile Floors

If you have tile floors in your home’s entrance way and kitchen, make sure that you have fixed any broken tiles prior to attempting to sell your house.

These are two highly visible and important areas of your home and poor flooring in these areas can make or break the selling of your home.

Glue Down Curled Edges on your Vinyl or Linoleum Floors

If your vinyl or linoleum flooring was put in after your kitchen or bath cabinets and appliances were installed, chances are there has been some curling at the edges of the Vinyl or Linoleum flooring. Apply some glue underneath the curling edges and press the vinyl or linoleum flooring back into place. You will need something heavy to hold down the edges while the glue dries.

Re-sand and Refinish your Wood Floors

If you wood floors are in rough shape then re-sand and refinish them. Quality wood floors can be a real selling point in a home. Scratched up wood floors, however, can be a real turn off to potential homebuyers.

Re-Paint the Ceiling to Eliminate Water Stains

If you roof at one time had a leak, make sure there are no ceiling stains. If there are, then repaint the ceiling. Ceiling paint is very inexpensive and can be easily applied with a roller and a couple hours of work. Leaving ceiling stains visible to potential homebuyers invites questions about your roof’s integrity. No future homeowner is interested in having to replace the shingles on the home as soon as they move in.

Update your Exterior Home Lighting

If your home is at least 5 years old and your exterior home lighting is made out of brass, or brass plating, chances are that it is dingy and faded and quite frankly an eye sore.

Again, outdoor entrance way lighting is one of the first things a potential homebuyer sees. Installing two or three exterior lights is relatively inexpensive compared to delaying the selling of your home in a declining housing market.

Trimming Exterior Shrub

If your home’s front exterior shrubs are overgrown and swallowing up your home’s front exterior then pull out the trimmers and aggressively remove the overgrowth so that the homes front exterior can be seen again.

Power Wash the Exterior Siding

Make sure there is no mold and dirt visible on your home’s siding. Use a power washer and a proper detergent to remove any mold and mildew on the exterior of the home. Nothing looks worse to a potential homebuyer than to see a green sheen running up the home’s exterior.

With these minor home improvements, and pricing your home right to begin with, you can dramatically increase the chances of selling your home quickly. It is important to note that a potential homebuyer usually makes an impression of your home in the first 8 seconds of seeing it. Thus, it is critical that the home’s exterior, entranceway, and key rooms look as good as new before they show up at your door.

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