These are the tips I give my clients when we prepare to list their homes for sale on the Treasure Coast, and they will work for any homeowner as effective ways to improve their home’s value regardless of their budget. Keep these in mind if you are prepping to sell your home, or just want your home to be presentable to family and guests.

treasure coast kitchen

  1. Keep your Kitchen a Priority. Remember, bathrooms and kitchens can sell homes by themselves. Spending a few hundred dollars on new faucets, upgraded counter-tops, or new appliances, will pay off more than anywhere else in the house. For less than a hundred bucks, you can update old lighting fixures, refinish cabinets, and replace the handles, to make your kitchen and bathroom look modern.
  2. Optimize your Organization. Even the most dedicated hoarders can keep a low profile. Design your closets to maximize space by adding organizational shelving systems. The more you have sitting in plain site, the more your guests are looking at you stuff and not at the space and design of your home. Many times, I will show homes that are so cluttered that my clients can’t see past the blankets and shoes to see the new paint, crown molding, or newly-finished hardwood flooring.
  3. Frame an Extra Bedroom. If you have an office, den, or nursery, it can be made a “bedroom” by adding a closet. The estimated cost could be from $500 to $1,500, and this could be a $10,000 boost on an appraisal.
  4. Save with low-Maintenance Landscaping. Do your research to purchase plants that are drought-tolerant and native to your area. Not only will you save time on maintaining and watering, but your money won’t be spent on plants that won’t take to the climate and wither away.
  5. Replace Popcorn Ceilings. Few things point to a dated home more than popcorn ceilings, and for less than $100, it can be removed. You can purchase an affordable solution to soften the texture, and then simply scrape it off.
  6. Remodel your Entry. If the doorway to your home is antiquated, update it. Clean up overgrown weeds, replace dysfunctional, rusted hardware, and paint faded doors. First impressions matter, and the doorway into your home should reflect what is to follow.
  7. Trigger All of the Senses. Remember that while what people see is extremely important, smell is actually the fondest sense tied to memory. Whether you’re baking cookies, burning a fragrant candle or incense, or running a light load of laundry, make sure that your guests don’t leave smelling light dogs or cigarettes.
  8. Mind the Simple Aesthetics. Unscrewed door knobs, dangling wires, and loose faucet handles raise flags for home buyers and guests. Simple, 2-minute fixes like these keep people from thinking there are bigger issues that they aren’t seeing.