10 Tips to Sell Your Home on Limited Budget

Ryan Guina is an entrepreneur and writer. He has worked for Fortune 500 companies and served six years in the USAF. He writes about money management and small business topics at Cash Money Life and military money topics at The Military Wallet. You can follow his twitter feed.

It’s tough to sell a home in the current economy. Right now, there are more homes on the market than buyers, which means you need your home to stand above the competition if you want to sell it quickly. But since you’re moving, you don’t want get stuck with two houses and you don’t want to put a lot of money into remodeling, right?

So scrap the plans for new carpeting, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Let the new owners foot that bill! These tips can help you sell your house more quickly and won’t cost you a fortune.

10 Tips to Help Your Home Sell Faster

1. Keep things clean. It almost goes without saying, but you need to keep your home ready to sell at all times. You may schedule open houses, but it’s also a good idea to make yourself and your home available at a moment’s notice if someone wants to drop by. A clean house is essential for making a great impression.

2. De-clutter! Most people have boxes of “stuff” hidden away in basements, closets, attics, garages, etc. Have a garage sale, throw stuff away and donate to charities. You can clean your house, make money and get some nice tax breaks in the process!

3. Interior paint. Paint is one of the cheapest face lifts you can give your home. Buy a couple gallons of paint and spend a few afternoons giving your house a clean look. If you use the same or a similar color then you may only need to use one coat.

4. Exterior paint. Curb appeal is very important, so take a look at your home’s appearance. You probably don’t need to repaint the entire house – simply painting the the front door, trim and shutters and garage doors can make a world of difference. Two or three gallons of paint may be all you need.

5. Minor landscaping. You don’t need to go all out and hire landscape architects, but you probably need to spruce up your curb appeal. Consider adding a flower bed or some flower pots, put fresh mulch around the trees and mow and edge regularly.

6. Clean the carpets. My wife and I own a carpet cleaner (almost essential when you have children!). But if you don’t own one, you can borrow one from a friend or possibly your church, rent one for about $25 a day or pay a carpet cleaning service. It makes a world of difference!

7. Replace bath mats, towels and shower curtains. Nice bathrooms are a great selling point and you want your bathrooms sparkling clean when you place your home on the market. Your old shower curtain and bath mats have probably seen better days. Spend a few bucks to give your bathroom a face lift, and if you want to keep the new items clean and fresh, only use them when showing the house and continue using your old items the rest of the time.

8. Remove some, but not all, personal items. Some people will tell you to remove all personal photos and other items so people can imagine their own items in their place. But home buyers don’t want to buy a hotel room, they want to buy a home. Leaving a personal touch gives your house a personal feel and a story – and that is something people connect with. Clean out most of the personal items, but leave a few pictures right where they are.

9. Appeal to the senses. An old “trick” used by real estate agents is to bake fresh cookies or bread before an open house so the house smells delicious. Scent is one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, senses. You can try this, but also consider airing out your home, placing a pot of potpourri in the bathroom or placing freshly cut flowers in the bathrooms or on the dining room table.

10. Light! Dim rooms are unappealing. Consider buying higher wattage bulbs if they will work with your light fixtures, or adding additional fixtures if possible. Replace dark curtains with sheer curtains, or pull them back to expose as much of the window as possible. Finally, open the shades to let in as much natural light as possible.

These tips won’t guarantee you will sell your home immediately, but they should make your home more appealing to most buyers – and right now, that is essential if you want to sell your home!