Homes Manual

Free Tips That Will Dramatically Increase the Selling Value Of Your House (Part 1)


Did you know that it's a proven fact that a properly maintained home sells substantially higher then a home that is dirty, depressed looking and clearly not maintained very well? When it comes to selling your house the statement "first impressions are the selling impression" couldn't be any more accurate. This article will highlight some quick tips that will increase the amount of money you can ask for you home when you're ready to sell it.

These tips won't consist of insisting that you perform a major renovation or complete overhaul of your home. Instead they will focus on what you can do outside around your house in order to increase your property value. These quick fixes can include things such as cleaning, painting, refinishing, and other such efforts. These are the projects that don't require all that much capital, and yet they make an immeasurable improvement to the overall look of your home.

Remembering what we said earlier about first impression prompts my first and number 1 tip. Always take the necessary time to tidy up around the outside of your home. This would include all debris, refuse or garbage waste as well as tools, children's toys and yard care tools such as lawnmowers and weed eaters.

Always keep any bushes or shrubbery around the outside of your home neat, trimmed and well shaped. It creates the illusion of a well maintained home and subconsciously makes the buyer fell better about the house before actually stepping inside.

Planting inexpensive flowers around your home in order to brighten up the outside can have a positive effect on promoting your house. Many of my favorites include petunias, marigolds and zinnias. Flowers are especially attractive under windows, on porches and of course in flower beds.

Another sure winner when it comes to creating a positive buzz about your house is a properly manicured lawn. Make no mistake about landscaping plays a huge role in determining the value of your home. In fact, studies have shown that when the landscaping of a home is in excellent condition, it can sell for about 4 to 5 percent higher, while homes with landscaping in very poor condition can sell for 8 to 10 percent less. That's a huge difference in the overall selling price of your home.

If you have a porch or any types of railing on the outside of your home then take the necessary steps to make sure that all of the wood used is in good shape. Make sure all wood screws are properly tightened and that nothing is molding or broken. Additionally make sure the railing is secure and not loose so as to pose a safety hazard.

If you have any shutters on your home make sure they are kept clean and serviceable. The reason for this is quite simple. When they're well maintained and in good shape, they can add a warm, comforting touch to brick, stone, or just about any other finish. However, if they're not well maintained, and are in bad shape, they are one of the fastest ways to make your home appear to be neglected; especially to prospective buyers.

Make sure to identify any areas around the outside of your home that require touch up paint. The small investment in time and the necessary paint supplies you purchase will significantly increase the appeal of your home and allow you to ask a higher selling price.

Finally perform one more look at the overall condition and cleanliness of your home prior to any prospective buyers coming by with a real estate agent. Inspect to make sure the gutters, windows and siding are all clean. Remember, your goal for the best possible curb appeal is a neat, clean, well maintained atmosphere. All of these items can be easily performed in a few hours, and they'll make an enormous difference for selling your home.

Timothy Gorman is a successful webmaster and publisher of Best-Free-Insurance-Quotes.com. He provides free insurance information and offers discount home, auto and life insurance that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Other websites operated by Tim

Cellular-Phone-Solutions.com - Free information and resources regarding cell phone plans and free camera cell phones.

Military-Loans-Online.com - Which provides free money saving loan quotes on your entire loan needs to include debt consolidation loans.


MORE RESOURCES:
There is something emotionally charged about the buying and selling of New York high-end real estate. How else to explain the juggernaut of reality TV shows about high-end brokers?


After 30 years of marriage, Sharon and Michael Newman decided it was finally time to move from the Catskills to New York City.


The house, designed by the architect Eric Fisher, looms over the street like a big industrial arm.


A town house in Dallas, a midcentury modern in Rhode Island and a Tudor in Denver.


For a century, Roosevelt Island housed a grim penitentiary. It was demolished in the 1930s.


More borrowers are opting for fixed-rate loans with terms other than the standard 30 or 15 years, especially when it comes to refinancings.


Two more glass skyscrapers are added to a group of towers on the waterfront of Long Island City.


Insurance coverage for a co-op unit; when a tenant is ‘blacklisted’; a co-op is smaller than estimated.


The market for $500,000-to-$600,000 houses in Westchester has become especially active.


A shaky real estate market means more sellers are providing buyer concessions, from gift cards to help with paying property taxes.


Houses of worship are adaptable to residential and other uses as congregations dwindle.


Nearly two million Americans could benefit from mortgage relief from the nation’s biggest banks, as part of a broad government settlement to be announced on Thursday.


A cold war-era satellite relay station is for sale in California after a Silicon Valley mogul gave up on plans to turn it into a weekend home.


How can I make my front porch more appealing to buyers?


Court hearings meant to protect New York homeowners from foreclosure are hopelessly slowed by endless paperwork and requests for additional information.


The Bay Area and Silicon Valley expect the windfall from the Facebook stock offering to make their in-demand region even hotter.


A Ditmas Park co-op, Upper East Side co-op and an Upper West Side condo.


A 10-year-old house with six bedrooms in Montvale, N.J., and a renovated four-bedroom in Bronxville, N.Y.


Prices in some parts of the country are still off by as much as 25 percent from their 2007 peak.


Trinity Church is the largest landlord in Hudson Square and is part of the effort to rezone the area to residential from manufacturing.


Rising oil prices and a boom in shale exploration are leading companies to add office space in the Houston area, most notably Exxon Mobil.


Ms. de França is the president and chief executive of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, which focuses on new residential developments.


Meet the real estate broker’s interns: an ambitious group willing to do anything, earn nothing and wake up early on a Sunday to fluff the couch cushions at open houses.


Gray Burton lives in a 250-square-foot space he furnished with antiques he’s been collecting for years.


A photogenic Westchester suburb with high-profile residents is also known for its art museum and a performing arts center.


Wealthy investors are wiring millions of dollars to New York to snatch up a piece of 157 West 57th Street - what will be New York City's tallest residential building, with 90 floors overlooking Central Park.


An apartment at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, opposite Central Park, was bought anonymously through a limited liability company.


Homes in Dallas, Rhode Island and Denver.


A Ditmas Park co-op, Upper East Side co-op and an Upper West Side condo.


A 10-year-old house with six bedrooms in Montvale, N.J., and a renovated four-bedroom in Bronxville, N.Y.


Compare the cost of renting and buying equivalent homes.


For recently divorced men, a new breed of decorators offers help navigating a strange new world.


Plants that light up the winter garden can be found at Broken Arrow Nursery in Connecticut, which has long been a favorite of gardening geeks.


A sister in need drew the painter Beverly McIver back home to North Carolina, unaware that a new beginning was in store for both of them.


A jewelry designer finds striking new objects for storage.


Timothy Sakamoto and Jochen Repolust are part of the small but growing niche making mobile apps focused on specific works of architecture.


To promote an auction of 20th- and 21st-century design, the interior designer Stephen Sills has created a preview exhibition in an apartment at the Apthorp.


Fishs Eddy now sells plates acquired from the archives of the now-defunct Syracuse China Corporation, many more than 100 years old.


The designer Russell Greenberg creates custom baby rattles with ends shaped like profiles of mom and dad.


home       | site map |       Disclaimer |       Privacy Policy
© 2006