Easy Ways To Sell A House As Is For More Money

How Much Work Will It Take?

Our Short Answer:

You don’t need to empty your wallet on lavish upgrades to get the most value when you sell a house as is. By making minor changes like a new coat of paint, performing a few repairs, and making your yard look attractive it can get you the best price for your home.

It can be intimidating to sell a home that needs repairs, but it is far from impossible. There is no reason why you shouldn’t get the best value possible when you sell your house as is. 

Whether you sell your house as is through a home auction, a real estate agent, through a quick cash offer company, or selling your home yourself (FSBO) there are small things you can do to improve the curb appeal of your home.

Here Are 3 Recommendations To Set A Better Value To Sell A House As Is:

  1. Clean up your yard and get rid of any clutter.
  2. Small changes that you can make that will boost your home’s value.
  3. Focus on your home’s selling points.

Clean Up Your Yard And Get Rid Of Any Clutter

A healthy-looking lawn, brightly-colored flowers can add curb appeal to your home; and creates a favorable first impression with home buyers.  

We aren’t talking about making expensive upgrades, only making simple changes. By taking care of your lawn, mowing the grass, cleaning up the weeds, and adding a few flower pots, you can add more value to selling your home as is. 

Research from Homelight found that regular lawn care – mowing your grass, applying fertilizer, and weed control recoup “287% of the cost of upkeep at the time of sale”. An attractive and well-looked after yard can also add as much as 10% to the value of your property.

Landscaping and real estate professionals concur that how your home looks on the outside wets the buyer’s appetite to see what your home looks like on the inside. (https://www.homelight.com/blog/does-landscaping-add-value/)

What Changes Can You Make That Will Get You Better Value For Selling Your Home As Is?

  • Research from Homelight estimates that lawn service care (which costs $126) can add as much as $1,200 to your home’s value -that’s an ROI of 352%
  • By adding fresh mulch (which costs roughly $40), you can recoup 120% of the cost at time of closing.
  • According to The National Association Of Realtors and The National Association of Landscaping Professionals, pruning shrubs, mowing 2,800 square feet of lawn annually, and planting 60+ annuals or perennials (totaling $3000), has 100% Return On Investment upon selling your home.
  • Taking care of your lawn is one of the more cost effective ways to increase the value of your home. Landscaping offers a 100-200% Return On Investment and “can increase the value of your property by as much as 15%”.

Small Changes That Will Increase Your Home’s Value

Give Your Home A Deep Clean

You can clean your home yourself, or hire a professional cleaning company. Make sure that in addition to vacuuming, dusting and mopping, clean the areas in your home that you rarely pay close attention to: vents, door knobs, baseboards and cabinets. 

Give your carpets a proper steam clean, wipe the walls, clean your windows and consider repairing any windows or screens that are broken. 

A messy house can signal a warning sign to buyers who may suspect that there are issue that are “lurking beneath the dirt”. A clean home shows that it is a well-looked after property. According to a survey by Homelight, cleaning and de-cluttering your home can add to its resale value by up to $4000.

De-cluttering Your Home To Make It Look Spacious

De-cluttering your home can add over $2500 to its value. Just as the dirt and dust gathers over time, so does unnecessary clutter. Getting rid of the things that you don’t need both makes your home look cleaner and more spacious. A larger home is one of the reasons why people decide to move. 

By cleaning out your closets in all your rooms, moving bulky furniture that makes your space look smaller, helps potential buyers see the space they are getting. It may even convince them to pay a higher price for your property.

Doing Minor Home Renovations To Your Kitchen And Bathroom

According to Tap Warehouse, making changes to your kitchen and bathroom can add as much as 10% onto the resale value of your home. While entirely remodeling your kitchen and bathrooms can be expensive, making small changes like replacing ugly cabinets or changing the shower head will cost you much less. 

Some Minor Remodeling For Your Home That Won’t Cost A Lot and can be done quickly.

  • Cleaning up or re-grouting your existing tiles and grout. 
  • Replacing the toilet seat.
  • Painting the kitchen cabinets.
  • Replacing the kitchen knobs.
  • Replacing your kitchen backplash.
  • Cleaning off the pipes under the sink.

You can take these on as home improvement projects or hire a professional to do the work for you. A few minor repairs shouldn’t cost a lot.

(https://mymortgageinsider.com/four-ways-to-increase-your-homes-value/)

Give Your Interior A New Coat Of Paint

You may love your orange or pink colored walls, although some buyers may not. It’s a good idea to add a neutral coat of paint like a putty, sand or white to give your home a new look. If you want your interior to look brighter, add a semi-gloss paint. If you want to mask over small defects like plaster cracks or dry walls use an egg shell finish.

Power Washing Your Home’s Exterior: Power washing can revitalize the look of your exterior walls, changing them from bland to beautiful. This can definitely add to the curb appeal of your home for potential buyers. Power wash all your home’s exteriors from your driveway to your front decks and patios. If you don’t own a power washer, they’re available for rent at many local hardware stores. 

Refinishing Or Replacing Your Front Doors

The front of your home is one the first things that potential buyers see. Your garage door is a prominent feature of your home’s exterior because it takes up a lot of space; installing a new door will improve your home’s appearance. 

Replacing a garage door can cost a little more – the average price for a new one costs $1,100.  But it may be worth it for its Return On Investment. According to research by Remodeling Magazine, “replacing your garage door can recoup 97.5% of the cost of the project”.

If it is too costly to replace whole doors, you can “upgrade their hardware”. Making the smallest changes can give them a modern look. If your doors are in decent condition, give them a power wash or add an attractive coat of paint to restore them

Look Out For Hardwood Floors

You may think, “What significance can a hardwood floor have?” Believe it or not, it’s a desired feature in a home. Most of the time, it remains hidden underneath your wall-to-wall carpeting. 

BobVilla.com advises the seller to pull up a small corner of carpeting in a place that’s out of sight to access the quality of the flooring. If you find hardwood flooring underneath, remove the carpet. 

It’s far more cost effective than replacing your carpeting or flooring. Hardwood floors can increase your home value by 3 to 5%.

Highlighting Your Home’s Selling Points

When selling your home as is, it is a good idea to highlight its best features. Whoever you choose to sell your home through, make sure they know about them. It could be that your home has large windows that let in a lot of natural light. 

You may live in a fantastic neighborhood for families with parks and schools or near to public transportation. If you have a home office- it is a great feature that people will love to know about.

Also make sure you know all about the area you live in. Depending on the property value of your neighborhood, your house may be worth more than you thought!

Our Bottom-line:

You don’t need to perform big upgrades to get the best value for selling a house as is, by investing in minor repairs and making sure things are in working condition and that there are no existing liens or outstanding balances. With added curb appeal you’ll get the best possible market value.