Adding Value To Your Home

Home Upgrade Hacks To Consider

Most people who plan to sell their homes are looking for cheap home upgrade hacks to increase their property’s value. The more money you can get from the sale of your property, the better. It’s normal to be concerned about spending money on such changes. The good news is that you can make a few home upgrade to your property that won’t cost a fortune. The following are a few money-saving tips that will quickly raise the value of your home.

Repaint

There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make a house look well-cared for. When painting your walls, adopt a neutral color palette to appeal to a wider audience. You want as many potential buyers as possible to be interested in your home, and a professional paint job will undoubtedly impress them. A freshly painted house conveys the impression that the property is in good condition and has been carefully cared for.

Painting the complete house from the exterior to the interior isn’t necessary. Only consider re-painting and updating certain parts. Include focal points such as living room walls, kitchen walls, and bedroom walls.

Clean and remove rust

Rusting metal doorknobs, hinges, and locks, together with rusted pipes, may make a property look old and worn out. Many of these unattractive features can be removed by simply replacing the existing hardware with new hardware, but there are other ways to make your property seem brand new without having to spend any money.

Method 1: Apply rust converters

Look for commercially available rust removal products. This may be the easiest and most straightforward way. Use a rust converter to cover rust and prevent further corrosion. It works as a primer for paint and may be applied with a paintbrush.

Method 2: Use white vinegar

The metal hardware may also be cleaned by soaking it in white vinegar for a couple of hours. Half-fill a medium-sized basin with white vinegar. Put in the rusty hardware and let it sit for several hours before scrubbing it off. After removing any traces of rust, clean the metal with a microfiber cloth.

Method 3: You may also try baking soda

Mix baking soda and water into a thick paste and apply it to the metal surface, allowing it to dry. Let the paste sit on the metal for a few hours before scraping the rust and washing the metal off.

Method 4: Mix salt and lime

Another method you can do at home is to use salt and lime. Simply sprinkle salt on the metal surface and pour lime over it. Similar to the previous methods, let the hardware be soaked to the mixture for a couple of hours before scrubbing off the rust and wiping the surface clean.

Replace Outdated Closets and Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

While you can wipe the rust off of your door and cabinet handles, there are times when you’ll need to replace them. If you’re using old-style cabinet knobs and pulls, for example, they may not seem appealing. Due to previous owners, it is possible that the cabinets and closet hardware may not match. If that is the case, then you should consider changing the knobs with ones that are newer and much more contemporary. This home upgrade hack is also something that you can do by yourself.

Deep clean

People are becoming more concerned with environmental hygiene as well as their personal bodily well-being. Before allowing potential buyers to visit the house, rooms such as the bathroom, kitchen, and flooring should be deep cleaned. Here are a few simple tips on how you can deep clean your tiles and grout to make your house spotlessly clean.

The bathroom tiles

When it comes to accumulating filth and germs, the bathroom takes the cake. As a result, it’s really necessary to keep them as clean as possible. Oxygen bleach may be used as a grout cleaner to remove harder stains and grime. Bleach solution should be left on for at least 10 to 15 minutes before rinsing. Rinse thoroughly with clean water to prevent dirt from settling back into the grout lines.

We know that baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice are also great solutions for cleaning. To create a mixture, pour 1 liter of water into a huge mixing bowl. Mix ½ cup of baking soda, ⅓ cup of lemon juice, and ¼ cup of vinegar into the bowl.

You can pour the solution directly into the grout lines but for your convenience, transfer the mixture into a liquid bottle dispenser or squeeze bottle. Allow the solution to sit in for a couple of minutes before brushing the grout with a grout brush. Once you’re done brushing, wipe out all the dirt residue so it doesn’t sink back into the grout.

Flooring

If you have tile flooring you can clean the grout lines using the same method discussed above. However, if your floors are made of a different material, say, for example, vinyl planks, you can vacuum first, then mop.

Adding a cup of white vinegar to a gallon of hot water is one of the most effective ways to clean vinyl plank flooring surfaces. Use a damp mop and mop your vinyl plank flooring, moving from left to right as you go. This quickly cleans dirt and grime without streaks or sudsy residue.

Kitchen granite/marble countertops

Maintain the shine of your marble or granite countertops by using a marble/granite cleaner/polish. You should apply polish on your kitchen counters if you want to do more than just clean them. Use a microfiber cloth to remove the solvent after spraying it with the polish. To make them stain-resistant, apply a spray-on sealer.

While deep cleaning may seem like a tedious task, it does give your home the required glow to make it look brand new and well-maintained without spending a fortune.

Change lightbulbs

Visualize yourself as a prospective homebuyer and attempt to put yourself in their shoes. There are some things that buyers will look for during a property tour such as electrical wiring, plumbing issues, and water pressure as well as light switches, and the like. So you’ll want to make sure you’ve made the right home upgrade methods. Keep every space well-lit since you’ll want to show off the house’s best features. New bulbs should be installed, particularly in restrooms and kitchens.

Remove clutter to create extra storage

Lack of storage space can affect your home’s value. Even if you don’t have adequate storage space, you should at least create the impression that you have enough storage space when selling your home. A house that’s strewn with boxes, magazines, books, and other clutter will put off potential buyers. Decluttering and organizing should be on the list of your home upgrade hacks. A self-storage facility may be a smart choice if you want to open up your home for viewings. If you want to increase the value of your property, you should consider making storage upgrades.

Do home staging

Staging is one of the easiest home upgrade hacks to sell a property fast and for the highest potential price. It’s important for home buyers to see your home in its best light, and staging it may help them appreciate what it has to offer without having to do major renovations. Some people believe that home staging is expensive, yet according to 2020 statistics from the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), 85% of staged properties got bids between 5 percent and 23 percent over list price. It clearly shows that it’s worth the investment.

Eliminate odors and make your house smell fresh.

The first thing we notice when we enter the house is the smell. Now imagine how awful it would be if your house smells bad when potential home buyers visit for a viewing? This would instantly be a huge turn-off.

Few reasons why a house stinks could be due to hidden mold. You might not see the mold but you can smell it. It could be hiding behind drywall, carpets, a poorly ventilated bathroom, and areas near the kitchen that gets a lot of moisture. Another reason is if you have pets, their smell may linger most especially in uncleaned carpets. Odor-causing bacteria are common in bathroom and kitchen sinks due to food scraps in the garbage disposal.

Most importantly, make your bathroom smell nice by placing air fresheners or fragrance diffusers. Updating your house to increase its resale value does not have to be costly. Examine your property and determine what you believe requires a minor improvement. It may be the tiles on your floor, the walls, or the hardware in your kitchen. Just a little cleaning in these places can give your home the fresh luster it needs to be considered premium.

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