Cleaning Carpet Stains

If you're improving your home to sell in the near future, keep the potential buyer in mind.

If you intend to stay, avoid over-improving. Remodeling projects that you are likely to find valuable are:

                    Improving the Kitchen
                    Adding a new room, sunroom, or recreation room
                    Updating the bath or adding a new bath
                    Landscaping and Curb Appeal

If you are improving your home to sell in the near future, you need to evaluate your plans carefully. It doesn't pay to cut corners, a professional well-done job will have beneficial results. Potential buyers may not want to pay for the extras you want to include, so don't go overboard. Keep in mind that others may not share your tastes in remodeling, colors, or choices of materials and therefore may not appreciate the time and effort you put into your home improvement project. For example, you will find buyers who either expect or want a finished basement, and others who would prefer to finish it themselves. Some are happy with carpeted floors, others want hardwoods. Your REALTOR© can help you make smart choices when getting ready to sell your home. In the Rockford area of Winnebago, Boone, and Ogle counties phone 815-381-6850 for real estate help in today's very competitive market.

If you are remodeling with the intent of staying in your home for at least another year, you may want to do it for your own enjoyment, but you still need to avoid over-improving. Even if your house is the best on the block, it may be difficult to convince buyers to pay extra for the things you found so important.

Proper maintenance is a big factor in the value and ability to sell your home. Go over every part of your home at least once a year. Look at it as a visitor would, and when you see a problem, fix it. Check out the roof, plumbing, electrical wiring, interior and exterior paint, etc. Paying attention to repairs will help you to avoid emergencies and bigger expenses later on.

While many remodeling improvements may pay back all or a substantial part of their costs when owners sell, the project should look professional and fit with the overall look of the home. Try to keep the entire house at the same style and improvement level.

Here are 5 kitchen and bath features buyers have shown they want most:
36% Separate shower enclosure in the master bath
31% Eat-in kitchen
24% High-end appliances--preferably stainless steel for today's buyer
23% Granite countertops
21% Kitchen island--preferably one that incorporates lots of storage
(Source: National Association of Realtors 2007 Profile of Buyers' Home Feature Preferences)

Take a look at your home from the street. Take a picture of it. Curb appeal in today's market is vitally important to MLS and Web appeal as well as the all-important first impression a potential buyer gets when visiting your home. Make sure the entrance to your home is fresh and appealing, replace worn or non-working exterior lighting, paint the front door and make sure the steps and walk are in good repair, trim dead or overgrown shrubs and trees.

Remember that your improvements don't have to be expensive. A coat of paint; clean cabinets and appliances, working faucets; clean carpet; uncluttered rooms and a well-kept home exterior and yard can do wonders. Looking fresh and new with minimal expense can also be achieved by painting dark wood cabinets a lighter color, changing cabinet hardware, adding new countertops, replacing chipped sinks, organizing closets so there appears to be plenty of storage space, removing badly worn carpet or covering worn hardwood floors with decorative rugs and dressing up windows with curtain rods and pleasing fabrics. It should not be your intention to "hide" defects, but to make the home "show well" and leave a good impression on a potential buyer. Homes that show well usually sell faster.