Scripps Howard News Service
At the mention of home improvement, your thoughts may turn to saw horses, contractors, cost overruns and a thick layer of dust covering every square inch of your house.
According to Ed Hatch, president of the Residential Sales Council, making modest, but visually effective improvements can benefit homeowners while they occupy the residence and later when they decide to sell, reports the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
These projects may increase the value of the home or shorten the time it stays on the market.
- Hire a cleaning crew. Enlist a professional cleaning crew for a top-to-bottom cleaning can reveal that certain items, like the family room carpet, do not have to be replaced.
- Replace wall and floor coverings. Homes take on a whole new look if peeled paint, wallpaper and stained floor coverings are replaced. Choose neutral shades; color can be added with fabric, paintings and other accessories. Remember--potential buyers may not share your love for lilac.
- Resurface kitchen cabinets. If the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are in good condition, it is considerably less expensive to resurface than to replace them outright.
- Landscape and exteriors. Make sure your yard complements that of your neighbors. Repair cracked driveways and install new door handles and address numbers. These will make your house look more attractive from the outside.
- Invest in new windows. Although the cost is significant, there are two reasons to consider installing new windows: They average 69 percent return on investment, and energy efficient triple-paned glass windows can lower monthly utility bills by 20 percent to 40 percent.
