Don't you hate it when you decide to sell and now you have to do all this work and spend a lot of money getting it ready?  With home values less than when where they were 2 years ago, it is difficult to put alot of money into getting the house ready to sell.  Face it especially in today's economy, homeowners NEED ways to improve, remodel, spruce up and stage their home for as little cost as possible.  Here are some little tips and ideas that I have found helped in bringing some new life to your home. 

1. Tidy up kitchen cabinets.

Potential buyers do open kitchen cabinets and look inside.  Try adding a rollout organizing trays so when buyers peek in, they feel like there’s lots of room for their stuff. I know when I am showing a home to buyers, they love pull outs in the kitchen cabinets.  It will bring a new life to your older cabinetry.

2.  Add or Replace Tile.

By retiling very inexpensively, you make a room look way cleaner that it was.  Stores like Lowes or Home Depot offer $1 to $2 tile. (sometimes less) Now you are paying for the low cost tiles and installation (if you are not a handy person).  Remember, very important, know if you are truly handy at installing tile. If you are not best to hire someone. Use this tip to install a new backsplash or replace a backsplash in the kitchen.  Again, my buyers, especially the experienced homebuyer, always love a backsplash. It is so ez to clean up and adds something to any kitchen area.  You can also add this tip for bathrooms.  However, word of caution, if your bathroom has old tile already, you may want to hire that job out.  It is a bear removing old tile (been there, done that and got the T-shirt!

3.  Add a breakfast bar.

When a wall separates a kitchen from a family room, suggest cutting out an opening to create a breakfast bar. Or in some homes, you may have a half wall or cutout already. Add a nice countertop and some chairs & wahlaa.  This can be done for as little as $500-600.

4.  Freshen up a bathroom without retiling.

With a dated bathroom, I recommend putting in a new medicine cabinet for $100 to $150, light fixtures for about $100, a faucet for $50 to $75, and a vanity for $200 to $300. Instead of replacing the tile, the existing grout can be lightly scraped and regrouted, which leaves a haze that can be buffed out and will make the tile look brand new. Also install glass shower doors. A French door adds a lot of panache and elegance for about  $250, and people will notice the door, not the tile. With all that, you’ve done a bathroom remodel for $1,000 to $2,000.

5. Freshen up the basement. 

If you have cement block or poured concrete walls in the basement, I suggest you have a contractor fill in cracks with hydraulic cement and then paint with waterproofing paint. Try adding a top coat to add color. You can also paint the basement floor with a good floor paint, which spiffs it up. The basement may not be finished, but it’s no longer a damp dungeon.

6.  Add a room.

Look for large spaces that can be enclosed to create a new bedroom for just the price of creating a wall. I know someone who closed off a half-wall to an office and added a door to the other side of the room, thus creating another bedroom. That $400 procedure, which took a contractor one day, netted about $40,000 in the sales price. 

7.  Spruce up cabinet fronts.

 Are your kitchen cabinets tired looking? Try reconditioning which is the least expensive move for under $1,000. If the wood is starting to look shabby from use or contaminants in the air, take out the nicks and scratches, recondition it with oil, and put new hardware on.  For $1,500 to $4,000, you can replace the cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and for $4,000 to $12,000, you can have all the cabinets refaced. With refacing, you can change the color of the cabinets by replacing the door and having a new skin put on the boxes. You could have oak cabinets today, cherry the next day.  Joe and I have totally replaced cabinets in our kitchens (Joe a handyman for sure) The cost of the cabinets with redesigning the kitchen to give us more counter and cabinet space, new counter tops included was about $3500-$4000. 

8 Replace light fixtures. 

In a foyer and in bathrooms and kitchens, replacing overhead light fixtures provides a lot of pop for a little money. If the kitchen has track lighting, have an electrician replace it with recessed canned lights on a dimmer switch to add ambience. It cost under $600. For about $700, you could have pendant lights installed over a kitchen island or peninsula. You will be surprised how it will modernize the kitchen.

9.  Tech up the Garage.

Think about replacing the garage door opener with a remote touchpad entry system. That costs about $425 and makes it look like a high-end system. If you do not have a garage door opener, by all means consider getting one installed.

These tips can add thousands of dollars to the value of your house when you sell.  If you are not selling, it will give you a new love for your home.