finding a home that meets your criteria

If you are getting your home ready to put on the market, you're probably hearing lots of advice about upgrades to help your house sell faster. But not every home owner has the ready cash to do upgrades like exposing wood floors, replacing carpeting, installing new appliances, or putting in new windows. Here are seven budget improvements you can make in just a weekend that, combined with a top-to-bottom cleaning, can give your house a fresh, appealing vibe and make it more attractive to buyers.

Remove items you're not using regularly.

Go through your home and box up and label everything you're not using regularly or won't need before your move. You'd be surprised how much stuff, like out of season clothing and holiday decor, takes up real estate in your home. The benefits of putting these items in storage are many:

• It depersonalizes your home, which real estate experts say is desirable to home buyers who want to picture themselves living there.
• It gets rid of clutter that can make your home look unkempt and distract buyers from more positive features.
• It gives you less to clean, which is especially wonderful before those short-notice showings.
• It makes your home look more spacious.
• It helps your closets and cabinets show better.

Change out your lampshades.

If you're like most folks, your lampshades are probably a little dated and/or dusty. It's nearly impossible to make lampshades of a certain age look new again. You can change them for a small price by shopping for new and potentially more stylish shades at a big box or discount store.

Replace kitchen and bath cabinet handles and drawer pulls.

Buyers will be checking every nook and cranny of your home, and the kitchen and bath will get the most attention. If your cabinet doors and drawers have worn hardware, it can make the entire room look shabby. Changing out handles for new ones is an easy DIY job, likewise so is switching your hinges if they are old looking. Tip: you can replace all this hardware with new hardware, but it may be cheaper and easier to simply replate your existing hardware.

Install new faucets.

Since you know the kitchen and bath will get extra scrutiny, why not go the extra step and replace the faucets there as well? If you aren't up to the task yourself, you can hire a handyman to do the job, which is less expensive than hiring a plumber.

Swap out ceiling fan blades.

Home buyers like to look at ceilings to see if there is any water damage or similar signs of wear in the home. Unfortunately, this can call attention to drab or dirty ceiling fan blades. You don't have to replace your entire fan unit and light fixture; just swap out the blades, which is a job anyone can do with a ladder and screwdriver.

Buy new towels and bed linens.

Finally, new towels and bedding give your home a hotel-like touch that buyers will appreciate. To really keep your new linens looking fresh, buy a set of towels that are just for showings, and they'll always look like they just came off the maid's cart that morning.

For more help, contact a business like Re/Max Alliance - The Diane Stow Team.