Now is the time to Sell are you ready ? No are you really ready .

I am often asked to need to spend money to sell my house. Here are a few ideas to help you get ready to sell on a budget.

With home values moving up and maybe for the first time in years Sellers maybe able to sell without bring money to the table Now is not the time to try and save a few penny's and miss a great opportunity

Fact  is homes tend to sell for money after they are prepared properly for the market, and I would not let a small budget for home selling dissuade you. After all, in some areas such as the bathrooms, buyers spend about 2 seconds peeking into those rooms.

First impressions count:

• Trim back the bushes and trees, especially if they block views from the windows and make your home difficult to see from the street. 
• Keep the lawn mowed, preferably on the diagonal.
• Plant yellow flowers such as marigolds along the walk or by the front door. The color yellow sells.
• Wash the exterior windows.
• Paint or replace the front door and buy new hardware.
• Power spray the house to get rid of dirt and cobwebs.
• Buy a new welcome mat for the front steps.
• Paint or replace the mailbox.
• Paint your house number on the curb or buy a plaque displaying your house number and install near the entry.

Remove Excess Clutter and Furniture

• Many homes contain too much furniture. You may benefit from removing 2 to 3 pieces of furniture from each room. Less furniture will make the rooms appear bigger. 
• Remove all personal photographs from tables and walls. Patch holes in the walls or hang non-personalized artwork over the existing nails.
• Pack up your bookcases (you're going to move anyway).
• Clean out the closets and store non-essential items.
• Rearrange your kitchen pantry, kitchen cabinets and bedroom closets in an orderly manner.

Thoroughly Clean the House Before Selling

• You can hire a professional cleaning crew for about $300 or do it yourself for free. Be sure to wash the inside of the windows.

Updating the Kitchen on a Budget

• Kitchens are the most important room in the house. It's the heart and soul of the home. Even if a buyer is not much of a cook, the kitchen is still where family and friends tend to gather.
•  If new granite is out of your budget, consider either re-grouting the kitchen counter tiles, which is surprisingly cost effective, or covering them with granite tiles instead of granite slab.

• For wood cabinets, stripping the finish and re-staining or painting will save you more money than re-surfacing the cabinets.
• Buy new knobs and / or pulls for the cabinet doors. If you have 40 or so knobs on your kitchen cabinet, at a cost of about $5 per knob, your total outlay for new hardware will be about $200. New hardware will transform the appearance of your cabinets.
• Replace a worn kitchen faucet for about $100 to $200.
• Buy new kitchen sink basket strainers for less than $25 each.
• Consider installing kitchen pendant lights over the sink. Cost: About $500.

Painting the Interior

Professional painters will probably charge you anywhere from $300 to $500 to paint each room, but with a little patience, you can paint the rooms yourself. This is not the time to get creative. THINK soft color in a light brown tone (never white), and paint every room the same color and Yes you have to paint the ceiling CEILING WHITE.

Take a little time and really look at your home as if you are the Buyer Remember many current buyers are first time home Buyers and the want the experience of finding that perfect gem of a house not a honey do list. 

Final ask your Realtor to take you on a tour of the competition in the area, it will give you the best idea of what buyer are seeing first hand 

To receive a free comparative market analysis of your home,

Go to http://www.georgiaonlinehomes.com - Your Home's Value