Tip #29 The Kitchen: Know how much is enough

It is usually the kitchen and the bathrooms that are most scrutinized when a house is being considered for purchase. Therefore, they should be your first priorities when you look at the interior of your home before your prospective buyers arrive.

However, most experts agree that it’s not always the most cost-effective decision to completely remodel your kitchen before selling. Sure, you may get part of it back, but it simply can’t be guaranteed that you’ll get a return on all of your investment.

Instead, there are some great little things that you can do as far as minor improvements and general sprucing up, which will provide a much greater impact on the speed and success of the sale of your home.

Tip #30 The Kitchen Sink

There are lots of little things that you can do to the kitchen sink that are quite inexpensive and easy, and which will make an enormous difference in the overall picture.

For one thing, you’ll want to be certain that there aren’t any leaks at all. Do a good job repairing leaks, to ensure that there won’t be any unfortunate surprises while the prospective buyers are viewing your kitchen.

Also you will want to remove stains from the sink and surrounding area. Use a good quality cleaning product, and make the sink and its hardware simply shine and sparkle.

This is almost as effective as replacing it altogether.

Tip #31 The Kitchen Appliances

Even if you are not leaving your appliances behind, they should be well cleaned, and shiny. This includes a thorough cleaning of your:

• Refrigerator

• Oven

• Dishwasher

• Microwave

• Toaster

• Coffee maker

This is especially important for anything you’ll be leaving behind, such as a built-in dishwasher, but everything should be cleaned in order to give an overall impression of a sanitary, well maintained, friendly, and overall pleasant kitchen.

Dirty appliances will inevitably make prospective buyers feel that the rest of the house is dirty as well. Even if everything was immaculate except for the oven door, that one little patch of grunge will be enough to alter the feeling that a potential buyer has about your home.

The truth is that a fantastically large number of the 90 million kitchens in America are aged 50 years or more. This means that they’ll need to aim for that classic, but well maintained, and up-to-date appearance, instead of simply “old”.

Next Tip: Kitchen Cupboards