10 fast projects to Improve your foreclosures (and make it sell faster!)

 There are lots of projects that you can do cheaply to help fix up your foreclosures for not a lot of money-here are 10.

1. Play with Color-Give your rooms a shot of color-bright colors are good, but stay away from too bright colors-they might turn buyers away. If you are worried about buyers not liking the colors you choose, pick a neutral beige. Some ideas to make your foreclosures stand out-paint one wall a different color to make it a focal point. Make the one wall a contrasting color, or a darker shade of the other walls (light blue/dark blue). You can also contrast the baseboards or crown molding-although white always looks clean and classy!
2. Bring some life to your carpet- The majority of the time, you will need to have the carpet of your foreclosure professionally cleaned. Get several estimates from several different companies so that you are able to find the best deal. If your carpet is beige or white, add some color by tossing down a bright colorful area rug. This can also bring focus to one area of the room-for example, in the living room, create a cozy conversation area by focusing chairs and furniture around an area rug (this can make your rooms look bigger!).
3. Window Treatments-blinds, draperies, curtains, anything on a window that doesn’t make it look bare will improve the look of your foreclosures. Plantation shutters are always elegant and clean-looking, but make sure that you will recoup the amount you spend on the shutters in your sale…plantation shutters can be quite expensive, so make sure you shop around before you buy.
4. Adding Mirrors-Mirrors can make the room look bigger as they reflect light and space-sometimes making the room appear as though it is twice as big!
5. Change your hardware-A lot of foreclosures have plain, generic kitchen and bathroom cabinet pulls and doorknobs-and these often show wear very easily. Pick something out new and interesting at the hardware store-this is usually a very inexpensive improvement! (Beware-bigger hardware, such as front door handles can get expensive…but they are usually worth it in the long run!)
6. Green up your yard-Nothing is entices buyers more than a beautiful yard-in fact the yard can make or break a sale, especially in the current market when there are so many houses to choose from. Plant some colorful flowers that will draw the eye to your house. More than anything, make sure that your lawn is well taken care of-no weeds, that the grass is cut every weeks, that the edges are trimmed and that the sidewalks are neat and clean. After all, the lawn is the first impression that the buyer gets of your house.
7. If you or a family member is handy around the house, you might try to install tile in the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms. While this is a project that will probably cost you around $300 for a large room (kitchen) and $150 for a smaller room (guest bathroom), you will definitely recoup the rewards in the sale of your foreclosures.
8. Arrange your furniture to make the house look bigger- All buyers want the same thing-space…and you can make your foreclosures look more spacious by arranging the furniture to create wide walkways, smaller focus areas (like in the living room-have a cluster of chairs and couches, rather than everything spread out to fit the space). The main secret to this is, don’t put too much furniture in the house-it will end up looking small and cramped instead of showing how much room there is.
9. Make sure everything works-Go through your foreclosures, and make sure that everything is running as it should-sinks, air conditioning, heater, toilets, showers, the dishwasher and stove, fans, everything. Make sure that come inspection time when you are ready to sell, you won’t be surprised.
10. Clean, clean, clean-No matter what, the thing that makes the most difference in your foreclosure is that it is CLEAN! I mentioned cleaning the carpets earlier, but make sure the other floors are cleaned, the kitchen countertops and the stove are clean. Scrub the bathroom top to bottom, make sure there are no marks on the walls or doors…..basically, clean the house as though you are going to be living in it!