Five low-budget ways to get your home ready for market

Not much money on hand to update your house now that you’ve decided to sell?

With a little creativity, online shopping savvy and some DIY capabilities, you might be able to make a big impact on a very small budget.

Since keeping up with Chip, Jo, Hilary, Drew and my new favorite, Jasmine — and keeping current and relevant on home fashion — is part of my job, I’m intimately familiar with the “reno” budget conversation.

The bottom line in all these home-improvement realty shows comes down to how much money the clients have to give the superstar design and construction team. The producers and staring designers are not going to cough up $50,000 to $200,000, so they need to know how much they have to work with to do their magic.

But you don’t need that much.

If you’ve decided it’s time to sell your home, and you’ve lived in it for quite some time without making any changes, there are a few reasonably priced improvements you might consider. To me, this is like putting on lipstick. Regardless of what the rest of your outfit looks like, a little lipstick always makes you look better.

And it costs way less than a new dress. Here’s what you might be surprised to learn.

New handles on your doors are a great place to start. For somewhere between $10 – $30 each, you can make your bedroom, bathroom and closet doors look totally up to date.

Next, you can change out your towel bars and toilet paper holders in a finish that either matches or compliments your door handles for about the same price per piece.

Changing your sink faucets to match or complement your other hardware choices would step it up a notch. You have some lovely options in the $65 range for bathroom faucets and slightly higher for kitchen faucets. These tend to be easy to install, especially if you get the same shape/footprint you already have. Then, there won’t be a shadow of the prior fixture to contend with.

If you have a slightly larger budget, consider updating your bathrooms with a new vanity. Many options come together with cabinet, counter, sink and faucets for around $350 for a single sink and $700 for dual sinks — more if you hire a plumber or handyman to do it. But having professional help will do wonders and make your home more desirable.

Lastly, consider updating your kitchen appliances. I poked around a bit and found stainless steel appliances for $45 to $500. I priced out an entire kitchen suite — including range, dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave — for just over $1,000. Yep. Just a bit more than one thousand dollars. Now, some of these might have been used, but probably not as well used as the ones you’ve had for the last 30 years, and much more stylish.

Just like a great lipstick.

Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an agent with Realty One Group. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com.

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