Yahoo Finance 3 affordable changes you should make to your house before you sell it, according to an expert
Insider spoke to Taylor Spellman, an interior designer with expertise in how to sell homes.
She told Insider about the changes homeowners should make to their houses to help them sell.
Spellman's new HGTV show, "One Week to Sell," premieres Wednesday on Discovery Plus.
Coming to the decision to sell your home can be difficult.
But actually getting your house sold is the real challenge, as it can be time-consuming, frustrating, and costly.
Taylor Spellman, an interior designer and the host of the new Discovery Plus show "One Week to Sell," is an expert in getting hard-to-sell homes off the market.
She told Insider about the affordable changes homeowners should make to their spaces to help them sell faster.
Make sure your home has universal appeal when you're trying to sell it
Spellman said one of the biggest mistakes she sees people make when trying to sell their homes is putting too much of their own personality into it.
Potential buyers have to be able to picture themselves living in the space, and if your home reflects your distinct taste too much when you put it on the market, you may inadvertently deter buyers.
For instance, Spellman told Insider that brightly painted walls can be a turn off for buyers.
"People have this sort of strange reaction when they walk into a home and there's a big turquoise wall or the dining room is red," Spellman said. "People are like, 'Well, I liked the house, but I just don't like that dining room.'"
The paint, although a superficial aspect of the space, can end up being make-or-break for potential buyers, so it's better to make sure all of your walls are a neutral tone before you sell.
"You love the turquoise, but perhaps painting it a fresh, light gray would be better for the buyer to walk in and be able to see themselves there," Spellman said.
Paint is also a great way to brighten up your home before selling because it can drastically change the overall feel of the space without breaking the bank.
You want to make the space look as big as possible
Unless they're intending to live tiny, a buyer will be looking for a home that feels spacious, regardless of their budget.
As the seller, it's your job to make the space look as big as possible, which is often easy to do with furniture you already have, according to Spellman.
"Oftentimes, if you just rearrange the furniture, it will make a big difference," Spellman told Insider.
The setup of your furniture for your day-to-day life might not be optimal for getting the house sold.
"Maybe you put the couch in a certain direction because that's how you guys live and it's best for the kids, but at the same time, it doesn't actually suit the space in the best way," she said.
"So if you shifted it to a different wall, when the potential buyer walks in, they're going to be able to really walk through the living room and see just how big it is," Spellman added.
Spellman told Insider that another surprising and simple element that can make a space feel bigger is good lighting.
People often change their light bulbs at different times, so you may have different types of light bulbs of various brightness in the same room, which can make the space look dull or uneven.
"When the person walks in, you want everything to be really bright with the same kind of bulbs so it's producing the same kind of light," Spellman said.
Good lighting will also ensure the space is photogenic, which is crucial in modern home-selling.
"Ninety percent of buyers start their search online, so when you put those photos up, we really need to capture the buyer's attention and bring them through the door," Spellman said.
If the space is well-lit when it's photographed, it will be more likely to appeal to buyers.
Keep the potential buyers' interests at heart as you prepare your home for sale
It's a good idea to make sure your home is shipshape before you put it on the market, but Spellman warned that homeowners should ensure all of the changes they make will actually help their houses sell.
She said she often sees homeowners attempt to make changes they never got to make to their house before they sell them, such as putting in new countertops or knocking down walls.
But those changes are costly and time-consuming, and they might not even make the space look how a buyer would want it to.
"You're putting in what you wanted to do, and the potential buyer is probably going to come in and do what they want to do," Spellman said. "Stay on task, which is to make sure that the space is being reflected in the absolute best light, figuratively and literally."
"Don't get overwhelmed with things that you were going to do but didn't get to, because you're not going to get the ROI there," she added.
Read more: House-flipping profits hit a record in 2020 - here's the ultimate guide to getting started
Spellman said that getting a fresh set of eyes on the space can help you make sure you're investing money in worthwhile renovations before selling. A realtor, interior designer, or even just a friend can help you look at the house more critically.
"You might not see it correctly because it's your home and you love it," Spellman said.
On "One Week to Sell," you can watch Spellman and her team makeover homes that are struggling to sell in just one week.
The show will be available for streaming on Discovery Plus on Wednesday. You can learn more about it here.
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