5 Tips for Improving Your Home Value on the Cheap
Save all of that money for celebration after you sell the house.
The two rooms that tend to sell almost any house are the kitchen and the bath. If they're shoddy, some buyers will be less than impressed. But if they look amazing, you could put a twinkle in a buyer's eye. Unfortunately, the typical bathroom renovation a lot costs more than a pretty penny. Good thing you can do it on the cheap.
The average bathroom remodel comes in at over $17,000, according to Angie's List. That's an enormous amount of money, especially if you're only upgrading in order to sell. With a few smart ideas and some elbow grease, your bathroom will look great and you'll get to keep the profits.
Here are 5 projects that can make a tired old bathroom look terrific:
#1: Replace the Flooring With New Vinyl
Old vinyl looks dated and tired, even though it's still one of the best choices for a bathroom floor. Since even full baths are typically smaller than most of your other rooms, they don't require a lot of materials to get a major flooring makeover.
Sheet vinyl comes in beautiful styles and colors now. It's definitely not your mother's old vinyl. If you're lucky, you could find a large vinyl remnant in the flooring department of your favorite home improvement store. That will save you a lot of money over buying vinyl off the roll.
Average cost: $500 or less, for a full, professional installation.
#2: Swap Out or Paint the Vanity
Built-in cabinets aren't especially cheap, but the bathroom vanity doesn't need a huge cabinet. If you replace the one that you've got with something new, you'll have a fresh, clean, brand new look for the space.
Alternatively, you could paint the vanity. Scuff the surface lightly with sandpaper and apply a coat of paint primer. Then you can transform the cabinet with any color of paint that you like. Enamel is ideal for the bathroom because it holds up well and cleans up like a dream.
Average cost: $10 (paint) - $500 (new vanity)
Almost anyone can replace a faucet. Honestly!
#3: Replace Plumbing Fixtures
Event the nicest faucets and shower sets look a little grungy over time. Around the base of faucet handles is a particularly vulnerable area for corrosion, but permanent scuffing and discoloration can happen at any place where water constantly contacts the metal.
Replace the plumbing fixtures with new ones, and your bathroom will be noticeably brighter. It's not a challenging job, either. Watch this video on installing a bathroom faucet from Lowe's and you'll learn about the skills and the tools that you need to take on the job yourself.
Average cost: $60 - $150 for one faucet if you do it yourself.
#4: Update the Walls
There are so many things that you can do with the bathroom walls. There's the tried and true paint, which is so smart that it makes every budget-friendly remodeling list. And there's also wallpaper, which is a little more expensive but can look gorgeous.
Scrub down the walls really well before you paint or wallpaper. Apply a paint primer before rolling on paint, and you'll get a better result. Don't forget the ceiling, since it could probably use a coat of paint, too. Use wallpaper that's coated with vinyl, and your hard work will resist the bathroom's humidity.
Average cost: Up to $100 for paint, $400 - $800 for high-quality wallpaper professionally installed.
Fresh, white caulk makes any bathroom look better.
#5: Replace Caulk
The caulk that surrounds the bathtub and probably the bathroom sink as well can shrink, crack and look dingy after a few years. But replacing it with fresh, bright white caulk makes the areas look cleaner and newer.
Caulk is one of the cheapest fixes that you can buy. And it's not hard to apply, either. You definitely don't need a pro. Choose acrylic caulk with a latex additive, for water resistance, and clean up will be easy.
Average cost: Less than $5 per tube of caulk
You don't need a huge budget to make your bathroom look great before you sell. Even if you wanted to spend a lot, the return on investment might leave you upside down. While bathrooms are important, HGTV says that a remodel might only give you about 62 percent back in ROI.
If the bathroom is in terrible shape, then paint and a few new fixtures probably aren't enough o do the trick. But if it's just a little tired and dingy, save the big bucks for something else and give this space a miserly update that can still turn a buyer's head.
Getting ready to sell? Let eppraisal help you find out how your home stacks up against others in your area. Try a free property valuation today and get your home's estimated value as well as the value of others around your town.
All cost data sourced from Homewyse.