10 Cheap & Clever Ways to Help Your Home Sell Faster (Starting at Just $2)
Selling a home means new beginnings, but it also means endless hours of packing, cleaning, staging, and stressing. Try these clever and inexpensive ways to help your home sell faster!
Buy a new doormat.
Cost: ~as low as $5
Nothing says “Welcome to your future home!” quite like, well, a welcome mat! If your current mat has seen better days, lay down a new one to start future homeowners off on the right foot. Don’t want to toss your old front door mat? Use it at a back (or side) door to replace an old (or missing) mat.
- Mainstays Rubber Coir doormat – $4.50
- Threshold Bicycle doormat – $9.09
- Threshold Home Sweet Home doormat – $12.34
Rent a power washer to clean up walkways and eaves.
Cost: ~$25
You probably won’t even realize how dirty your sidewalks and siding are until the first swipe with a power washer hose. Not only does cleaning up your house and walks create a fresh first impression, but you may also find it oddly satisfying!
Use a lower pressure setting on vinyl siding and underneath your roof overhang to clear out cobwebs and other debris.
- Bissel Power Washer rental – ~$24.99 for 24 hours (varies by area)
- Home Depot Power Washer rental – ~$39.00 for 24 hours (varies by area)
- Greenworks 1600 PSI Pressure Washer – $99.99
Re-mulch your landscape for a clean look (and scent).
Cost: ~$10
I love the smell of fresh mulch, and it’s pretty universal that a newly-landscaped area adds significant curb appeal. Even if you don’t want to add a plethora of plants, consider spreading a few bags of mulch to lend new life to your front yard and garden beds.
- Vigoro Brown Mulch – $2
- Scotts Nature Scapes Brown Mulch – $4.97
- GroundSmart Rubber Mulch – $5.97
Brighten up lights with new, brighter light bulbs.
Cost: ~$10
Dim lighting can look downright dreary in a home that’s for sale. Swap out bulbs for new, brighter LED lights to accentuate the space.
Refresh grout lines with a colorant and sealer.
Cost: ~ as low as $6
Dingy grout lines can give off the impression that the floors are in worse shape (or are older) than they are. Lina loves Polyblend Grout Renew and used it to restore the grout lines in both her bathroom and kitchen. It’s so easy to apply that she even had her kiddos help out!
- Rejuvenate Grout Marker Pen 2-pack – $5.97
- Grout Pen Grout Restorer Pen – $8.99
- Polyblend Grout Renew – $13.87
Add fresh florals or greenery.
Cost: ~$10
So simple, yet so pleasing to the eyes (and nose)! Consider putting a vase with a few stems in the kitchen, on a bathroom counter, and on a nightstand.
Hip Tip: Check out your local Trader Joe’s for inexpensive flowers and greenery, or pull some budding branches from your yard for a zero-cost arrangement.
Stage the bathroom with a fresh shower curtain.
Cost: ~$10
There’s a reason hotels tend to use all white linens, towels, and curtains—it just gives the impression of fresh, new, and clean. And if you’re really tied to the curtain after you buy it, take it with you when you leave!
Bake up a fresh batch of cookies.
Cost: ~$4
It’s the oldest trick in the book, who doesn’t want to walk into a house that smells like freshly baked cookies? Bonus: the buyers will have something to munch on after the home tour.
Hip Tip: Use premade dough on a disposable cookie sheet. You can also light up a cookie-scented candle instead, but prospective buyers may prefer the actual cookie. 😋
Replace broken, mismatched, or dirty outlet covers.
Cost: ~$2
These little buggers are typically overlooked. Switch out (or minimally clean) any covers that are cracked, off-color, or just look too dingy against the wall.
- Duplex Receptacle wall plate – $0.27 (in-store only)
- Leviton Duplex wall plate 10-pack – $2.10
- Eaton Midsize wall plate – $0.67
Place air fresheners or dryer sheets high on closet shelves.
Cost: ~$3
Rooms tend to get a little musty, so a simple air freshener does the trick. In lieu of a car freshener, opt for a scented dryer sheet tucked away on a high shelf.
What tips have worked for you?
Share your favorite tips and tricks in the comments below!
Taking the time to do extremely detailed cleaning makes a really good impression. I hate cleaning, but I am very particular when I do clean. I took two days to clean my previous apartment before moving out. I cleaned my kitchen and bathroom floor grout with a baking soda and water paste. It took several hours(ADHD) to go through the entire multi-step process. I cleaned other things in between steps. During the final walkthrough, the property manager was really impressed and said my apartment was the cleanest she had ever seen in her 13 years in property management.
I’d rather smell peaches than cookies.
I would also suggest depersonalizing the home. Buyers want to be able to see themselves in the home, not the current occupants. For me, pictures of people and religious items sometimes make it difficult to imagine myself in the space. It would be inconvenient for the homeowner, but you could put those things in drawers during a showing and put them back out after.
Awesome! Thanks a ton for the helpful suggestion! Great idea to depersonalize your home for showings.
i never thought that the doormat would really matter, but a real estate agent told me that potential buyers spend a fair amount of time on the doorstep while the agent gets the door open. (Think about it if you are house shopping). Keeping that area as clean and fresh as possible helps to set the tone for the whole house. ( a small planter with flowers helps too.) Plus when we moved, I took those new mats with me to our new home, so really a gift to self!
You’re right! I love that! Thanks for the great tip!
I would not place air fresheners or dryer sheets or car fresheners in the closet. Some people are chemical sensitive and this might put them off by reacting to it. It would me.
You can use organic essential oils.
Good point, Sue! Thanks so much for bringing that up! We appreciate it!