Selling your home in this economy can be difficult to say the least. To improve the odds you may need to update a few things. Here are some ideas to help kick it off.

Focus on what matters. Get rid of your personal knick knacks. They’re great for you but buyers won’t appreciate them and they will distract from the home’s potential for their knick knacks.

Remember less is more. Put extra furniture in storage. The rooms will feel larger and it’ll make it easier for your buyers to picture their own things in the space.

Call in a local designer to help pick a few paint colors for you. It’s not easy to choose paint colors but it can make a huge difference in a home’s look and feel. Many designers can be hired by the hour and the whole thing could only cost you $100-$200 while adding significant value to the sale price. While they’re there, ask them what furniture to keep and what to remove. A great source for local interior designers is ASID. On a side note, you should get some quotes for a professional to come in and do the painting for you. It’s probably the most popular DIY project to tackle and the most often done incorrectly. A pro will typically do a much better job than you can. A great color selection can be ruined by a poor application.

Clean, clean and then clean some more. No one, and I mean no one, likes other peoples’ dirt when considering buying a home.

If that’s not enough, consider spending a little money on the rooms that really count. Real estate experts all agree that the kitchen will highly influence the buyer one way or the other. It’s also typically an expensive room to renovate with appliances, cabinets and countertops. You can dramatically improve the look of your home’s kitchen by simply painting outdated cabinets or maybe just adding new door/drawer pulls. If you have an island replacing the top with a wood kitchen island top is also a great idea and can be done quickly with little to no interruption in the use of the kitchen. With relatively little money and just a little bit of work you’ll beef up your home’s wow factor keeping it in the front of potential home buyer’s minds. And with so many homes on the market that can make or break your sale.

I hope these ideas help and you’ll consider using one of our wood island tops in your home.