Military homeowners face a unique challenge: improving a home for their family's enjoyment while knowing PCS orders might require selling sooner than planned. Every home improvement is a calculated risk. Investing too much could push your home out of the neighborhood's price range, while skimping on creature comforts can make the whole family miserable while living there.
Before starting any project, consider how long you're likely to stay, your potential departure timeline, and your available budget. Focusing on affordable, high-impact improvements can help you enjoy your home now while positioning it to sell more easily later. And when possible, tackling projects yourself can stretch your budget even further.
Find your work clothes, because the best investment is your very own free labor!
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Tips for Selling Your House
Think Like a Future Buyer
When formulating a plan, it's crucial to think like a buyer. Provide the solutions to their problems and answer their requests. Whether the plan includes a home sale now or years into the future, there are budget-friendly options to increase your home’s value as well as appeal to buyers later.
Create your home valuation improvement plan with the top qualities buyers constantly look for in a property:
- Move-in ready
- Spacious/open concept
- Light, bright, and airy
- Updated kitchens and bathrooms
- Strong curb appeal
These sound expensive to achieve, but they don’t have to be. Your labor, forethought, and potentially an appointment with a consultant are all part of a plan to keep expenses down and boost your home's value.
Hire a Professional or Consultant
If any of the qualities buyers most want feel overwhelming to achieve, or if time and expertise aren't on your side, it might be wise to bring in a professional. Hiring someone to take on an entire project is typically expensive, but hiring for an hour or two of consulting pays for expert advice and, depending on your agreement, an action plan.
Hiring a pro is one of the best tips for selling your house, saving you time and money. Depending on the service and location, you can expect hourly rates to range from $75 to $150.
Consider these home selling consultants:
- Professional organizer
- Color consultant
- Home decorators and stylist
- Home stager
- Landscaper
- Real estate agent
- Contractor
Easy Ideas to Give Homebuyers What They're Looking For and Increase Your Home's Value
1. Make It Move-in Ready
Some of the cheapest ways to increase home value involve a lot of elbow grease but yield significant improvements in home valuation.
Many potential buyers will pay the asking price and more to simply unpack their boxes and begin life in their move-in-ready home. They want to avoid the hassle of gathering referrals from friends and vendor estimates. DIY projects such as a fresh coat of neutral paint and updated tile work aren't chores they’re willing to take on.
Cleaning up is an important first step. A deep clean from top to bottom is necessary to attract top dollar. Cleanliness is time-consuming—think cobwebs in corners, greasy range hoods, grimy baseboards, and deep-cleaning carpets, but the cost is minimal. Your free labor goes a long way.
Wondering if you should repaint your house before selling? Depending on your budget, a professional painting crew and a cleaning service can make quick work of a home project that would likely take you days of effort. For reference, Fixr, a company that helps homeowners make informed home remodeling decisions, reports that the national average for a home painter is about $60 per hour.
2. Create Space/Open Concept
Buyers’ desire for open-concept living remains strong. So, what are the best ways to achieve openness, or at the least, make the space feel larger and more spacious? Depending on your home selling schedule, consider a couple of these DIY projects.
A year or more out from selling (to get the most personal use out of your investment), it's time to evaluate flooring. Is it choppy from room to room? Outdated? Both of these qualities shrink a room in the mind's eye. By installing hardwood or wood-like flooring planks in the same direction throughout the kitchen, dining, and living spaces, the overall feel is much larger and cohesive.
The project will be time-consuming yet cost-efficient for first-timers, but there are plenty of tutorials online for guidance. Check home improvement store blogs online and follow DIY bloggers or designers on Pinterest. They’ll provide tips and tricks for installing flooring.
Months before an open house, you’ll want to start a giant purge. Donations, sales, and storage units are remedies for an over-cluttered home. With the remaining furniture, plan an efficient traffic flow that emphasizes spaciousness. A home stylist or home stager has these skills if you’re not sure how the arrangement should appear.
3. Aim for Light, Bright, and Airy
With a deep-cleaned home as the backdrop, there are simple and cost-efficient ways to add these high-demand qualities quickly.
Begin with the windows.
Spotless glass (inside and out) lets more light pass through. Where privacy isn’t of the utmost importance, remove the window coverings to let streaming sunshine pass through. Removal also exposes decorative molding and quality window trim, which adds the character buyers are looking for.
Replace dated or dark curtains.
Breezy white sheers from an inexpensive home store such as IKEA are easy to install. Evaluate their positioning. There’s a good chance their placement closer to the ceiling will elongate the room top to bottom.
If the curtains must remain, decorative ties, tassels, and pull-back hardware are affordable accessories to let the light in.
Check the room's lighting.
Most spaces benefit from more light. Tabletop and floor lamps brighten corners and are low-cost improvements. With overhead lighting, the entire room brightens. Don’t forget to clean existing lighting fixtures and replace bulbs for a maximum bright and airy effect.
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4. Update the Kitchen
Arguably, the most requested feature, an updated kitchen, drives a buyer’s offer. However, kitchens are where homeowners tend to lose money if they spend too much on improvements. Remodeling's Cost vs. Value 2025 cites this statistic: A minor kitchen remodel averages $28,458, but it retains $32,141 at resale, for a 113% cost recoup.
Remedies against overspending on improvements include using scratch-and-dent appliance stores, using remnant pieces of natural stone for countertops, and DIY resurfacing. Cabinet paint, faux stainless-steel appliance fronts, and a modern backsplash update the kitchen's look while staying within a low budget.
5. Update the Bathrooms
Like kitchens, bathrooms are a top priority for buyers but costly for owners to update. Pay attention to the minor details in the bathroom because they become focal points.
New hardware, including faucets, cabinet knobs, and pulls, is a reasonable update. Mildew-resistant paint and a high-functioning exhaust fan are other improvement possibilities. Treat the bathroom to a linen overhaul. New towels, shower curtains, and rugs provide an instant boost on a small budget.
6. Highlight Curb Appeal
In the case of curb appeal, the home improvement projects on the cost vs. value stats listed above that offer the best ROI are exterior projects. Improving curb appeal is one of the best renovations to do before selling.
These home improvements give the best ROI before selling:
Manufactured stone veneer:
- Cost: $11,702
- Resale: $24,328
- Recoupment: 208%
Garage door replacement:
- Cost: $4,672
- Resale: $12,507
- Recoupment: 268%
Outstanding curb appeal sells homes quickly. Although you might not have the budget for these large projects, the outside of the home offers the most affordable options to drive sales.
Again, think about what today’s buyers are looking for. They're seeking to extend their indoor living space to the outside. A fire pit or outdoor fireplace is easy to install and a budget-friendly upgrade. If a covered patio exists, add an outdoor fan and removable shade options.
Details such as flagstone walls, decorative edging, and brick tree surrounds make a property pop when well-tended. The yards must be cleaned and maintained so the improvements are visible and not overshadowed by overgrowth.
What Should I Fix Before Selling My House?
Figuring out which home upgrades offer the best return on investment can be daunting. Talk to a real estate agent well before putting your home on the market for advice on which budget-friendly upgrades sell the best in your neighborhood.
Home improvements vary in the time and money they require. Prioritize your home improvement plan by date and cost per project to make the best decisions throughout the process.
Be sure to download MilitaryByOwners's free guide to home selling below, packed with tips!
