Angie's List: 3 things to make your home sell faster

Home sales are really heating up for 2013. And that has a lot of  homeowners now considering putting their home on the market.

But before you do you may want to know about 3 things that can make your home sell faster.

Made the decision to sell

Jennifer is a homeowner who decided the market is finally ripe for putting her home up for sale.
    
But she soon learned from her realtor that her home had a lot of outdated features, which would slow a sale.

"There were some minor fixes here and there, but when she got to this room she was like  'Jennifer, this is a deal breaker you have got to fix this room.' If was very dated, we had the gold shower, brass. It had the regular glass doors, but with the hard water that we have here, it was just limed up, it was very hard to maintain."

Realtor Paula Smith says while homes are selling again, buyers want updates.

She says for a fast sale, you need to lose the 1980's look.

"A lot of times, with fixtures you can tell what year the home was built in, so if you can put up new fixtures that can bring it to more the current timeframe that's a lot better." Smith said.

Simple things you can do

Our partners at the consumer guide Angie's List say there are 3 things that will help sell a home fast:

    1: Clean and remove clutter.
    2. Update outdated faucets, mirrors, and lights.
    3. And freshen rooms with new paint.

If you have the money, changing an older Formica countertop to granite can make a huge difference, but you have to look at the cost (usually around $2,00 - $5,000), and determine if you will get your money back at sale time.

"Look at your house as if you are getting ready to buy it," said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie's List. "No one looks at their house in a more critical way than at the point when they are deciding to buy a house. So walk around your house go in doors you've never looked in and make a list of things that need to be improved."

Angie's list says don't forget the other home sale basics, such as cutting back shrubs, cleaning up the yard, and removing family photos from the walls, so buyers can envision their own family living there.
    
As always, don't waste your money.
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