Twelve Projects to Add Value to Your Home and Make It Easier to Sell

It's the beginning of the year, the time many people make resolutions that they may or may not successfully keep. If one of your resolutions is to sell your home, there's no better time than the present to start adding extra value to your house. Even if you're not planning to sell until summer or even until the end of the year, doing these small projects slowly will help you avoid the rush in the days and weeks before you sell. Best of all, you can do many of these projects at any time of the year. While we're setting these twelve projects at one per month, you can rearrange this calendar to fit your particular needs or compress it by doing one of these projects every two weeks.

January – Paint the Interior

Over time, every room in your home will lose a little of that new luster. Giving it a new coat of paint can perk everything right up, even if you paint it the exact same color. In order to get the most response from your painting job, try going with light, neutral colors, as this will appeal to the widest audience. Painting is also one of the easiest tasks to do while it's cold outside, although you may want to let in some crisp, cool air to help ventilate the room.

February – Consider a Remodel

What better Valentine to give your home than an updated bathroom or kitchen? During February, plan out a room remodel that transforms a part of your home that might be showing its age. Besides adding value to your home, this also gives you a great new space to enjoy up until the point you sell.

March – Outdoor Cleanup

Anything you want to remove from your landscaping? Now's the time to do it since it likely hasn't started blooming yet. Note that the keyword is remove, not move. If you want to transplant anything, be sure to check the weather first. If it looks like it's going to get cold again, you may want to wait.

April – Revamp the Flowerbeds

You might be reworking your flowerbeds during April no matter what, but if you're looking to sell, make sure you think about curb appeal. You want your home to be inviting and attractive from the street, so prepare for the summer with this in mind.

May – Paint the Exterior

Just like the interior paint update, the outside of your home might need a new look, too. For those planning to sell, go with a nice, neutral color that will appeal to everyone. Bright pink or black are likely to scare off some potential buyers.

June – Trim the Trees

Another project you might do regardless of whether or not you're selling is to trim your trees. Get rid of all the dead branches and anything that's low-hanging. Again, look at your home from the street and make things look nice and tidy.

July – Clean the Windows

July is one of the hottest months, so you're not going to want to be outdoors that much. Take this time to clean all of the windows in your home. This is actually a task people don't do that often, especially for the windows in rooms they don't spend a lot of time in.

August – Redo the Flooring

If your floors are starting to show their age, it might be time to put down new tile, new carpet, or new laminate. You don't need to redo all the floors in your home during August – that's a bit much! Instead, pick the most worn part of the house, or the room with the oldest flooring, and give it an update.

September – Tackle the Garage, Attic, or Basement

If you're like most people, your garage, attic, or basement has become a catchall for everything you've accumulated over the years, don't want to get rid of, and don't have a place for. Take this month to go through some of that stuff. You might find that you really don't need all of it. Even if that's not the case, you may be able to organize it and pack it away more efficiently.

October – Fall Cleaning

During October, go through all of your closets and weed out what you don't need, just like you did with the garage, attic, or basement. You could also continue your purge of those spaces if you haven't got it finished. This not only makes it easier for you to move, it also creates a clean space you can utilize for more storage if needed.

November – Pick a Project!

Did you miss getting something done earlier in the year? Take November as your make-up month. If you got everything accomplished, use this time to do another project of your choice.

December – Find Your Real Estate Professional

You'll likely be spending much of December preparing for and participating in various holiday functions, so you may not want to add another project to your full calendar. Instead, take this month to find your real estate agent. Even if you're not quite ready to sell, you can still look at agents in your area and make a list of the ones you want to talk to. If you're in the LGBTQ community, you may want to take some time to find a local gay or lesbian real estate agent. You can start this search at www.GayRealEstate.com, a website full of helpful advice and a directory of LGBTQ real estate experts.