The spring market can be highly competitive!

Here’s a great article from the Star’s Jennifer Wilson to help you get top dollar.

Whether you’re moving out of town, moving up or splitting up, everyone has the same goal when they’re selling their home: to make as much as they can.

One way to get the best sale price is to invest a few dollars to spruce up your place for prospective buyers. One rule of thumb is that you should set aside 1 per cent of your asking price, so, if you’re listing for $400,000 a renovation budget of $4,000 isn’t out of line.

Of course, certain projects will get you more, though in most cases you won’t get all your money back. The return can be anywhere from nothing, for skylights and pools, to an average of 75 per cent on high-performing kitchens and bathroom projects.

Here are some tips:

Kitchen

You can expect to recover 75 to 100 per cent of your investment in kitchens and bathrooms.

“The payback is tremendous,” says Frank Turco, Home Depot’s trend and design manager. That’s because buyers don’t want to undertake a cumbersome renovation that restricts access to these key spaces.

A few hundred dollars can give your kitchen a whole new look. Cabinets can be cleaned, lightly sanded and painted to look like new, while hardware can also be updated quickly and inexpensively, with new pulls and handles starting at a few dollars a pop. Outdated track lights can be replaced with more fashionable varieties, focused task lighting and undercabinet lighting. Dingy backsplashes can also be refreshed with a coat of paint or new tiles, which are available in peel-and-stick varieties.

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