I need some fairly cheap ideas

that we can do to our house that would help the value of the house to go up. Redoing the kitchen is not an option right now unfortunately. Any other ideas??? I really can't be in this house for another 2-3 years. Since being robbed in November I just don't feel safe there anymore! Alarm system or not, I just don't want to be there anymore.

We need to increase the value so we can sell it sooner. We took out a 2nd mortgage to pay off our credit card bills so now we're stuck there until we can pay that off somehow. What really su@ks is that if the robbery had happened before we had taken out the loan I wouldn't of done it and just sold the house. But with our luck, the robbery took place about 4-6 weeks after getting the loan. I feel trapped and I don't know what to do. We weren't planning on staying in the house more than 5 years, but even a year looks too long for me right now! What can we do??? We will only be in the house 2 yrs in September.

Message edited 7/12/2006 9:49:15 AM.

Re: I need some fairly cheap ideas

I guess I would prob. need some pictures of your house. Paint is always in inexpensive upgrade, possible re-finishing the kitchen cabinets yourself. It's pretty easy.

Curb appeal is huge, making sure the grass is nice, flower beds are edged & weeded. You can add new top soil for a fresh look.

Again, I'd need pics 4 more ideas

Re: I need some fairly cheap ideas

If I remember correctly you're not on LI, right?
How is the real estate market where you are?
What does the kitchen look like now? are the cabinets wood? Can you sand them & repaint them? Maybe buy stock formica counters from home depot, add a simple tile backsplash.
How are your bathrooms? can you add new faucets & light fixtures & paint to freshen it up?
There are ALOT of articles online about home selling tips. Do whatever you can to improve the curb appeal.
Sorry you are so unhappy, I hope you're able to sell.

Re: I need some fairly cheap ideas

Please post Pictures

I would say Paint all the walls inside - a nice warm neutral color. Like Beige, White, Green, Gold.....etc. Nothing too bright or crazy

Maybe redo the hardwood floors or put down Berber carpeting in all the rooms where the carpet needs replacing

Make sure you remove all clutter from the house, and store it off the property.

Place the furniture in inviting places. If there is too much furniture in the room, remove it and store it off the premises or use it in another room

Put up crown moulding in the living room or dining room....Or chair rail moulding....Something that will make the room look better.

Paint all the trim a pure White, so It stands out.

Paint the ceilings white....

Have the house professionally cleaned....

If there is a basement - clean it out. Arrange the shelving neatly....and get rid of items you dont need - Have a garage sale.

Outside - is very important. If your home doesnt have curb appeal - then a lot of people will just drive by.

Make sure the lawn is mowed....Plant some flowers- Yellow - bright colors

Make sure all bushes are trimmed and look nice....

Make sure lawn is green.....

If the kitchen needs work.....You can do some work cheapily. Put decorative knobs on the cabinet doors....

Do an inexpensive backsplash...You can use Vinyl floor tile - Megan and bobby did this.

Replace the floor with vinyl tiles.....

There is a lot you can do.

When it comes to furniture remember less is more

When having an open house - do not burn candles. Prospective buyers will think you are covering something up. You can use an air freshner like febreeze...It will leave a nice fresh smell in the house....nothing fruity...The linen smells good - we used that in Danielles uncles house.

Re: I need some fairly cheap ideas

Thanks everyone!

I'll have to find pictures of the house. No we're not in NY we're in NC. The markets ok, but since we have an older house, the value is not going to go up just because of the area like most communities here. We're working on the yard. We've hired a service that comes to put fertilizer/weed killer down and will aerate and seed in September. I would REALLY love to be able to sell the house next Spring/Summer.

I just got done painting the hallway. It was a lot of work for just that because there are 5 doorways all with dark brown molding also along the bottom. It's your standard neutral colors, but it does look more modern thank goodness. We're going to be painting the living room next and then my son's room and the baby to be's room hopefully before September. It's a lot of work and considering no one wants to help us and we both work 2 jobs and have a 2.5 yr old running around it's VERY difficult to get done. I can only do so much when he's sleeping.

Like I said it's an older house, but I'd really like to update it before trying to sell it. I want to replace the front door. It's really ugly. The dining area already has crown molding, the colors are just not working I guess. The kitchen cabinets are dark brown as well and the countertops are white which continue up the wall to the top cabinets. Looks terrible. I wouldn't know where to start as far as colors are concerned. We can't afford to replace the cabinets unfortunately so painting them is our only option. I would like to get an inexpensive countertop and replace that and put up a tile backsplash. I wish my DH was a handyman. He's clueless but says he can do it. He didn't even paint the hallway correctly I had to fix it!!! The carpet in the living room will be the last thing we replace since we have dogs. We do have fairly new hardwood floors in the front door to dining room to kitchen area so I know we'll have to get that redone at some point as well. We're also going to have to paint or replace all the inside doors in the house since they're dark brown too. Our hall bath is small, but needs a new counter/cabinets, medicine cabinet and a mirror and new floor. We could probably do a real tile floor since it's so small it wouldn't cost too much. And of course paint. Sooo much brown!!! I hate it. I didn't hate it when we bought the house because I figured we'd have 5 years to update it. Now it's like as soon as I can. My DH of course isn't in a rush to move right away, but he just doesn't understand how scared I am with living there now. I always leave a lot of lights on in the house the doors are always locked, etc. He's always asking me why??? Well, duh!!!

Anyway, I wish we could afford to pay someone to do all of this, but we can't. We're also both looking for new jobs so we hope something comes around for the two of us by next year.

Also, there were so many things we had planned on doing with the yard, but with the time constraints we haven't even had the time to weed. And with me being PG, I can't do much at all. So if we don't get to work with the yard much this year I'm going to try to concentrate on the inside and next Spring when the new grass comes in it will look nice and then we can edge again and mulch and plant flowers. It just seems like a lost cause for this year. It's definitely my goal for the spring.

Sorry for the rambling... I guess I was venting as well!!!