doubt, new appliances make an impact with buyers. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) conducted a survey of buyers in the market over the past several years and found: • Buyers were somewhat or very interested in buying a home that featured new appliances. • Roughly 17% of the respondents preferred stainless steel. • The most important factor: appliances were available. • Buyers who were unable to get their sought-after appliances said they would have been willing to pay, on average, nearly $2,000 more for them. Potential buyers want appliances included and will pay more for them, especially if they are new or at least in excellent condition. If you can afford it, new appliances might be the feature that sets your house apart from the home for sale across the street. If new appliances are out of your reach, offer buyers your immaculately clean, fully functioning existing ones. Updating Hardware: Take a nice, long look at your bathroom and kitchen hardware. You will likely notice it looks well-used. Put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. They’re looking at your old house as their potential new home. Old, worn-out fixtures aren’t going to speak to them the way nice, shiny, new hardware will. That doesn’t mean you should run out to buy all new fixtures. Unless your knobs, pulls, handles, and hinges are broken, there’s no real reason to replace them. Get that new look simply by thoroughly washing and repainting them. There is spray paint made specifically for this reason. The project is incredibly cheap. Here are some items of household hardware you can make look almost new with a paint overhaul: • towel bars • toilet paper holders • door handles
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