What Home Improvements Give the Highest ROI Before Selling?
If you're thinking about selling your home, it's natural to look around and start making a list of everything you could update.
Should you replace the countertops? Paint the cabinets? Finish the basement? Replace the flooring? Remodel the bathroom?
Before you start spending money, there's an important distinction to make: not every home improvement is a good investment before selling.
The goal isn't necessarily to make your home perfect. It's to focus your time and money on improvements that help your home show better, appeal to more buyers and potentially sell for more.
Here are some of the home improvements that can give sellers the best return before putting a home on the market.
1. Fresh Interior Paint
Few updates can transform a home as quickly as fresh paint.
Over time, walls collect scuffs, marks and wear that homeowners may barely notice anymore. Buyers notice them immediately.
Fresh paint can make rooms feel:
Cleaner
Brighter
Larger
Better maintained
More move-in ready
If you're painting specifically to sell, this usually isn't the time to experiment with bold colors. Neutral, warm and broadly appealing colors tend to photograph well and allow buyers to picture their own furniture and decor in the space.
Do You Need to Paint the Entire House?
Not necessarily.
Prioritize areas with visible wear, outdated colors or highly personalized paint choices. Main living areas, the kitchen, entryway and primary bedroom are often good places to start.
ROI takeaway: Paint is relatively inexpensive compared with major renovations and can make a noticeable difference in how buyers perceive your home.
2. Improve Your Curb Appeal
Buyers begin forming an opinion about your home before they walk through the front door.
That's why some of the best pre-listing investments happen outside.
You don't necessarily need an expensive landscaping project. Start with the basics:
Mow and edge the lawn
Trim shrubs and overgrown landscaping
Remove weeds
Add fresh mulch
Clean the siding
Wash exterior windows
Clean the driveway and sidewalks
Replace worn exterior light fixtures
Add a fresh doormat
Touch up peeling exterior paint
Depending on the condition of the home, painting or replacing the front door can also make a big impact.
Why Curb Appeal Matters When Selling
Your home's exterior isn't only important for showings. It's also likely to be one of the first photos buyers see online.
A clean, well-maintained exterior can help your listing make a stronger first impression both online and in person.
3. Update Lighting and Fixtures
Sometimes a home doesn't feel outdated because of one major feature. It's the combination of several smaller details.
Older light fixtures, builder-grade fixtures or dated finishes can subtly make an otherwise well-maintained home feel older.
Consider updating:
Dining room fixtures
Kitchen pendant lights
Bathroom vanity lights
Ceiling fans
Cabinet hardware
Faucets
Door hardware
You don't need to buy the most expensive options available. The goal is simply to make the home feel more current and cohesive.
Updating light bulbs can help, too. Consistent lighting temperatures throughout the home can make rooms look better in listing photos and during showings.
4. Make Strategic Flooring Improvements
Flooring covers a huge portion of your home, so buyers tend to notice its condition quickly.
But replacing all of your flooring before selling isn't always necessary.
First, determine whether your existing floors can be improved.
If You Have Carpet
Professional carpet cleaning may be enough if the carpet is relatively current and in good condition.
Replacement may be worth considering if the carpet is:
Heavily stained
Torn or damaged
Extremely worn
Holding noticeable odors
Significantly outdated
If You Have Hardwood
Refinishing existing hardwood floors may make more sense than replacing them.
If You Have LVP or Tile
Repair damaged or missing sections when possible and make sure grout and flooring are thoroughly cleaned.
The key: Don't automatically spend thousands replacing flooring throughout the house without first determining whether buyers in your price range will expect it.
5. Make Minor Kitchen Updates Instead of a Full Remodel
The kitchen is important to buyers, but a complete kitchen renovation immediately before selling can be difficult to justify financially.
Instead, look for smaller improvements that can make the existing kitchen feel more current.
That might include:
Replacing cabinet hardware
Updating lighting
Painting walls
Replacing an outdated faucet
Adding or updating a backsplash
Repairing damaged countertops
Deep cleaning cabinets and appliances
Painting cabinets can also dramatically change a kitchen, but it's a bigger project than simply swapping hardware. Whether it's worth doing depends heavily on the condition and style of your existing cabinetry.
Should You Replace Kitchen Countertops Before Selling?
Sometimes.
If your countertops are badly damaged or noticeably dated compared with other homes in your price range, replacement could make sense.
But don't assume you need quartz countertops simply because they're popular.
If comparable homes are selling successfully with similar kitchens, you may be better off leaving yours alone.
6. Refresh Bathrooms
Bathrooms are another area where smaller projects can go a long way.
Before considering a full remodel, look at relatively simple improvements such as:
Recaulking tubs and showers
Cleaning or refreshing grout
Replacing dated mirrors
Updating vanity lighting
Installing new faucets
Replacing worn toilet seats
Updating cabinet hardware
Painting
Replacing old showerheads
And don't underestimate a deep clean.
A sparkling bathroom can feel significantly newer without requiring a major renovation.
7. Take Care of Deferred Maintenance
This isn't the most exciting category, but it can be one of the most important.
A beautiful kitchen isn't going to distract buyers from a leaking faucet, broken door, damaged siding or obvious maintenance issue.
Before spending money on cosmetic upgrades, consider taking care of the things that aren't working properly.
Look for:
Leaking faucets
Running toilets
Loose handrails
Broken doors or locks
Damaged trim
Missing outlet covers
Broken light fixtures
Peeling paint
Damaged siding
Loose deck boards
Non-functioning appliances
Small maintenance issues can add up in a buyer's mind.
If buyers see several things that need repair, they may start wondering what larger problems haven't been addressed.
8. Deep Clean and Declutter
One of the highest-ROI improvements before selling may not technically be an "improvement" at all.
It's cleaning.
A professionally cleaned, decluttered home can feel dramatically different without changing a single permanent feature.
Before listing, pay special attention to:
Windows
Baseboards
Cabinets
Appliances
Bathrooms
Flooring
Light fixtures
Doors and trim
Closets
Garages
Decluttering is equally important.
You don't need to completely empty your home, but reducing excess furniture and belongings can make rooms feel larger and help buyers focus on the home itself.
What Renovations Usually Don't Have the Best ROI Before Selling?
This is where sellers can accidentally spend a lot of money they don't need to spend.
Major renovations aren't automatically bad investments. But if you're planning to sell soon, there may not be enough time to enjoy the improvement or recover the full cost.
Be cautious about tackling projects like:
Complete kitchen remodels
Luxury bathroom remodels
Finishing an entire basement
Major additions
Highly customized built-ins
Expensive smart-home systems
Swimming pools
High-end upgrades that exceed neighborhood expectations
For example, spending $60,000 remodeling a kitchen doesn't necessarily mean your home is suddenly worth $60,000 more.
That's why ROI needs to be evaluated based on your specific home and local market, not just the cost of the project.
Repair, Update or Leave It Alone?
Before listing, we typically recommend putting potential projects into three categories.
Repair It
These are items that are broken, damaged or likely to concern buyers.
Examples include a leaking faucet, damaged siding or broken door.
Update It
These are improvements that could meaningfully change how buyers perceive the home.
Fresh paint, dated lighting and heavily worn carpet may fall into this category.
Leave It Alone
This is often the most overlooked category.
Sometimes the best financial decision is to do nothing.
If an improvement is unlikely to increase your home's marketability or selling price enough to justify the cost, you may be better off saving your money.
What Should You Fix Before Selling a Home in Ankeny or the Des Moines Metro?
The answer depends heavily on your home's price point, age, neighborhood and competition.
Buyers looking at a $250,000 home aren't necessarily going to have the same expectations as buyers looking at a $750,000 home.
The same applies to different neighborhoods.
If nearly every comparable home has an updated kitchen and yours hasn't been touched in 25 years, that could affect your home's value and marketability.
On the other hand, if most comparable homes have similar finishes to yours, spending tens of thousands of dollars to renovate before selling may not make financial sense.
That's why one of the best things you can do before starting a major project is talk to a local Realtor.
We can look at recent comparable sales, current competition and buyer expectations to help determine which improvements are likely to matter—and which ones probably won't.
The Best Home Improvements Before Selling
If you're looking for a simple place to start, prioritize improvements that make your home feel clean, maintained, bright and move-in ready.
For many sellers, that means focusing on:
Fresh paint where needed
Curb appeal
Minor repairs and deferred maintenance
Deep cleaning
Decluttering
Lighting and hardware updates
Flooring repairs or cleaning
Minor kitchen and bathroom improvements
You don't have to renovate your entire house to successfully sell it.
In many cases, a handful of strategic improvements can make a much bigger difference than an expensive remodel.
Thinking About Selling Your Home in Central Iowa?
Before you start ripping out cabinets or ordering new countertops, let's figure out which projects are actually worth doing.
The Hokel Real Estate Team can walk through your home, look at comparable properties and help you identify the improvements that could make the biggest difference when it's time to sell.
We work with homeowners throughout Ankeny, Ames, Huxley, Polk City and the Des Moines metro and can help you build a plan based on your home's condition, price point and timeline.
Thinking about selling in the next 3–12 months? Contact the Hokel Real Estate Team before you start your next home improvement project.