Want to put your house on the market quickly this spring? 5 fast ways.

As she prepared to list her Bellmore home for sale, Samantha Cohen hired a painter to brush creamy, yellow walls a neutral beige. She had vaulted ceilings repainted to undo damage done by years of showering and cooking. She condensed her linen collection to highlight available closet space.

Cohen attributes what happened next to her $3,000 investment in home improvements: the house sold for $825,000, far surpassing the $785,000 asking price. But there may have been a bidding war anyway.

In today’s market, inventory is low, and demand for homes is high. The only time Montauk builder Jason Biondo recommends investing in a new kitchen or bathroom is when the homeowner is planning to stay.

"Because the market is so high right now, if your kitchen is 20 years old, it’s fine; it’s not going to devalue the house," Biondo said. 

In the interest of selling a house , experts suggest making minimal adjustments that can influence a prospective buyer’s perception of the space. This means holding off on a $20,000 kitchen renovation project, and focusing instead on polishing the home’s existing details.

In looking for a new home to purchase, Cohen found herself looking for signs of upkeep.

"There were places that we looked at that had let’s say, relatively updated kitchens and baths, but I didn’t want to touch the cabinets to even open them," said Cohen. Her offers on houses with "potential" were lower.

 For a home seller, experts say, cleanliness should be a priority.

"You could have the oldest house, but if it’s a clean house, you’re going to get offers on it," said Realtor Tricia Schreck. 

Schreck, of Coldwell Banker American Homes in East Meadow, suggests putting  resources toward cleaning, decluttering, and painting — in addition to fixing any active leaks. These tasks require labor and not much else, Schreck said, and her colleagues agree.

“I always say, if you do nothing else, those are the three most important things: declutter, clean, and paint,” said Beth Catrone, a Daniel Gale agent based in the Port Washington and Sands Point areas. 

Compass agent Lisa Adragna, who works out of Syosset and represented Cohen, warned that dark colors can make rooms look smaller and may appeal less to prospective buyers. She recommended painting walls light, neutral colors like grays, beiges, and whites. If walls are already dressed in neutrals, consider touching up chipped paint. 

Clear kitchen counters, Shreck said, and create a space that is clutter-free. Prospective buyers cannot see past clutter, she said. 

“To me, they’re going to get the same amount – or, they’ll probably get more – than if they spent $50,000 or whatever to put a new kitchen in,” Schreck said. “You’re not guaranteed to get that back.”

A black halo where the bathroom tile meets the base of the toilet or tub can signal neglect to a prospective buyer, said Adragna. 

“When you see that black ring, you’re obviously looking at mold, right, and you’re thinking, ‘Okay, well, if they didn’t take care of that, what else are they not taking care of as a maintenance thing?’” Adragna said. “It just kind of sets the tone for what you are to expect throughout the whole house.”

She suggests sellers hire someone to caulk areas like this, and cautions individuals against doing so themselves unless they are especially handy. An unprofessional caulking job can look messy, she said. 

Adragna refers clients to a general contractor who rips out the old caulk, kills the mold with bleach and re-caulks the area in question. 

“It’s so small, and so overlooked, but it’s so important,” she said. 

If there are hardwood floors underneath, Schreck and Adragna advise clients to pull up the carpet before selling. If the carpet is there to stay, consider shampooing it. 

“Replacing carpet, if it’s cheap enough, is not a bad idea if it’s really, really, really beat up,” Adragna added. 

She also suggests having tile floors steam cleaned.

“People have no idea how dirty their grout got,” Adragna said. “Sometimes when they do that steam clean on tile, you all of a sudden now have refreshed grout lines, which make it look very bright and new.”

The family photographs and artistic prints that bring personality to a living space may not work in a seller’s favor. Readying a house for sale – or “staging” the home – means catering to as wide an audience as possible by removing personal touches and paying attention to detail. 

Catrone brings a stager to her listings for a one-hour consultation. The client has the option to hire the stager, or to take the recommendations from the hour-long session and act accordingly. 

A recent client hired the stager to bring in rented furniture and spent an estimated $35,000 on improvements that included painting, lighting, and landscaping, Catrone said. But this level of investment is not necessary – or even, according to many experts, recommended – for the house to sell in today’s market.

“Right now, if you put a house on the market, if you price it well, it will sell and you’ll get multiple bids,” Catrone said. 

A large-scale project like a kitchen renovation could take six to eight months, Catrone noted, and prolongs the selling process. She said she would rather see a seller price a home accordingly than put on a new roof, for instance. 

“We have a shortage of inventory across the board,” Catrone said. “I would tell any seller who’s thinking about selling, I would encourage them to list it sooner rather than later because we definitely have a supply and demand issue.” 

“Sell the product that you have,” Adragna tells sellers. “Price it accordingly.” 

While minor tweaks might be worthwhile – Hauppauge-based Realty Connect realtor Andrea Hallock reminds sellers to repair handrails, check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, take a Magic Eraser to greasy cabinets – experts say expensive alterations do not typically prove necessary or even beneficial. 

“Nine out of ten buyers are going to come in and gut the whole kitchen anyway,” Adragna said of a recent client interaction. “Why spend four grand on quartz that someone’s going to throw in the garbage in three months from now?”

If a minor component or two could use updating and a client has the budget for it, Adragna is not against it; but if the whole house needs work, she advises clients stick to decluttering and cleaning and go to market. Prospective buyers will see potential in a clean, well-maintained house, she said. 

“The truth is,” Adragna said, “any house will sell.”

By Arielle Dollinger

arielle.dollinger@newsday.com@aridollinger

Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.