Whether or not you plan to sell your home in the foreseeable future, you’re probably aware that Toronto and the GTA are in the midst of the hottest housing market on record. With new highs being set each month for selling price and number of homes sold, even if you weren’t thinking of selling you couldn’t be blamed for starting to entertain the thought.

If there is a downside to the sizzling market, it is that a lot of homeowners are taking the opportunity to get in an on the action. So if you decide to put your home on the market, you’ll face lots of competition.

Stage Your Home to Maximize Its Value

With the heightened competition, there’s renewed emphasis on staging your home to increase its appeal to potential buyers. Professional home stagers are experts on making the changes to your house that appeal most to house hunters.

There are a number of relatively easy do-it-yourself projects that will help you save at least part of the cost of hiring a professional stager.

1. Paint the Interior and Exterior of Your Home

No other home renovation delivers a higher return on investment than a good coat of paint to both the interior and exterior of the house. Brighter colours inside will give your home a more spacious, airy feel. Neutral exterior colours increase the all-important curb appeal of the house.

2. Paint Bathroom Tiles

Along with kitchens (see below), bathrooms are one of the most important selling features of your house. If your bathroom has not had a recent renovation, you can cover dated, dirty and damaged tile with a high-adhesion primer and ceramic epoxy.

3. In the Kitchen

Cabinets are the largest visual feature of your kitchen. Replacing them can be costly. Instead, you can paint or re-stain them to make them look as good as new.

Never underestimate the importance of presenting your home in the best way possible. Even if you’ll already be getting far more for your home than what you paid, you can add thousands of dollars to its value by doing a few simple and inexpensive DIY projects.