Even in Toronto’s piping hot real estate market, where the average price of a home in May was up 15.7% year-over-year, contractor Mark Wexler still gets requests from homeowners.

They’ll still ask him to renovate their homes to make them more appealing to buyers before they put it on the market. “It does happen. I do get that,” says Wexler, owner of Wexmar Developments, which handles everything from custom-build homes and plumbing to landscaping.

If you’re considering doing the same, here are the improvements Wexler says are most likely to make your home more attractive to prospective buyers.

The kitchen comes first

“The first thing that any potential buyer is going to look at is the kitchen,” says Wexler, who prices out a “reasonable and fair kitchen” reno at $50,000 from demolition to completion.

If homeowners are looking to spend less and still improve the kitchen, they can consider knocking out the wall separating it from the living or dining room, if that’s how the house is laid out, of course. “People love a great room,” says Wexler, commenting on the large open space that can be created from an open-concept layout.

Even if it happens to be a weight-bearing wall—which means you’ll need a structural engineer on the job—the project should cost around $20,000 says Wexler.

A powder room will please

While Wexler says a beautifully renovated master bathroom can be a huge selling point in more affluent neighbourhoods, it might be the humbler of lavatories that gets more attention elsewhere: the powder room.

“It really depends on the area,” he says. “If you’re in an area where the houses are $700,000, you’re probably selling to first-time buyers,” Wexler notes. They’re more likely to be wooed by an attractive powder room.

Having one built will run you about 20 grand or less, Wexler estimates.

Whatever you do, avoid dramatic design

Whatever the interior reno you choose, Wexler suggests going with a transitional style that will appeal to the broadest cross-section of potential buyers.

“Transitional is in between traditional and contemporary,” he explains. Touches like shaker doors or stone countertops, such as quartz or Caesarstone in a kitchen are examples of it.

He also recommends a pallet of grays and whites. “If you’re creating a space to sell the house, or to potentially sell it one day, you want something that’s neutral,” Wexler says.