Want to Sell Your Home For More Cash? Consider a Farmhouse Sink

Trying to sell your home? Install some country charm in the form of rustic kitchen cabinets or a farmhouse sink and you might be in business, FastCo Design reports.

According to a new report by real estate database Zillow, home listings that mention country-chic features—think "barn door”—fly off the market faster than others, and fetch a higher amount than the original listing price.

Zillow Digs, the company’s home design and improvement site, looked at listing descriptions from 2.8 million homes sold across America between January 2014 and March 2016. They kept track of 60 keywords referring to home features and styles, and checked to see how they impacted the home’s sale price.

Rustic sliding barn doors—found on bedroom closets or kitchen pantries—were at the top of the list, helping homes sell to 57 days faster than expected with a 13 percent boost above the expected price. Other phrases spotted in top-performing listings included “shaker cabinet,” which upped listing prices 9.6 percent and helped home sells 45 days faster, along with the rectangular “farmhouse sink” (58 days, 7.9 percent) and “subway tile” (63 days, 6.9 percent). Additionally, homes that were referred to as “craftsman” performed better than any other design style.

Bottom line? Even if you’re over your reclaimed wooden furniture, the hand-hewn rural look is here to stay—at least for now. “While people may think the rustic mason jar-vibe is out, it is still very popular with today's buyers,” Zillow said in a release.

Keep in mind that some home characteristics performed better in certain regions of the U.S. than others. For instance, the "craftsman" vibe is most popular in Seattle, where buyers would pay 5.4 percent more for a home built in this style. Meanwhile, New York-area buyers like exposed brick; listings containing this phrase help homes sell for a 4.9 percent premium.

Want to cash in on the current craze for all things rustic? If your home boasts the above features, use a listing to highlight them—especially if they’re not noticeable in the display photos. If your home is totally lacking, the style is something to keep if you’re thinking about remodeling.

That said, don’t think that installing subway tiles or a farmhouse sink will automatically up your home value, Bloomberg points out. These attributes might signify to buyers that the rest of the home has similar characteristics, and you won't be fooling anyone by trying making a mid-century modern bungalow look like a weekend country home.

[h/t FastCo Design]