Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home
Looking for ways to increase the value of your home? Here are things you can do:
CREATE SPACEKnock out non-structural walls to open the kitchen and living room area to create a more open feel. This is the number one thing buyers are looking for right now. Even if you decide to stay in your home long-term, you will be much happier you opened up your floor plan! LANDSCAPINGCurb appeal is very important for resale of your home. It’s important to keep trees and bushes trimmed. Especially when they are touching the side of your house or roof which can cause damage and can also bring unwanted termites into your home. If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy gardening or yard work, there are many things you can do to make your front and back yard more low maintenance. It’s also important to not overdo it on the plants and trees. Balance is important as well as selecting the right combinations of trees and plants together. Consult with a professional landscaper who can steer you in the right direction. LIGHTINGLighting is important in a home! Homes with minimal light making the home dark inside send off the wrong vibe. A home that has a lot of natural light will win out over a home that doesn’t have a lot of natural light every time. If your home doesn’t have good lighting you may want to look into sun tubes or skylights. Sun tubes are more cost effective, but may not create as much light as you may want. Also darker blinds and draperies can also make a home look darker inside, so be careful when choosing your window coverings. Make sure you can open them up to let natural light in. A few other ways to light things up: Fix broken panes, make sure windows open, and consider lights that use motion detectors to turn themselves off. Remember high wattage bulbs make small spaces feel larger, and soft lighting brings warmth to empty spaces. And of course beautiful light fixtures always help in selling a home! HOME CARE & MAINTENANCEMany of my sellers are surprised when they see the home inspection showing some major and minor maintenance items that need to be fixed. It’s important to keep up with maintaining your home so that you do not cause further damage that may end up costing you more money down the road. Before thinking about a fancy upgrade to the kitchen, address the basics. Insulate the attic, repair plumbing leaks, replace rusty rain gutters, inspect the furnace and the septic system, replace or repair leaky windows, install storm doors, weed the flower beds. Painting the exterior of your home is a big one that you do not want to delay. A home should be painted about every 5 years. Paint will protect against the natural elements of your exterior. Especially if you have wood. Exposed wood can cause a lot of damage to a home. It is not uncommon to see a pest report with at least $2K or more in dry rot repairs. GO GREENHaving an energy efficient home can save you money in the long run, but you have to be smart about what energy efficient upgrades you decide to do. Solar is great, but it depends on your home and how much you spend on whether or not it will be worth it. Be very careful on doing a lease on solar because it can be very difficult to sell your home. Here are what buyers are mostly looking for in energy efficient homes: Dual pane windows, ceiling fans, whole house fans, and a newer HVAC and hot water heater is a huge plus as they can be costly to replace. FIRST IMPRESSIONSWhen choosing color schemes and flooring, it’s important to select something that is more conservative for resale value. Paint is obviously easy to fix before you get ready to sell your home. Most people get turned off by seeing a house that has either bright colors or a bunch of different colors in each room. You have to remember your style may not be someone else’s style, so side on the caution of being conservative and sticking with more neutral colors when trying to sell your home. Neutral colors also can make a room look bigger as apposed to having a really dark color on the wall. Flooring and other more permanent fixtures can really make or break the sale of your home. The less flooring transitions you have the better making the home flow more easily. Also be careful of choosing stuff that is too trendy and they may not be in style by the time you decide to sell your home. If you ever want my professional advice, I would be happy to help! Sincerely, |
