It’s a seller’s market right now with homes commanding significantly higher prices than they would have last year. CNBC reported that home sales surged to their highest in the last 15 years.
This means that if you want to sell your home, now is a great time to do that. However, even if you’re not looking to sell, it’s always nice to know that your home’s value has appreciated since you purchased it.
Depending on where you’re located, people are offering 10-50 percent more money on properties simply because they love the city or are looking to relocate there. But to attract buyers with deep pockets, your property has to be worthy of the cost that they’re willing to pay.
If your home isn’t attracting good bids –particularly if you’ve been getting lower offers than other properties in your neighborhood or city– then you can do a few strategic things guaranteed to significantly increase the value of your property.
Replace or Upgrade the Garage Door
While it’s not usually the most thrilling of upgrades, it does recover the investment costs very nicely. Across the country, homeowners can easily recoup almost 99 percent of all costs spent on the garage door.
In many cities and states, it’s easily over 100 percent. This means that you’ll always get your money back and then some especially if the garage has insulation or energy-saving glazing.
Homeowners have multiple garage door choices include wood composites, fiberglass, regular wood, and aluminum garage doors. If appearance, functionality, and durability are a priority for you, choose wood composites or fiberglass. These options offer all three benefits.
Install In-Demand Finishes
Millennials make up 38 percent of modern-day home buyers. So if you’ll be selling your home soon, you need to cater to their preferences. And one of these preferences is high–end finishes in the home.
Examples of this include quartz or marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, brushed nickel door knobs, minimalist–style kitchen, and soothing neutral paint palettes.
Even if it doesn’t make sense to you, you need to understand that most millennials grew up watching TV shows like Property Brothers, and Fixer Upper. So they expect to see some of the modern design features that are commonly seen in contemporary houses in their new homes.
Put in More Energy and Resource-Efficient Features
Energy and resource efficiency is big deal for most homebuyers. So it’s important to include those features in your renovations. Examples of this include installing bright LED bulbs, water-saving, low-flow, or dual flush toilets –these use 20 percent less water annually, and home appliances with high SEER ratings.
Another often overlooked feature is adding triple-pane windows which are 20 and 50 percent more efficient than double and single-pane windows respectively. These are considerably more effective at keeping the house cool or warm. Plus, they do a fantastic job of soundproofing the home and preventing street noises from leaking into the house.
They are known to reflect 97 percent of heat from the outside during the summer, and keep in 97 percent of the heat in the home during the winter –this directly translates to significant cost savings in utility bills. If you currently have single or double pane windows, consider allowing a window replacement service to swap them out for triple-pane windows.
Enhance Your Curb Appeal
When it comes to homes that are about to go on the market, it’s not enough to just have an amazing interior. The exterior has to be attractive too. This is where you need to improve how your home looks when people approach the property.
Some examples of curb appeal enhancement activities include pressure washing the roof, driveway, walkway, or any other part that needs cleaning. Add some exterior wall cladding or stone veneer, thoroughly clean or replace the windows if they’re old.
If you’ve got a front yard, mow the lawn or landscape it. Turn the backyard into a beautiful place to hang out. Plant trees or shrubs, and add flower boxes. Then change the old lighting to something modern and new. Also, consider applying a fresh coat of paint to the house. Doesn’t have to be the whole house though.
Just spots that need touch-ups. Painting the main entrance doorways, for instance, is always a great idea. Polish or refinish the stairs if they’re made of wood and maybe hang some flowers close to the entrance of your home.
Reface, Repair, or Replace the Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are a major sticking point for many homeowners. If they look like they’re old or in poor condition, it can subtract from the home’s value. Remember that the family will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and nourishing their bodies.
So see if you can do something about the cabinets. A low-cost option would be to repair any damages and just repaint. That’s cheaper than replacing the whole thing. You can also reface the cabinets so that the aide and inner frames remain, but the doors can be changed. Also, remember to change the knobs or handles to something more modern. This alone can tremendously improve the kitchen’s looks.
Replace Old Carpeting
How old is the carpeting in the home? If your carpeting is faded, threadbare, worn, excessively stained, torn or knotted in a few places, it’s time to rip them up and replace them with new carpeting.
Carpeting is meant to provide more comfort, improve your home’s aesthetics and help with the home’s insulation during the winter. If it does none of those three things, plus poses a safety risk –knotted carpets can cause trip-and-fall incidents– then it needs to go.
Your Home Deserves the Best
If you implement all these tips, your home will surely jump up in price. The great thing about these tips is they’re relatively affordable and don’t have to cost a lot of money.
You may have to get creative if you’re on a budget, but they can be done. And when you’re ready to sell, don’t be surprised that during the home’s valuation, the home will be valued at $50k-$100k more than you had in mind.
What do you think?