Nov 03 2008
How to Increase the Value of Your Home
A house is one of the best investments a person can make. Over the years, equity increases so when the home is sold, the owner walks away with money in hand. If you are thinking about putting your house on the market and want to make the most you can, several modifications could be made, thereby increasing the home’s value. With today’s market, the more you can do to increase the value of your home the greater chance you have of getting ahead of the competition.In this article, we have pulled some tips together for you, showing key changes that would allow you to increase the asking price. Now, in some cases, you would be required to make a small investment but one that would give you a better financial gain than what you spent. However, many upgrades and modifications are not expensive at all while providing you with a significant return.Curb AppealThe best way to add value to your home is by attracting potential buyers from the minute they drive by or pull up. If a buyer sees junk outside, an overgrown lawn, messy flowerbeds, and an uninviting appearance, then you have just caused them to lose interest. You can make a small investment and immediately increase the value of your home.Spending a weekend outside, pulling weeds, filling in bare spots with grass seed, adding a few new flowers to give the outside some fresh color, picking up the children’s toys, trash, old railroad ties, and other stuff that makes the outside look messy counts. You might even enhance the outside of the home with a new front door or a fresh coat of paint on an existing door, adding shutters, or moving an old car to another location. While these things might not seem like much of a big deal, you can be absolutely, certain that curb appeal is crucial.Kitchen and BathroomsThe two most important rooms in any home are the kitchen and bathrooms. If you want the most money possible out of your house when selling, these are the two rooms to place the majority of your focus. Remember, even if you have to invest several thousands of dollars to make the house sell ready, you will get back that money plus some. For instance, consider upgrading the kitchen floor using laminate, ceramic tile, or natural stone, which is always an excellent investment. The same is true with countertops. If you have a colored countertop rather than one with neutral tones, or an old laminate countertop, changing it out to a tan stone is an excellent option.With bathrooms, you can make a few changes that will pay off. For instance, a common problem seen in many bathrooms has to do with a lack of space. Making the room appear larger and creating more storage is an excellent means of adding value. For example, if you have a double sink vanity, you might switch it out for a pedestal or if the light fixture is massive, consider removing it and adding an oval mirror with two beautiful light sconces.StagingAn extremely inexpensive and in some cases, free way of adding value to your home is simply with staging. This means that you take each room and create a look much like you would expect to see in a model home. In the kitchen, remove appliances from the countertops, take magnets off the refrigerator, and put knick-knacks away. This would be the ideal opportunity to pack a large number of personal items, putting them in storage until you move.The benefit of staging is that you make your home far more appealing. What happens is that instead of potential buyers looking around and envisioning all the changes they would need to make, the home appears clean and ready for move in day. As a result, you can generally up the asking price some while capturing the attention of more people wanting to buy.
