If you’re like most people, then your home is likely to be the single most important and valuable property you own. That’s enough reason for you to want to take care of it and increase its value, but there are many other reasons beside that. You may want to sell it or rent it out, amongst other possible reasons.
In doing that, however, it’s important to keep in mind that if you don’t go about it strategically, you might end up spending too much money and not achieving a commensurate increase in the value of your home. To help you minimize costs and maximize the value increase, here are five tips to follow:
1. Remove Clutter
The reason why you don’t notice how cluttered your home is, is that you’ve become so used to it over time. For someone who is evaluating the house and trying to appraise its value, the rooms will feel smaller and things will look disorganized, especially because the person might not be able to visualize how good the room would look, minus all the clutter.
Take some time out to determine if the pile of books on the table is really essential, and if all the furniture in every room see enough use to justify their presence there. Remove the ones that you can and you’ll be surprised at how much better your home will look.
2. Paint
The paint is the first thing people notice about your home, both from the exterior and when they enter. If your home’s paint job is already fading or is visibly stained or flaking off, you should consider re-painting it. It’ll increase the value and curb appeal of your home significantly. The good thing is that you can get a wide variety of colors and even some special paints that are designed to be eco-friendlier. Also ensure that there’s enough, since it’ll bring out the beauty in the décor better. For instance, choosing a cocoweb barn light for your exterior lighting can increase the value of a new home.
3. Create More Space
The trend now is that wide open floor plans are in demand by buyers. The bigger and more open your home is, the more value prospective buyers will attach to it. Call an engineer in to look at the options you have, such as removing a non-structural wall to make a room bigger or removing your kitchen island and replacing it with one that is movable. Potential buyers will likely appreciate the flexibility it’ll avail them.
One other thing you can do here is to add additional seating areas by converting an area outside the home to a patio. With just the money for chairs and the patio itself, you’ll be able to market it as an extra dining area to buyers.
4. Mind the ‘Scape
Landscaping is one of the home improvement projects that bring in the most amount of returns in terms of value appreciation. According to a study last year, investments could have ROIs of up to 400%.
Begin by mowing the lawn and ensuring that there’s no overgrowth of weeds anywhere, then remember to prune the trees so that they aren’t blocking the view of the house from the street. Your buyers will form a first impression as soon as the house comes into view and it won’t be a good one if it appears like a forest, from a distance.
