How To Increase Your Home's Value
Hi, Kevin Yoder, Yoder Real Estate, powered by EXP. Back again for another answer to a really great question we get all the time, is how can I increase my home’s value?
Now before I answer this question, I want to make sure that we’re clear on this, is that there are actually two ways to answer this. And that is one, is before I sell my home, and two is for the longevity and the future property value and being able to enjoy those improvements. So, let me split this answer into two possible answers. So, if you’re in the camp of, “I’m going to sell this year,” let’s pay attention to number one, because the answer is going to be different. So here are some things that you can do before selling.
Low Cost, High Return Improvements
Before you sell your home, it is advisable to focus on those low cost, high return items, because if you sink a hundred thousand dollars, for example, into a whizzbang, over the top, crazy awesome full-on kitchen remodel, it’s highly unlikely, in fact, almost impossible, in fact, never has happened that you’re going to get that money back when you sell it, let’s say two or three, four months down the road. So, let’s focus on some things that you can do that’ll cost very little relative to the possible gain that you will get on the marketplace.
Low Maintenance Kitchen Remodel
So, number one, a low maintenance kitchen remodel. This would include refinishing cabinets, putting new knobs on, replacing countertops, and perhaps some flooring. We’re going to freshen this puppy up and make sure that it looks awesome online, of course first. And there’s a lot of great companies out there now that will do cabinet remodeling and refinishing that’ll make it look almost as good as new.
So a low maintenance kitchen remodel, update it, get rid of the formica, maybe put in granite or something that’s going to be updated, or even a granite look is great. There are formica countertops that you can get that look of granite. Number two is paint. Clearly, we’ve got to upgrade the paint. There’s something to say for that. When you’re walking around in a home and there are chips and marks and just maintenance issues that need to be addressed with homes, that’s one part of it. So, if you have rubs and scuffs, it doesn’t take much to have somebody do that for you, or you do it yourself and just walk around the house and update that. But if you have rooms that the colors are not in alignment with today’s preferred pallets, just understand what’s at play here.
Neutralize Your Space
The buyer is going to fall in love with or fall out of love with your home, first and foremost, what they see online. And so, in order to open the marketplace up to your home, which simply means to appeal to more people than not, then adjust your mindset on this. This is not about being your home and this is a color you love because people are not like you. So think about what most people would like and then lean into that and neutralize the space. Okay, so we have low kitchen updates, we have paint, doorknobs and light fixtures. Super easy. Make a run to home Depot, trade out those gold fixtures and replace them with brushed nickel as an example, something more modern, contemporary. Replace the outlet covers. Those are another area. Make them all match. It’ll cost you a couple hundred bucks, but the return will be more of a how does this home feel to me from the buyer’s perspective.
Low Cost, High Return Landscaping.
Clearly, they drive up, they see the home. This is the first impression. As we all know, we’ve heard it a million times that a first impression is a lasting impression, and you can’t get a first impression twice or again. So why not give the buyer the best possible version of your home when they drive up to it? It’s the first impression they have. So, shrubbery, bushes, landscaping, grass. If it’s summertime, make sure everything is trimmed up real nice. It’ll go a long way.
Now before you sell your home, it is advisable to focus on those low cost, high return items
Flooring and Carpet
If the carpet is worn and ratted, it should have been taken care of a long time ago. So, the challenge becomes is when you wait until the last minute and you’re getting ready to sell you, then switch it in your mind that somehow, it’s not right, or somehow you shouldn’t have to do it. Well, that’s just a bunch of garbage. If you want to sell your home for the most money, you’ve got to have floors and carpet that’s actually suitable. So just neutral and call it just good enough so that a buyer will not discount the price when they go to make an offer on your home. So, make sure it’s suitable. You can get such awesome new flooring, very inexpensively. So, update those places that are ratted and torn and actually worn out and make sure the flooring is adequate for a future buyer.
Go From 2 to 3 Bedrooms . . . Maybe
Turn a second bedroom into a third. Now I don’t always recommend this, but if you’re a two-bedroom home in a three-bedroom world, meaning all your neighbors and your competition are three bedrooms, consider converting that extra space. If it’s an office, add a closet, make it a three bedroom. If you have a basement that is unfinished and there’s a corner area with some windows there, make that a bedroom.
So why? Because then we can call it a three-bedroom on the MLS. And because people search by bedroom count, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, it’s going to show up in more places. Got it? Price goes through the roof. Two-bedroom home in a three-bedroom world, no bueno, but a three-bedroom home in a three-bedroom world, more eyeballs, more showings, more offers, more money for you. But do avoid those pricey renovations. Don’t sink hundreds of thousands of dollars in before you list, because you’re not going to get the money back. And secondly, you made a super awesome kitchen for someone else to live there. You didn’t get a benefit.
Long-Term, Higher Cost
These are the couple of things you can do long-term.
Turn a Half Bath into a Full Bath
Bathrooms, turning half baths into whole baths, big time added value for you and your benefit and use, and also for the future buyer.
Open Up the Kitchen
Secondly is open a kitchen up. If your kitchen is boxed in and kind of that eighties and nineties box, or earlier, of course, open it up. Knock down some walls, get some space in there, get some light shining into the house. And then third is storage space. A lot of folks are looking for storage. You can get a storage shed at Home Depot for a thousand bucks, super cheap, a way that you can enjoy it, plus the future buyer is going to appreciate that. Okay, so a little longer than I anticipated, but there’s a lot in here and I want to make sure we’re providing as much value as we can.
If you want to go deeper on this, these are the conversations we’re having every single day. I love sharing this information with home sellers and people that are in the marketplace looking to sell a home or get the most value out of their home. So I wanted to share that with you today. I hope this is valuable for you. If you have questions on this or want to go deeper on it, give us a call here at Yoder Real Estate. You can find us online, of course, at yoderrealestate.com. And we’ll be back shortly with another episode and more value, bringing your way on how to navigate through a marketplace and how to maximize your home’s value and other topics. Until next time. We’ll see you soon.
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