We heard it was coming and now more than ever we are seeing it! Housing prices are slowly creeping up and if you are thinking to sell, now is the right time to capitalize on your homes value with the market being so hot! So this week, my blog will focus on giving you some ideas on what projects you should focus on in order to get the highest appraisal value and almost guarantee you get your asking price if not more. These aren’t your typical kitchen and bathroom remodels, but some other simple things that are often ignored that can have a huge impact on whether or not your home sells and how quickly you can get it off the market.
#1. I would like to touch upon the little things you have around the house that need just a tiny bit of maintenance but are easiest to ignore. While they may not be fancy, believe me they are unappealing to the buyer and scream “this house needs a lot of work!” Even the little things in a home need some TLC. The kinds of things I’m referring to are leaky plumbing, poor insulation in the attic, changing out old HVAC filters, replacing torn or damaged window screens, etc. Items like this can easily pile up and turn buyers off. It doesn’t have to cost a ton of money and take a lot of time to fix in order for it to warrant attention and even though they’re small, they do make a big difference when they’re in tip top shape!
#2. Have you ever heard the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover?” Well you can throw that right out the window when it comes to real estate. The first impression a prospective home buyer has is made while walking up to your front door. If there are weeds all over the front yard, unkempt landscaping, a cracked driveway, shabby looking front door, unappealing deck and so on, that really doesn’t leave a very good first impression does it? People want to come home to a space that is both appealing on the outside just as much on the inside! So be sure to clean up both your front and backyard and eliminate any eye sores the buyer will have while taking a walk around your premises.
#3. Coming from a painter’s daughter, I can assure you this next one is very important! While everyone has their own unique taste and some of us like to get creative with our choice of paint and wallpaper, not everyone does. Simply stated a home buyer wants to walk into a space where they can easily imagine themselves living. Sometimes that pop of colour on your accent wall or chips here and there, can be very distracting and quite unappealing. So I do encourage you invest in hiring a painter (or DIY) to paint your walls, patch them up and be sure to choose more neutral paint colors.
#4. Now I know vintage style homes are making a come back and many home buyers like to see a little character in a home, but there’s a delicate twist to this. It’s quite beautiful to see a house with well kept original hardwood floors, eloquent crown moulding, extra wide hallways and elaborate stair cases, but it’s definitely not cute to see a home with cracked lime green vinyl bathroom counters and broken tiles on kitchen back splashes. If you can repair what is there, by all means do so. But if you can’t for whatever reason, we urge you to replace it with finishing’s that are safe, new and clean.
#5. Is your home cut up and the rooms are separated? In today’s market, more open concept homes are sought out and generating sales from buyers. If there are non-structural walls in your home that can be safely removed to open up the flow of the home and enlarge living areas, we highly recommend you invest in removing them. Buyers in today’s market want open spaces and larger floor plans that flow from room to room so creating space wherever is possibly can significantly increase your homes appeal.
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