Being a homeowner is a major responsibility. Not only do you have to stay on top of all your finances and property maintenance, you need to constantly work to improve the look and feel of your home. But in addition to simply improving your home’s aesthetics, you should also be working to increase the overall value of your home.
Once upon a time, Americans thought that home values would keep increasing indefinitely. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, and that’s why you have to take proactive steps to guarantee the return on investment of your home.
Take the Bel-Air estate commonly referred to as the Chartwell. According to the Los Angeles Times, this 25,000-square-foot mansion is being sold for $350 million, making it the most expensive residential listing in the United States.
Although not every home is going to be sold for $350 million, or even remotely close to that, homeowners can always improve their property and increase their home’s resale value to the best of their ability.
Here are some of the best ways to increase your home’s resale value when selling a home:
Work with professional construction contractors
We may be living in the Do It Yourself era of homeownership, but the most lucrative remodeling projects are extremely difficult to accomplish on your own. Before you list your home is not the right time to experiment with that DIY project you found on Pinterest. Professional contractors can help improve your property and give you a much higher return on investment (ROI). Even minor kitchen remodeling projects yield an average ROI of 82.7%. Plus, there are roughly 7.8 million construction workers in the U.S. today, so there’s no excuse for trying to do it all yourself.
Clean and stage your home
You should prepare your home for the eventual walkthroughs and showcases that will occur when you finally do place your property on the market. Even if your property is amazing if it’s not well kept when people first walkthrough, they are likely going to look for a home elsewhere.
“Do all the work necessary to make your property look good, not through expensive changes but through excellent staging,” said Bruce Irvin, the real estate and renovation consultant known as “The House Whisperer”, to Consumer Reports. “Your agent should be able to provide proper advice and even bring in a professional.”
Even a little dusting and cleaning can make a home feel that much more livable.
“It’s remarkable what regular home maintenance, cleanliness, and minimizing clutter in your everyday life can do for you when it comes time to sell,” added Tara Miller, an interior designer in Portland, Oregon.
If a home is dirty, it simply will not sell.
Make sure you’re being realistic with your offering price
HGTV experts recommend that you should take 15% to 20% off of what your home is actually worth when selling, but lots of homeowners are reluctant to take this advice. This is why working with experienced real estate pros is so essential. You might not know how to navigate the local real estate market as well as professionals.
Create open space inside your home
Consider tearing down a wall that isn’t a key piece of your home’s structure to open up your layout a little bit. Despite the fact that home interior trends change from year to year, lately, homebuyers have loved much more open properties. This also makes the home look bigger than it really is.
“Right now buyers want a wide open floor plan, the living room right off the kitchen,” Kristin Wellins, Senior Manager of Program Development for ERA Real Estate, told This Old House. “They are into big spaces.”
And according to This Old House, opening up rooms inside a home creates a sense of flow that buyers will gravitate to.
Use social media when selling a home
When trying to sell a home, you need to use every tool available to maximize your sale price. Using social media sites like Facebook is a great way to advertise a home listing. You can take high quality, high definition photos of your property and post them online for all the digital world to see. You can promote your home to your friends and connections on these social networking sites, and you can also encourage your friends to share your home’s listing.
Even if you plan to stay in your home for many years to come, increasing its value is always a smart idea. As long as you are working hard to improve your property, you should end up getting a great price for your home when you decide to sell.
Good luck!
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