Whether you are upsizing, downsizing, or relocating, if you are thinking about putting your home on the market, you’ll understandably want to get as much money as you can for it. To do this you need to maximize both its value and its appeal to potential buyers. Doing so will help you to receive more offers, higher offers, and secure a sale more quickly.
Here are some of the ways in which you can boost your home’s value and get top dollar when it comes to selling.
You don’t need to spend a lot of time or money to increase the value of your home. There are actually lots of little ways in which you can increase its appeal and maximize its value.
More than anything else, space is what sells – both actual space and the illusion of it. Nobody wants to live surrounded by clutter, so get rid of any excess belongings and furniture and create a very minimal atmosphere that maximizes the space around you. Don’t be tempted to hide items in fixed wardrobes and cupboards as potential buyers may want to look inside to see the storage space that your home has to offer. Instead, kick-start the moving process by having a de-clutter and putting anything else in storage until you are ready to move into your new home.
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and when it comes to selling your home, curb appeal is crucial. You may not even get buyers through the door for viewing if the exterior of your property is off-putting. Make sure your frontage is clean, tidy, and well-lit and your door number or name is clearly visible from the end of the path.
For a home to have the greatest appeal it needs to be exceptionally clean. Many people choose to hire a professional agency to come in and give their property a thorough clean from top to bottom so that it absolutely gleams, showing it in its best light. You may want to consider hiring a window cleaner, carpet cleaner and even a gardener to jet wash your drive or any other hard standing areas of your outdoor space to ensure that they are clean too.
Small DIY jobs like replacing bulbs, broken tiles and light fixtures, or fixing drawers or squeaky doors can often get overlooked, but they can be very off-putting to a potential buyer. They don’t usually take much time or expense to put right, so get them sorted before you start showing around potential buyers.
If you have the time and capital, there are some big investments that you can make that proven to be able to increase the value of a property. Some of the things that you may like to consider include:
If you have an unused attic or cellar, capitalizing on this space could potentially add as much as 25-30% to the value of your home. How you choose to use this space will depend on its size and location, but some possible options include a utility room, games room, shower room, bedroom, or study. Space sells so the more you have the greater the value of your home is likely to be. Make sure that you get any planning permissions that you need and that the build cost doesn’t exceed the value that will be added.
Kitchens are bathrooms are two rooms of the house that can quickly look tired, especially if the fittings are outdated and in need of modernization. Updating either of these rooms isn’t quick or inexpensive but doing so has been shown to boost the value of a property as well as adding to its overall appeal. A fresh, modern kitchen and bathroom could make your home more popular amongst buyers, meaning you are more likely to secure serious interest and reasonable offers.
There are lots of costs associated with owning a home. After paying a mortgage, energy bills are one of the most significant. Nobody wants to pay more than they need to for their energy. Fortunately, by making some changes to your home you can take positive steps to make it as energy efficient as possible, keeping your bills down. These include making sure that all windows and doors close properly, your boiler is working efficiently, and adding insulation to keep the warmth inside in the winter months. You could even consider some of the technological solutions for energy efficiency, such as apps that enable you to turn your lights and even your heating on and off from your phone, meaning that you only use them when you need them.
For more tips on how to increase your home’s value, our expert team of realtors in Escondido, CA would be happy to help.