Most Cost Effective Home Improvement Before Selling Your Home
Making decisions about improvements to your home is pretty simple if those improvements
are meant to improve the quality of life for yourself and your family. You simply invest
your money in home improvement that will mean the most to you. Deciding which home improvements
will be most appealing to potential buyers, however, is another matters altogether.
Making the most of the money you put into fixing up your home is very important. Choosing
your upgrades wisely, based on market research of which improvements pay for themselves,
will help you get the most out of your home when you sell.
Determining which upgrades and improvements will enhance the value of your home and pay
for themselves is often difficult. For one thing, it requires you to place yourself in a
buyer's shoes, and see the home the way an outsider would. This is often difficult,
particularly if you are emotionally invested in the home. It is hard to look on your own
home as an outsider.
Therefore, it is a good idea to seek the advice of someone who can be impartial and provide
that all important outsider perspective of home improvements and upgrades. A good place to
start is with your real estate agent. Ask your agent which improvements or upgrades he or
she feels would add the greatest value. It is important to focus on those improvements
that will more than pay for themselves through enhanced home value.
You may also want to look at similar homes in your area. Pay careful attention to the
amenities offered in similarly priced homes, and make your upgrade list accordingly. Of
course it is important to take cost into consideration when making those upgrade plans, and
to be sure you can recover the cost when you sell your home.
While it is important to study your own area to determine the best improvements to increase
value, there are a number of home improvements that are known to pay handsome dividends when
it comes to increasing home values. These tried and true repairs include:
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Remodeling the kitchen and/or bathroom has been shown in many surveys to increase
the value of a home and provide an excellent return on investment.
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Adding an additional bathroom is also a great way to improve the value of a home.
This is particularly true if the existing home has only one bathroom. Many potential
buyers will not consider a home with only a single bathroom.
Alternatively, you can make inexpensive improvement to your
existing bathroom to make it more 'spa like'. Such upgrade will
help you to build up home equity quickly.
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Consider create a home office space as it is an essential part
of today's living. It can be from an entire room or just part of
a room partitioned off with an obscure acrylic block wall to
create a private nook. This multi-functional space can be used
for home business or even for children to study.
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Increase the amount of usable space in a home by expanding the
living space by adding a deck or sunroom is always equates to
adding more value. Whether it's adding a deck, placing an awning
over a patio area or converting a screened-in porch to a
sunroom, the creation of more living space will add an appealing
selling pointing.
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A new floor can also be a good, cost effective upgrade to a home. This is
particularly true if you are able to install the flooring yourself, since a large
portion of the cost of installing a hardwood or parquet floor is the labor needed
to install it. Those who are able to install a new floor on their own can often
capture more than the cost of the flooring in increased home value.
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Ceiling has been considered the fifth wall in a room. Accent and
embellish them with beaded boards, paints or decorative finishes
will add more ambiance to a room.
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Simply replace old shrubs with new ones without reworking your
entire landscaping plan will achieve significant results with
vastly less money. As a buyer will form his/her opinion of how
well you have taken care of the interior by the look of the
exterior.
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A swimming pool is generally a lousy home improvement in terms of adding value.
Homeowners rarely recover the installation costs of a pool when they sell their home,
and in some cases a pool can actually turn buyers away.
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Basic home repairs like fixing old gutters certainly add some curb appeal, but they
generally do little to truly enhance the resale value of the home.
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Replace indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures
with a brighter ones can have great impact on the look of your
house. For example, a bronze like front door light that cost
about $50, can be easily installed yourself. Of course,
professional electrician should be hired if rewiring a home is
required.
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Replace old and leaky windows with energy
efficient vinyl windows will help to save on cooling bills all
year long. If you consider impact-resistant windows for added
safety and security reason will add value to your home.
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You should consider spending the money to mend
your fences if your home has a fence that needs repair. This is
one of the best upgrade that will give good return. Replacement
of broken or missing posts should not be a difficult job for
most of the homeowner.
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Painting is one exception to this rule. A fresh coat of paint in the areas that
need is an excellent, low cost way to improve the appeal of the home. A fresh paint
job costs only a little bit of money, but it can greatly improve the appeal of any
home.
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When making upgrades or improvements to your home, it is important to keep good records
which detail all money being spent. This will be a big help when computing the capital gain
on the sale of the home, and when calculating the return on investment of each upgrade or improvement.
The less you have to pay carpenters, carpet
installers and other professionals, the greater your return will be. Some home improvement
projects, however, require the use of a qualified professional. Unless you are an expert,
improvements or upgrades involving plumbing, electrical wiring, heating or air conditioning
systems should be left to the professionals. You can find thousands of unbiased ratings on services for
home improvements here!
Other home improvement projects, such as laying down a new hardwood or laminate floor, may
well be within the skills of the average homeowner.
Being able to do your own home repairs, improvements and upgrades obviously will increase
the return on investment of any project.
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You can start by doing small do-it-yourself home enhancement project. Just go to Home Depot and spend
just few hundred dollars for a new sink, and vanity and mirror
combination will add great value to your home. Many home improvement warehouses hold
seminars where homeowners can learn how to do these projects. If you can find such a free
seminar, by all means take advantage of it. It will save you money on
home upgrades and give you valuable skills for the future.
However, for more complex home renovation such as kitchen remodeling,
bathroom remodeling, floor installation, exterior window replacement,
siding installation, roof replacement, and heating & air installation,
you may want to leave it to
professional help.
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