Buying VS Renting. Which is Better?
Increasing Your Home’s Value
When you start to think about selling your home, it’s time to also consider how to raise its value. Generally, we all hope to sell our homes for more than we paid. Of course, doing so will require some work and some cash. Here are some of the top ways you can add value to your home.
- Beautify
Anything that makes a home more attractive makes it more valuable. Find ways to add natural light. Add a deck. Replace that old, ugly siding. Whatever you can do make your space prettier can demand a higher dollar when you sell. Studies indicate that when you show a home, even good home-staging can increase the asking price.
- Add space.
Add a new room. Add a bathroom. Make that garage bigger. Find a wall you can knock down to open up some room. The more you can add to a home, the more a buyer will see a large living space worth their money.
- Make the house more energy efficient.
If buyers know that they will save more money in the long run on energy costs, they will be willing to pay more for the home. There are several ways to increase energy efficiency. You can make big changes like updating your air conditioning system or adding solar panels. But even updating things like doors, windows, lighting, and appliances can help make a home more energy efficient.
- Update your appliances or add technology.
Got an old refrigerator without an ice dispenser? Have a loud washing machine that’s yellowing with age? It’s time to update those appliances, raising the value of the home on resale.
Better yet, get a top-of-the-line, “smart” version of those very same appliances. Everyone loves their gadgets these days, and making your house a smart home is very attractive to buyers. Video doorbells; refrigerators connected to Wi-F; thermostats controlled by a phone app; these items and more will make your home appear modern and up-to-date, and they will command better prices when selling.
- Make the home low-maintenance.
Along with updating your appliances and tech, anything that makes the home easier to use also makes it more attractive to the buyer. Hard wood is easier to clean than carpet. Look at the garden. How much energy does it take to tend to the plants you have? Walk around the house. Ask yourself how difficult it is to manage your home as it is now. Find ways to make buyers feel like living there will make life easier.
- Hire an inspector.
It’s entirely possible that your home may need repairs you can’t detect. You know that those old cupboards need to be replaced, but you may be completely unaware of the small leak in the attic. Having your home inspected will give you an overview of what can be updated and repaired. Fixing these problems will not only increase your home’s value, it will fix or even prevent damage that would drive the price of your home downward.
As is the case with any renovation, update, or addition, completely recovering your cost is unlikely. Make sure that any updates you make to your home are something you would enjoy, first. That way, you are still getting benefit for your money.
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