If you’re looking to add some resale value to your home and wonder what areas to focus on and which to definitely avoid, this article is for you. It can be difficult (and quite expensive) to pinpoint the areas that need the most work, as different aspects of the house attract different buyers. But there are a few places potential buyers look for first, which can help you decide where to focus the majority of your renovation budget.
1) Renovating the Kitchen
For around a hundred dollars, you can get a new faucet, add new handles to the cabinet door, and update lighting fixtures for a great feel. If you have a higher budget, redo the cabinets completely and update the appliances, which will wow new potential buyers the moment they walk in.
To a majority of the people who search for new homes, the kitchen is the heart and soul of the whole place. It’s the first place they go the moment they walk in the door. The kitchen/dining area is where families come together and bond, especially during the holiday seasons. It’s where the magic happens. For a few hundred bucks, you can do a few updates to the kitchen to give it an improved and updated look.
2) Bathrooms.
Bathrooms are often the second most important update in the house to potential buyers. And the easiest to fix up. A new toilet seat and a re-grout of the tub may be all it needs. Even new floor and wall tiles can be a quick, cheap way to give it a better, updated look.
3) Add a room.
Maybe you have a two-bedroom house and a den. A small change may be all that’s needed to turn the den into a bedroom. For example, maybe the difference is the den doesn’t have a closet. If you find a way to add the closet, suddenly you have a three-bedroom house and that’s much more valuable.
4) Carpeting.
Depending on how old the carpet is, it probably looks old and worn. Even if it’s relatively new, a few years can really do a lot to make newish carpet look old. You can rent professional cleaning equipment to spruce up the carpets in your home to give it a cleaner look. If there are particularly bad spots of wear and tear, consider investing in new carpet or well-placed rugs to cover it up.
Bad Renovations
5) Whirlpool baths, tubs, and saunas.
These can be an attractive renovation feature, but in today’s economy and market, they can be considered as just too expensive to maintain, as well as the extra energy costs to run/use them.
6) Personal additions.
You love the additions you made to your home that suit your style. For example, your taste in music and movies led you to install a state-of-the-art surround sound and home theater system. Or the bar in the basement where you received guests. These are specialized, personal additions that may and often do not have any value to anyone other than you. And thus, people will not pay a premium for a house because of these features.
7) Wallpaper and paint.
Just like adding personal renovation to the home, adding paint and wallpaper can turn away potential buyers. A fresh coat of paint to update the feel of a room may not be a bad idea if it’s really worn, but don’t go crazy adding your own colors and getting it to look good. Because again, it may look good to you, but not to them. They may feel the need to turn around and repaint or paper how they want it to look, making your attempt a waste of time and money.
