Earlier this month, we talked about the exciting spring real estate season. We discussed strategies for both buyers and sellers, helping them either find the right home at an affordable price, or helping them sell a home quickly while bringing a fair offer.
We’d like to take a closer look at the topic of selling your home quickly by reviewing home improvement measures that bring real results to your sales process. We’ve addressed this topic in the past, but there are so many options that we’d like to take one more look at the subject.
In the San Diego area, we rarely have a problem finding buyers, but these tips can be implemented in any market. When done right, they can help sell a home quickly so you can move on to the next chapter in your life…
Note 1: Nothing is Guaranteed in Real Estate
Before we jump in to the improvements to sell a home quickly, it’s important to note that nothing is guaranteed in real estate, so even if you make the perfect improvements to your home, there’s still a chance that your house could be on the market for months until the right buyer comes along. These home revisions simply improve the chances of selling faster, but don’t guarantee results.
Note 2: Home Improvements for Fast Sales, Not for Home Value
According to Remodeling Magazine, almost all home-improvement projects will not recoup their full price in home value. For example, the average midrange backyard patio costs $54,130, but only adds $25,769 in resale value, for a cost recoup of only 48%. Therefore, remodeling is generally for either personal enjoyment or sale expediency, but not as a financial investment.
11 Home Improvements to Help Sell a Home Quickly
1. Kitchen Remodel
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms for selling a home, so if yours is cramped, worn, or out of style, it might be time for a renovation. By updating the kitchen with fresh cabinets, countertops, flooring, or even a new floor plan, you give potential buyers more incentive to say yes.
2. Bathroom Remodel
If it’s not as important as the kitchen, it’s not far behind. An elegant, clean, and well-designed bathroom can help move a home quickly. If you decide to renovate the bathroom, it may be as easy as painting the wall a nice white or cream color, installing a large mirror (to make it seem more spacious), or replacing a dirty shower door. However, full bathroom renovations can also increase your sale potential, although they will be more costly.
3. Update Cabinet Hardware and Kitchen Appliances
Tarnished door knobs and retro cabinet fixtures can send buyers to the next home, but replacing them is both easy and affordable and can help sell a home quickly. New hardware for the kitchen cabinets, for example, will rarely cost more than $400, and it can help give the space an updated, fresh appearance. The same goes for stoves, refrigerators, and dishwashers; updating them is easy and, depending on what you buy, relatively affordable.
4. Granite Countertops
Like wood flooring, granite is easy to maintain and has a timeless appeal. Granite countertops can be more expensive than some materials, but they have a universal appeal that can be fitted with almost any design style, allowing future owners to create a kitchen decor that works for them.
5. A Nice, Spacious Garage
More and more people appreciate the advantages of a spacious garage. This can be a difficult home improvement step, but expanding your current garage (and leaving the space open when buyers visit) allows future owners to safely store their two cars, boats, motorcycles, camper, and more. If expanding the garage seems unreasonable, at least clean it out so it looks more spacious to buyers.
6. Create a Built-In Bar Somewhere, Anywhere
While the “man-cave” might be a little overrated, at least for selling a home, having a bar somewhere in the house can be very appealing. We don’t necessarily mean a typical drinking bar, but simply a raised countertop with tall stools somewhere in the home. Having a bar area in the kitchen is especially popular among modern homebuyers, but you can also place it in a basement lounge area or the main living room.
7. Plant Privacy Hedges
Everyone values privacy. If the windows in your home are open to the neighbor’s yard or a high-traffic sidewalk, installing a few shrubs might increase privacy. This can obviously be a challenge if the windows are on the second story, but planting some hedges around ground-level windows can increase the appeal of a home.
8. Install a Boundary Fence
With kids and pets, many homeowners appreciate the safety, as well as the privacy, of a backyard fence. This also helps distinguish your property from the neighbor’s and gives your home the feel of a private sanctuary, a place where your family can gather without being bothered by the outside world.
9. Create More Storage Options
People have more stuff than ever before. Whether this is a good or bad trend is debatable, but there’s no doubt that storage is a crucial part of a home’s appeal. If you have the chance to add creative storage options, you’ll give more buyers the incentive to purchase your home. Storage can come in the form of expanded closets, more cabinetry, an outdoor shed, or more space in the garage.
10. Seal the Foundation
A leaky or seeping foundation can be a significant drawback on selling the home. Not only does moisture create a higher chance for mold, it also creates damage to the structural integrity of the home. Sealing the foundation can be simple, and it can help eliminate one big drawback from your home’s potential.
11. Install a New Front Door
When people look at your home, one of the first things they will notice is the front door. This sends a message about the overall quality and care of your home, so send the right message by installing a high-quality, attractive door.
Let San Diego Purchase Loans Help With Your Mortgage
With these home improvement, you should be able to sell your home quickly. When you are ready to upgrade your housing or downsize your space, we can increase your chances of approval by taking a common-sense approach to real estate lending.
Whether you are purchasing your first home or want to downsize after retirement, make your first visit to the lending experts at San Diego Purchase Loans!
