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Connie's Real Estate Trends Blog
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3 simple ways to increase your home's value
Think like a potential buyer and your mission becomes clear, an expert renovator says. That means fixing what can be seen (or, ugh, smelled) first.
The single most cost-effective investment you can make to increase the value of your home is to buy a roll or two of plastic trash bags. Stuff them with junk outside the house - from beer cans to raked leaves.
Nothing could be more common-sense than cleaning up the yard and exterior, right?
You'd be surprised at how many people don't recognize the importance of doing these kinds of items. As any real estate investor who buys dilapidated houses, fixes them up and sells them for a profit will advise: “When renovating a house or preparing it for sale, spend money on things a buyer can see”.
Any successful investor is adept at spotting hidden value, buying low and selling high. One of the things that investors like when they drive up to a house is what is referred to as high 'Yikes!' appeal. Defined as the state of a house in which a normal person would drive up, say, "Yikes!" and keep on driving.
What a 'Yikes' house looks like:
A house with high "Yikes!" appeal has weeds, a boat parked in the front yard and an old car transmission on the side of the house, nested amid beer cans. A rain gutter hangs down. Overgrown shrubs obscure the front windows, creating a dreary interior. People actually try to sell their homes in such condition, creating opportunities for bargain-hunters.
Working the other side of the equation, there are so many cost effective ways to increase the value of your home. A lot of money is at stake.
Protect, Improve, Appreciate
Families that spent more on home improvements also realize the greatest rates of price appreciation. In many regions of the country, homeowners recover as much as 80% to 90% of the cost of home improvements in the form of higher home values. Little wonder, then, that homeowners spent almost $2,300 on average to help protect and improve their most important financial asset.
If you're getting ready to sell a house, you want to be among the homeowners who recover 80% or more of their investments in the form of a higher price. The key to your success is thinking like a buyer. And what do buyers do? They drive up to a house and look at it. If they're not repelled by what they see, they step inside and look around. Visibility adds value. The improvements that are most visible are the things you need to focus on.
If you’ve done your “homework”, that’s when the magic begins!!