If you’re getting ready to invest a significant amount towards renovating and improving your property in preparation of listing it for sale on the open market, you’re probably looking for investments that will actually pay off. Unfortunately, the vast majority of home improvements and upgrades won’t add much value to your home when compared to the cost of the project or purchase itself.
Luckily, there are still a few guaranteed ways to enhance the appeal of a home in eyes of prospective buyers, including the following 9 home improvement investments that will tangibly boost the value of your property:
1. Bathroom Remodeling
Bathroom remodeling is one of the few renovations that will actually pay for itself in most cases. If you invest roughly $10,000 into an extensive bathroom remodeling project, you should be able to add at least $10,000-$12,000 to your home’s overall value.
This project would typically involve replacing the tub/shower, floors, toilet, and sink and cabinet fixtures. It may also be worthwhile to extend the size of the bathroom and add new plumbing components.
However, keep in mind that you’ll want to avoid the DIY route when it comes to plumbing projects and leave that to a professional company like WeCareTeam.com. We Care is a Southern California-based company with extensive experience in plumbing newly built and renovated luxury bathrooms.
2. Expanding Room Size
Knocking down a few walls might be the most cost-effective way to make your home more appealing in the luxury market. For example, if you have a 4-bedroom home with a total of 2,000 square feet in floor space and your bedrooms are small and cramped, you might be better off converting that standard single-family home into a more luxurious 2-bedroom with larger rooms and open, modern living room and kitchen area.
Proper allocation and arrangement of square footage is a quick shortcut to dramatically increasing the appeal of a home. While expanding room sizes won’t provide a statistically measurable boost in property value, it will help you appeal to a higher-paying portion of the home buying market.
3. Bring in More Sunlight
Believe it or not, simply allowing more sunlight into the home can improve the mood of prospective buyers, which can help facilitate a sale that might not have happened otherwise. Adding skylights to the roof or widening windows are two reliable ways to bring in the mood-enhancing sunshine that will also optimally illuminate all your home’s interior design perks.
Converting an entire wall into a wide window is another way to create the luxury look using sunshine. Studies have shown that dark and cramped spaces tend to decrease property value while well-lit homes that have a minimal dependence on artificial lighting typically command the highest sales prices.
4. Landscaping
Since the exterior is typically the first thing a prospective buyer will see when they’re considering your property, it makes sense that having excellent landscaping would pay off. This investment not only provides a reliable boost to your sales price, it will also give more buyers the incentive needed to look into your property further.
On the other hand, having poor landscaping can be a deterrent that scares otherwise interested buyers away. Thus, one could argue that a comprehensive landscaping project is almost mandatory for any property owner who wants to improve their chances of selling a property quickly and for an ideal price.
5. Kitchen Remodeling
You probably know from your own experience as a homebuyer, or just by forming your own opinion about home décor, that the kitchen is where much of the magic happens during a walk-through. Dumping $15,000 into a kitchen renovation can easily reward you with a property value boost of $15,000 – $30,000, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to get your money back or double it on the sale closing date.
Open floor spaces and large islands are currently trending in the luxury home market. Upgrading appliances will also be a must, as will throwing in premium counter tops, cabinets, and flooring. In essence, a 5-star kitchen will usually help you fetch that 5-star asking price you’re aiming for.
6. Add a Deck or Patio
Having a deck or patio built outside of your home is another reliable way to make the property more appealing to upper middle class and luxury home buyers. Look at it this way: at any given time, there’s a finite number of home buyers who are searching for properties in your area, along with a set number of properties for them to choose from.
By having features that other properties don’t have – like a custom deck or patio – you position yourself with the other elite homes in your neighborhood which the top tier of buyers will inevitably consider during their comparison. For that couple or bachelor that just “has to have” an outdoor barbecue area, you could be making yourself one of only a couple dozen options just by adding a deck or patio.
7. Convert the Basement or Attic
If your home doesn’t have a lot of extra room for knocking down walls and expanding existing living spaces, you could convert your basement or attic area into an extra room or studio.
While there’s no set number on how much more you can ask for your home with this kind of conversion, at a bare minimum you’re going to be moving yourself up into a bracket of homes that have more bedrooms, which typically demand higher prices than homes with fewer bedrooms.
For example, if your home is currently a 2 bedroom with a large basement and attic, you could hypothetically convert that basement into a small apartment or two rooms, and turn the attic into a large room as well, and suddenly you’d be considered by the higher-paying buyers who are shopping for 4-bedrooms homes.
8. Create a Home Office Area
Real estate surveys and studies have proven that homes with designated office areas have a higher chance of selling and usually fetch higher prices than homes that do not home offices.
The logic here is simple: home buyers who want or need a home office are typically business owners, entrepreneurs, or otherwise affluent professionals, which means they can usually afford to pay a higher price.
9. Add an External Structure
Finally, here’s a quick bonus tip that will make your home an appealing prospect to the higher-paying buyers: build a guest house, recreational room, or external garage. Doing this will add an extra feature to your listing that may help to encourage a sale at the price you’re going for.
Accommodate Buyer Preferences and Be Firm on Your Price
In an ideal scenario, you’ll be able to sell your home for an above average price even beyond what other luxury homes in your area are selling for. Of course, to achieve that goal, you’ll need to be prepared to make a series of significant investments, and you may also need the patience to wait for the right buyer.
You might also need the discipline to commit to your initial asking price and decline any lower offers that will probably come along.
It’s especially important to stand firm on the price you’re aiming for if you’ve invested a large sum into boosting the property’s value, as you don’t want to sink a bunch of funds into renovations for no reason other than giving the new property owner extra features at a bargain price.