If you’re considering putting your property on the market, you probably want to maximize its value as much as possible so you can get a better asking price.
At the same time, you don’t want to spend too much money on the property that you are planning to sell, especially during a time when many homeowners are struggling with financial hardships.
The good news is there are several ways to improve the value and appearance of your home without breaking the bank. By thinking outside the box, doing a little DIY labor and getting creative with materials, you can have the home looking spick and span for viewings in no time.
Here are the top four affordable improvements you can make that will rapidly increase the value of your home:
- Painting
Nothing goes further in an affordable home upgrade than a good coat of paint. Freshly painted walls, cabinets and other fixtures can give your home a refreshed feeling without causing you to incur too much expense. The greatest benefit of this kind of upgrade is that it’s something you can take on yourself in order to save on the cost of labor.
What’s important to remember here is that you should choose a good quality paint in a neutral shade that has wide appeal. Too-bright colors can be off-putting to potential buyers who are viewing the home – imagine, how will they match their furniture to a lime green or neon orange? A neutral palette creates an intentionally blank slate in which anyone can imagine themselves living.
Darker colors can work but need to be used selectively, preferably for accent walls. Covering an entire room in dark paint can make it feel smaller if the space doesn’t get enough natural light.
- Curb Appeal
The first thing buyers will see when coming to view your home is the outside of the property. That’s why improving your curb appeal is so essential, and luckily it’s something that you can largely DIY.
The most basic steps you can take towards improving your curb appeal include mowing the lawn, cutting down overgrown shrubbery and removing those pesky weeds. You can also use paint to touch up the outside of your home including window and door frames.
You can purchase new plants and flowers for your front and back yards, but it’s important not to buy any old greenery. Do yourself and the future homeowners a favor by purchasing plants that are native to the region and low tolerance – this way you won’t end up replacing them every week and they won’t take too much watering and maintenance.
- Updating Floors
One of the best investments you can make into your home value will be fixing dated floors or getting rid of damaged ones. Just as buyers will pay attention to the walls, they will to the floors too.
How you make changes to the floors in your property will depend on the materials they are made out of and how much you are willing to spend on them.
If you have wooden floors that are slightly faded, you can have them refinished instead of replacing them completely. If you have damaged tiles, linoleum or carpet, you may want to consider replacing them altogether. Older carpets that are still in good condition should at the very least be professionally cleaned before viewings begin.
This might not be the cheapest option on the list, but it is one that will go far and that you can recoup up to 100% of your money on.
- Smart Energy
An issue that is becoming more and more important to homebuyers is that of green energy. You might think that implementing greener energy solutions into your home will be expensive, but there are several more affordable ways to achieve this goal.
Make the change over to energy-saving LED light bulbs, low-flow shower heads and taps and make sure your insulation is working correctly. These steps will bring down the overall cost of maintenance and be appealing to the buyers of today.
Upgrading your home in order to improve the value does not have to be an enormously expensive exercise. It helps to evaluate comparable homes in the area to get an idea of what sells well and what does not.
