Should you renovate the real estate before selling it? If this question was bugging you before, you are in the right place now. This question isn’t easy to answer, so read this article and draw conclusions out of it.
First and foremost, you have to keep in mind that it is a business decision. That means you have to calculate and base the decision on ROI and current marketability of your home. Before taking any action, ask yourself a question – is the renewal worth it?
Try to calculate how much the property is worth now and how much added value renovation could bring. And remember that you do it to attract as many potential buyers as possible.
Another crucial factor is knowing the trends. Evaluate what the current demand is and make sure to follow the crowd. Don’t let your taste dominate. Remember that something that you love could potentially scare some buyers away.
In general, major home remodeling has a low return of an investment. Most Real Estate experts claim that it’s better to leave the house as it currently is if the property needs a major overhaul. You have to reduce the risk of overcapitalization as much as possible. According to professional renovator Cherie Barber, who has 20 years of experience, you shouldn’t invest more than 10% of total property value in renovations.
Thanks to the minor improvements, visitors will feel that the house is ready to move in. That is what the 51% of them wants. To help you create this feeling, ISoldMyHouse lends you an expert hand. He put together 5 low-cost ideas that will make your home stand out and leave a lasting impression.
Curb Appeal
The first impression of your house is the one people get from the street, but ironically, it often gets overlooked, with sellers directing all their attention to the interior.
With a few easy touches, your curb appeal can set a lasting, welcoming tone to the entire visit. The most basic thing to take care of is mowing the lawn. Otherwise, you can have a gold statue in your garden, and the place still won’t look presentable.
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Equally as important is touching up your house’s paint to give it a nice, fresh look. From there, you should trim hedges, clean up plants’ pots, and just touch the landscape up. If you don’t have any plants, it would be a good idea to get some, as almost everyone likes at least a little nature to welcome them home.
If you’re feeling creative, you can take out or get some furniture that’s suitable for outside. Make the exterior feel like an extension of the interior, filling your visitors’ minds with endless possibilities for relaxation and garden parties from the get-go.Â
Fix, Clean, De-Clutter
Now that visitors are in the house, make sure that they don’t see anything that needs repair. It includes cracks, loose or squeaky door knobs, dangling weather stripping, and locks that get jammed easily. Anything dirty, and by dirty, consider anything that’s not squeaky clean. Also, any cluttered areas which makes spaces feel much smaller, dirtier, older, and just all-around unwelcoming.
Taking care of this is not about making your home stand out with something good. It is about making sure it doesn’t stand out with something terrible. Even if everything else about your property is perfect, something like this can blemish visitors’ overall impression and provoke doubt in the estate’s condition.
Let There Be Light
Unless Marilyn Manson is your target audience, light is your best sidekick when you’re trying to sell your home for several reasons.
The very first thing you should do in that regard is let as much natural light in as possible. It brightens up the place and makes it look bigger.
Furthermore, when potential buyers are checking a house out, they want to inspect it under a bright light. Otherwise, it may seem like you’re hiding some flaws.
Last but certainly not least, most people prefer light, bright spaces unless it’s a special occasion. In this case, you can always create a more subdued atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, consider getting some lighting fixtures. They will breathe life into your home and perhaps can easily switch between different vibes so that visitors can envision various scenarios.
Arrange Furniture to Spark Their Imagination
As a continuation of the previous point, a similar principle applies to the furniture. You want to arrange it in a way that hints at the possibilities that the particular space opens up, yet leave room for visitors’ imagination to fill in the blanks with their own dreamed idylls.
You need to strike a balance between leaving enough space for people to walk around and let their minds wander. But having enough furniture for your house not to look barren is also essential.
In other words, space should be like a blank canvas with some suggestions.
Keep Things Neutral
It may sound somewhat counter-intuitive to keep things neutral while trying to stand out. But it is a universal piece of advice you can follow when you’re trying to sell a house. This is the same principle as the previous two points.
You don’t want your house to be null, but it should be blank enough for your visitors to imagine imbuing with their personality. In that spirit, colors and furniture should be neutral, along the lines of brownish, beige, grey, with no extravagant elements that steal the show and get stuck in people’s minds.
There are many things you can do to increase your chances of selling your house. Sticking to these 5, often ignored ideas will set you up for success.
