If you have recently purchased a house, condo, or property, congratulations! Purchasing your first house or property is a significant moment in your life. It is an expensive acquisition that often requires people to refinance, use credit cards, and consult lenders to afford it. Having successfully purchased a property, your next step is to find ways to improve its value.
Ideally, you will turn a profit, but you can not do that without learning how to increase the value of your home to attract potential buyers. Fortunately, there are several ways to improve the value of a property.
When you think about the value of your home, several things contribute to its value. Some things you cannot change, like its location. However, there are low-maintenance things you can do to improve the value. We will cover those things in the sections below.
Ways to Improve the Value of Your Home
Before you start to improve your home, it is crucial to understand the significant ways to improve property value. It is essential to take a step back before diving into the project. As not all homeowners are experts in landscaping, maintenance, and project management, it’s best to analyze the situation beforehand.
The first thing we want to ensure you understand, is there are three ways to improve property value. They are as follows:
- Make renovations to your home.
- Make property fixes to your home.
- Make cosmetic improvements to your home.
Each of these methods is similar for cash home buyers in Texas, but they have distinct differences. Renovations are the most expensive, but they have the potential to have the most value. They usually involve completely remodeling rooms of your house. For example, you could remove the old cabinets and countertops from your kitchen and add more modern versions. Alternatively, if you have lots of lands, you could build extensions to your house.
If you cannot afford to modify existing rooms or build new ones, a good option is to finish an unfinished basement. Basements are usually cheaper to modify than other rooms when they are unfinished.
Making property fixes is common for homeowners looking to improve property value. When you purchase your house, you might see a few issues, but you can fix them. Often, the cost to fix these things is less than what it will add to your property value. As a result, it is cost-efficient to spend money now to fix various aspects of your house so that you can sell it for more later.
Finally, you have the option to make cosmetic improvements to your home. Cosmetic improvements will have the smallest effect on the value of the property, but they can still help. A good option is to add a fresh coat of paint to all walls of your house. Even if you do not want to paint the entire house, repainting a few rooms can be beneficial.
Additionally, you can make cosmetic improvements outside. For example, building a homemade garden that can be used by the next homebuyers can add to your property value.
As you can see, there are several ways to improve the value of a property. You do not need to do everything, but doing a few things can be beneficial. Identify what your house needs the most improvement on and focus on that. You will be surprised at the results.
Renovations to Consider When Adding Value to Your Home
When considering home improvements that add more value, it is crucial to take cost into account. Completely remodeling a room is not a very cost-effective way to use your money. As a result, we recommend looking for things you can do that will be more cost-efficient. That does not mean you cannot choose the more expensive options. However, we recommend looking at the cheaper options first, unless money is not an issue for you.
One option is to enhance and improve the light fixtures throughout your house. The first place you should consider enhancing the lighting in your deck. You might think it requires an expert to make modifications to lighting because it is a task that involves electricity. However, low-voltage light fixtures can be modified by any beginner. If you add a low-voltage lighting system to your deck, it will be more energy-efficient.
Once you finish modifying the deck, you can move on to the rooms in your house. The kitchen is a living space you likely spend a lot of time in. Furthermore, you do not want to use knives when there is poor lighting. It is crucial to be able to see what you are cutting. So, by adding brighter lighting, you will add to the value of your home, and make things safer. Additionally, you will have a better time hosting dinner parties and family meals.
If DIY lighting is not enough, you can move on to larger projects. A medium-sized project is to replace your garage door. Often, garage doors get ignored in renovations because no one puts any thought into the garage. People usually think of it as a place to store junk, or it is nothing more than a man cave. However, if you put effort into renovating it, it can significantly increase your property value, and you can justify a higher asking price.
When someone drives by your house, their eyes are usually drawn to the garage door because it is the most significant section of the front of your home. If you have a banged-up garage door, it will lower your property value. So, we recommend replacing your garage door with something modern and with curb appeal.
Sticking with the door theme, you can renovate your front door. Like your garage door, real estate agents will see your front door before almost anything else. So, we recommend replacing yours with a modern fiberglass door. You can expect to recoup around 85% of the cost.
Another option to help with first impressions is to replace the siding of your house. Everyone sees the siding of your home, and as a result, it is crucial to keep yours in good condition. Replacing siding increases property value instantly.
Finally, if these things are not enough, you can consider making full-scale renovations to rooms in your house to increase the square footage. To do this, you will need to make significant financial contributions. However, if done well, they can pay off in the long run.
Property Fixes You Should Make to Add Value to Your Home
If you are more interested in property fixes to help the resale value, you do not need to worry about full-scale renovations. Instead, you can focus on the simple fixes to sell a house fast in Houston.
When you purchase your home from realtors, you will likely see a few things you want to fix. For example, you could see cracks in the paint job or damage to the deck. Giving your house a fresh coat of paint will increase the property’s value. Additionally, fixing anything that is broken will cost less to fix than it will increase your property value. So, it is always worth it to spend extra money on things like new windows, refinishing, and home renovations.
We recommend looking around the outside of your house and on the roof for damage. It might not be obvious at first, but it will be noticed in an inspection. So, by finding these things in advance and fixing them, you can increase the sale price.
Cosmetic Improvements to Add Value to Your Home
The final thing you can do is make cosmetic improvements to your home. Cosmetic improvements can add more value than you think. People are more likely to purchase a house if they like its aesthetic.
One of the simplest home improvement projects is to remove carpets from your house and replace them with hardwood floors. Although carpets feel good on your feet, they are not as aesthetically appealing to most homebuyers. Additionally, they are harder to clean.
Other cosmetic improvements can be done to the exterior of your home. For example, you can enhance your front yard garden with mulch. Adding flowers to the entrance of your house will increase the appeal to potential buyers. It costs very little, so you will get a significant return on investment.
Another trick of selling a house is ensuring you have good-looking furniture. Although prospective buyers will not use your furniture, they will see it with your furniture in it. Having good-looking furniture and interior design can improve potential buyers’ perceptions of your home.
Final Thoughts
When we buy houses Arlington, we immediately start to think about how we can improve home equity. You can do several things to increase home value. Besides interest rates, you can also remodel bathrooms, kitchens, fix damaged areas, and make cosmetic improvements. The key is keeping the average cost down. Leave any questions below, and we will try to get back to you with advice!