There are many different ways to increase the value of your home before selling. The first thing usually noticed is curb appeal. Curb appeal is an instant first impression upon arrival at your home, or when looking at photos online. This instant first impression will mean the difference between a potential buyer viewing your home vs passing it by to look at the thousands of others on the market. Does it appear your home has had deferred maintenance, or has it been maintained well? When was the exterior last painted? Does it have a newer roof? How about updated or fresh landscaping? Once inside your home, there are other factors that can increase the value of your home before selling, as well. Fresh paint; and clean, updated spaces have been proven winners.
Curb appeal is critical and a good place to invest when trying to increase the value of your home before selling. If a savvy buyer arrives to find faded or peeling exterior paint, that buyer will automatically assume there could be damage to the siding or many other very expensive maintenance issues. A home with fresh exterior paint, some updated landscaping, and a newer roof will instantly put the potential buyer in the right frame of mind to consider buying your home at a much higher price point than one that is lacking maintenance.
When considering investing in some interior work to increase the value of your home before selling, there are some proven influencers that are worth the money. Some of these influencers are: fresh interior paint in neutral or light earthy tones, updated kitchens & bathrooms, clean and uncluttered spaces, and general evidence that the property has been properly maintained over the years. The buyer must be able to visualize themselves in your home – if the space is unclean, too personalized with strong paint colors, family photos, or lots of clutter, the buyer will have a hard time making this visualization and most often move on to the next property.
After a house is under contract there is still a risk that the buyer may back out of the deal, this often happens after the inspection. If there are a lot of maintenance issues found during the inspection it can scare the buyer. The inspector will be looking for rotted boards and areas that need paint. A fresh paint job will ensure that won’t be on the list of things the inspector found, it may even influence the inspector’s perspective on how well this home has been maintained.
Overall, some fairly inexpensive updates to your property will be well worth the investment to increase the value of your home before selling. In any market, a home that is in need of repair or paint will always deliver a lower price.
