5 Upgrades That Can Increase a Home\’s Resale Value

Posted by Angela Butcher on Dec 9th, 2012 | Comments Off

Whether you're living in a home or you own it with the intention to sell, the overall value of your home is an important consideration. For those who plan to stay in their homes, a high value means the home is useful as collateral. For those flipping homes, the benefits are obvious.

When seeking ways to upgrade a home, there is a simple rule of thumb. It might indeed be the oldest saying in the book: You have to spend money to make money.

To be clear, this isn't indiscriminate spending. It is examining a few aspects of the home and determining which upgrades can provide the greatest increase in overall home value.

Add a bedroom

One of the most effective ways of creating a more valuable home is by adding a new bedroom. A four-bedroom house will simply have higher market appeal than a three-bedroom one. Extra bedrooms not only fill needs for larger families, but also for families in which one member works at home. It's an increasing trend in modern times.

The new bedroom most typically comes in the attic. It means emphasizing basement storage a bit more heavily, but an attic is already set up to become a full room.

You'll need insulation and drywall, and you might have to run some wires up there, but it's not all that involved a project. Alternatively, a basement bedroom might work, as well as dividing a large common room.

Install new windows

Heating and cooling costs are no small consideration for homeowners — especially new homeowners. The average household heating and cooling bill can be many times that of an apartment. The most effective way to keep heating and cooling costs down is to prevent the inside air from getting outside, and preventing the outside air from getting inside.

Double-pane windows can do the trick. They're not that expensive to install, but they can save the average household hundreds of dollars per year on heating and cooling costs. That can be a great selling point for prospective buyers.

Finish the basement

If you've heard the word mancave, you know the attractiveness of a finished basement as a dwelling for husbands. A place to put a big screen TV, a stereo system, and maybe even a foosball table can be quite an attractive selling point.

Families with young children will also love finished basements. They provide a haven for children to play uninterrupted. Couple a finished basement with a basement bedroom and you can significantly increase the value of your home.

Add a water filter

Anyone who has lived in an area that has hard water knows that it makes everything more difficult. The water tastes bad. Washing in the shower becomes a chore. And don't even mention the laundry situation. There are some home buyers who will simply avoid neighborhoods and areas that have hard water.

There is a solution today, though. You can choose from among many water softeners that can provide clean, soft water throughout your home. That means crisp-tasting water, soap suds in the shower, and fresh laundry — not to mention no hard water stains all over the tiles and tub. Soft water will certainly make your home more attractive to prospective buyers.

Bathroom facelift

A full bathroom remodel can do wonders for your home's value. When prospective buyers examine homes, they pay close mind to the bathroom. It is, after all, an important room. A shoddy looking bathroom can turn off many buyers. By installing new fixtures and making it look brand new, you might turn what would have been a no into a yes.

Don't want to lay out for a full bathroom remodel? Just replacing visible fixtures can do the trick. Putting on a new toilet seat cover, using industrial cleaner on the basin and tub, and getting dirt out from between tiles can do just the trick. That's the cost-effective way to impress buyers.

Remodel the kitchen

Finally we get to the kitchen, a place where money can be made as well as spent. New countertops, surprisingly, will do plenty for home value. New cabinet doors — and not entire new cabinets — can be a cost-effective way of boosting a home's value. New tiling on the floor can finish the effect.

A remodeled kitchen can actually do plenty of good for rental homes as well. Just by advertising the renovation, brokers can charge significantly higher rates, perhaps 15 percent or more. That makes the costs easier to recoup.

About Angela Butcher

Angela Butcher is a freelance writer specializing in local real estate markets. She has a knack for interior design, and is big on new technologies.

• More Posts (1)

Comments are closed.