When you purchased your home, you might not have been thinking about the day you would sell it or about what you can do to it to increase its value. Whether selling your home is on the horizon, or you just want to increase its value, there a few home investments you can make. These investments don’t have to cost you a lot out of pocket but can go a long way towards boosting the value of your home.
Focus on the Kitchen
One of the best home investments you can make is in the kitchen. According to Consumer Reports, more than half of real estate professionals surveyed described the kitchen as one of the most important rooms to spruce up before trying to sell a home. While you want to invest in your kitchen somewhat, you don’t necessarily have to take out a second mortgage to renovate it or even spend more than a few hundred dollars. In some cases, small investments, such as purchasing a new faucet for the kitchen sink or replacing worn-out drawer handles and cabinet door knobs with new ones can be all you need to improve the look of your kitchen and the value of your home.
And the Baths
After the kitchen, the next most important rooms to invest in are the bathrooms. Just as in the kitchen, small changes or improvements in the bathroom can really add to the value of your home. Inexpensive investments that pay off in the end include swapping your old shower head for a rainfall showerhead, replacing a worn out toilet seat with a new one, and switching out the faucet on your bathroom’s sink. Cleaning the grout between tiles or recaulking the bathtub or shower can also make your bathroom look better and your home more valuable.
Spruce Up the Walls
If you painted the walls of your home creative colors or put up wallpaper, switching over to a neutral palette can make your space more attractive to potential buyers. A neutral beige or gray gives a buyer the chance to picture how his or her furniture will look in the space or to picture the walls as another color.
The cost of fixing up the walls in your home will vary based on what shape they are in to begin with. If you need to tear down wallpaper and completely repaint every room, you might need to invest several hundred to several thousands of dollars in the project. If your walls are already a neutral hue and are just showing some signs of wear and tear, you might be able to spruce them up with a bit of soap and water.
Clean up the Entryway
The outside front of your home is going to be the first thing people see. Make them think that your house is worth a million bucks (give or take) by doing what you can to tidy up and enhance the entrance to and facade of your home. That can mean arranging a few potted flowers or plants by the door, replacing a tired or worn out doorknob and giving the door itself, as well as the porch and surrounding wall, a new coat of paint.
Investing in certain areas of your home can boost its value in the eyes of a buyer or real estate agent. Just try not to go overboard and spend too much fixing up the house. The goal is to improve the value of your home, not spend more than you can make back.
Image Source: Flickr
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