If you’re considering selling your home, it’s crucial to collaborate with a skilled real estate professional to understand how to price it. However, before engaging an expert, you need to ensure the home is in proper condition to ensure it sells fast. You don’t have to do an entire renovation. Instead, you can consider simple but effective upgrades to ensure your home is market ready. Read on to learn about some of the best upgrades before selling houses.
Fix Up Your Basement
Basements can increase the value of your home significantly. Finishing your basement adds a considerable amount of functional living space to the property. It also helps you conduct basement floor crack repair where necessary. Finishing the basement is an excellent way to increase your home’s size. You can add more bedrooms or even a bathroom to that area. Adding a bathroom to the basement area will be more expensive than adding one or two bedrooms. This is because a bathroom requires the inclusion of plumbing fixtures and tiling. The initial cost of finishing your basement can be high, but it offers excellent functionality and can be a significant investment. Fixing your basement is among one of the best upgrades to make before selling houses.
Install Luxury Features
Many luxurious homes have a magnificent entryway, an extensive open floor airy plan, and a massive two-story staircase. If you are seeking to attract modern-day potential home buyers, one of the best upgrades before selling houses is installing luxury features in your home. For example, install a commercial kitchen with advanced restaurant-quality appliances. A luxurious kitchen features appealing draws, lots of storage through a walk-in pantry, and wine fridges. It is worth noting that we cannot ignore the ever-rising technological advancements.
The modern-day home buyer wants a techno-savvy home that they can control from the comfort of their smart devices. Still, some prospective home buyers understand the environmental impact and seek homes that utilize classical materials like wood doors, flooring, and beams. Weigh your options and study your target market to identify the best luxury for your home. A large hot tub and pool are additional wonderful upgrades to make before selling houses.
Revamp Your Garage
Garages are ideal for sheltering cars and storing tools. However, they can quickly become dumping sites if you don’t maximize them. If you hardly use your garage, consider converting it into a playroom or home office. Besides adding extra space, revamping your garage can help you conduct garage door repairs. Transforming the garage is one of the easiest and best upgrades before selling houses. This is because there is less invasive or structural work required. According to studies, renovating your garage can increase the value of your home by up to 20%.
Clean Up Your Yard
Cleaning up your yard is one of the most cost-effective and best upgrades before selling houses you can do. An untidy interior can give a poor first impression to potential home buyers. On top of your tree trimming, landscaping, and lawn maintenance, you must keep your yard tidy. One of the best ways of doing so is by reapplying mulch in the flowerbeds and around the trees. Assess your fence posts, lawn ornaments, mailbox, and lighting fixtures for any damages and repair them where necessary. Plant new flowers and grass to eliminate dead spots in the yard and edge your garden and lawn beds.
Remodel Your Bathroom
In the past, bathrooms only needed to be functional. However, modern-day home buyers expect a luxurious bathroom where they can relax and unwind after a busy day. Many buyers are looking for a spa-similar home experience. Modernizing your bathroom to reflect potential buyer needs is one of the best upgrades before selling houses that add significant value. You don’t have to overhaul your entire plumbing system to achieve this. You can install a new shower head or replace your old tiles with new ones to improve the aesthetics of your bathroom.
Sometimes simple bathtub repairs will be sufficient, but you may also need to rip off the entire suite and begin anew. If your bathroom is old or rugged beyond repair, then overhauling the whole system can be the best upgrade before selling houses. Regardless of your bathroom upgrades, ensure it is stylish and easy to maintain. Underfloor heating is fast gaining popularity among potential home buyers. This system heats the entire room, adding a luxurious and cozy feel.
Repair Your Roof
While you may not need to do a metal roofing replacement before listing your home, consider doing it if it will boost your value. However, the roof replacement cost may often be more than you can gain from selling the house. To establish the best approach, you want to compare the pros against the cons. You can also consider other alternatives which can edge you close to achieving your goals. The roof is one of the critical features that potential buyers will check when assessing your home. Suppose the roof has missing shingles, is leaking, cracked, or sagging; it may turn off prospective home buyers. You may have to offer a discount or allowance which the buyers can use to cater to the cost of repairing or replacing the roof. Still, a damaged roof may deny you a valuable sale, primarily because roof repairs can be a time-consuming affair that nobody is willing to undertake. A new roof is one of the best upgrades before selling houses that enhances your home’s curb appeal, making it easy to sell.
Roof replacement can be costly, and homeowners have no guarantee of recovering the investment when they finally sell the house. Before investing in roof replacement, evaluate the pros and cons. If you stand to lose more than you spend, consider other cost-friendly options. Collaborate with a roofing expert who can inspect your roof, establish its condition, and recommend the best solution. Often, your contractor may execute simple repairs instead of a total replacement. You can show prospective buyers the contractor’s guarantee and roof inspection report, which can help eliminate any possible concerns they may have.
Create Ample Storage
You can never have sufficient storage options in your home. Convert any unused space in the house into a storage shed to increase your home’s value. Having built-in storage means potential buyers won’t have to purchase extra bulky furniture, as they can use the available storage options in the house. Even if your property is small, you want to exercise your creativity and incorporate different storage options in the home. Some elements that may add storage appeal to your home include wardrobes, walk in closets, and attic or basement space.
People purchase clothes all year long. As a result, having enough built in wardrobes can be appealing while boosting your home’s value. You don’t have to break the bank to install your dream wardrobe in the house. Get simple options from the internet and have your contractor help you actualize your dreams. If your home is storied, with an open staircase and a hardly used underneath space, polishing it and installing a small, simple door provides lots of storage space. This space can be used to store extra cleaning appliances, shoes, or coats. Homes with sufficient storage space sell faster than those without.
Repave Your Driveway
Besides being used for cars, a significant percentage of driveways in the U.S double up as convenient work areas for different types of projects and play areas for kids. However, many driveways show signs of cracks, ages, spalling, and heaving. While some of these surfaces can be renovated with various procedures, others must be replaced, especially those severely damaged. A significant percentage of driveways are concrete or asphalt-based. However, other material options include interlocking concrete pavers in different patterns, cobblestone, gravel, and crushed stone. To determine the best repaving method for your driveway, you must know the advantages, drawbacks, and costs of different driveway materials. It’s crucial to try repairing first before considering a replacement which can be costly.
For example, suppose your concrete driveway has numerous potholes; fixing it would be cheaper. While some homeowners may want to do the repairs themselves, hiring a professional to conduct the repairs is one of the best upgrades before selling houses that guarantee durability. If you notice that the driveway has subsided, heaved, or crumbled, replacing it would be the best option. Again, if the driveway allows water to flow into the subsoil in your home, replacing it would be inevitable. Still, sometimes the problem occurs due to cracks. In this case, you will need a professional to assess the situation and recommend the best solution for your budget. If you notice driveway damage, you can quickly patch them using cold-patch asphalt paving or concrete, based on the driveway type. Still, you can use cost-friendly materials.
Clean Oil Stains Off the Driveway
If your driveway has oil stains, coat them using a primer and follow that with seal coating. You will need to clean the driveway and use a primer to ensure the seal coat sticks on oily areas. Seal coating protects an asphalt-based driveway from water and the sun, while also filling small cracks. It also covers patches and fillers to give your driveway an attractive finish. You don’t need to apply seal coating annually. Remember, the seal coat often peels off when there are numerous layers, ruining the driveway’s appearance permanently. Purchase the best quality sealer, especially if you are sealing the driveway for the first time. While it may be costly, it offers prolonged adhesion. This is vital since you’ll apply more coats in the future, with each coat being better than the last one. Ensure the driveways are clean and free from edges and cracks before the seal coating for best results.
Check Your Foundation
Nearly every property or homeowner dreads repairing their foundation because it can be costly and time-consuming. You may need to repair the foundation of your structure, building, or home if it is damaged. Your foundation requires regular repair if the core structure of your building is faulty or when the concrete is in distress. Foundation damage may occur for various reasons, with water being the most common. A movement begins in a structure’s foundation when the soil starts shrinking or swelling due to moisture. Damages can also occur if the foundation’s area has insufficient drainage facilities. The foundation may become damaged whenever a plumbing leak occurs below the structure, or when the structure is damaged by disasters like drought, floods, or earthquakes. The foundation is also susceptible to damage if the soil has high clay content.
Understanding the Effects of Foundation Damage
Foundation damage is a critical problem that can have significant consequences. These include structural cracks, equipment malfunction, infrastructural damage, and a drop in value in a building. It can also make the building inhabitable. The signs of foundation damage are cracked walls, floors, foundation, or bricks, bulging floors, uneven floors, sticking doors, misaligned windows and doors, and separation around walls or windows. There are different types of foundation repair based on factors like site conditions and geographical area.
Slab jacking is a concrete repairing technology that specializes in lifting sunken pieces of concrete by pumping polyurethane foam through the concrete. Access holes are drilled through the concrete, and all empty spaces are filled. Slab jacking is a popular method of repairing floors because it is timeless and cost-saving. Steel piercing is another repair process specializing in driving steel pipes’ pilings to stabilize the foundation. A hydraulic lifting system is used along the steel piers to facilitate the lifting of the foundation to rectify its elevation and stabilize it.
If you are looking into selling your home, you will need to conduct extensive research to understand your target audience and their expectations. Implementing these best upgrades before selling houses is the first step toward improving the curb appeal of your home and increasing the sell value of your house. Upgrading your home can be daunting, and you need professionals to guide you through the process.