If you are getting ready to sell your home, you may feel the urge to spruce it up and maximize its potential selling price.
Before embarking on a project that requires a significant investment of time and money, seek out professional real estate advice from both a lawyer that specializes in real estate legal services and a real estate agent who knows your neighbourhood well. Before you invest in a home improvement project, the real estate agent will provide you with information on which home improvements, if any, would raise your property value and by how much based on prices other properties in your area have recently sold for. When it’s time to sell, you need an expert in real estate law on your team who is also available on your schedule.
If you’re able to increase your property value with some upgrades, or you’re not selling your home immediately and can actually enjoy the fruits of your labour, the following home improvements are proven to increase property value by the highest margins.
Fortifying Your Home’s Structure
Whether you’re selling your home or not, if there are any structural repairs needed, they must be addressed urgently. From roofs to foundations to plumbing, small cracks and leaks lead to big repairs. Water damage inside the home ruins walls and flooring, and undetected dampness can lead to mould known to cause serious health concerns and further damage to your home.
If no repairs are needed, upgrades and preemptive replacements to the ‘bones’ of your home is money well spent. Examples include replacing the roof if it’s almost time anyway, drainage upgrades, foundation repair, waterproofing, and installing new, energy-efficient windows. These kinds of upgrades are coveted by potential home buyers and their real estate agents and may result in a relatively decent return on the investment.
Beautify Your Home’s Exterior
There are several advantages to investing some time, effort and a little money into landscaping and the exterior of your home:
- Unless you’re doing a major excavation, improvements to landscaping and your home’s exterior are relatively cheap.
- They can provide a respectable return on the time and money spent, as even subtle improvements (like simply cleaning up your yard!) can vastly improve your home’s curb appeal.
- Gardening and landscaping provide great exercise and get you outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
Quality Flooring
Flooring improvements are known for holding their value and are also capable of increasing a property value by more than their cost, making new floors one of the few home improvements that can potentially make you money. And as long as they are installed properly, you can’t really go wrong with the material unless you decide on, except carpet. Carpets stain easily, the stains are a nuisance to remove (if you are even able to), and they trap dust, dirt and other pollutants linked to illnesses and health problems. If you’re selling your home and have carpeting, your real estate agent may advise you to remove it if they haven’t already.