Before you put your home up for sale, there are some steps you can take to increase its value, sometimes significantly. It can be as simple as updating furniture or lighting, using mirrors or shelving to enhance living spaces, or just painting an accent wall. If you’re ready and willing to put in some extra time and effort in order to boost your home’s selling price, this article from U.S. News offers a few ideas to get you started on an affordable renovation project.
It’s not always easy to figure out which home renovations will pay off for you and which will end up just being a sunk cost. In many cases, small and cheap decoration projects can do more to boost the value of your home than a more expensive and time-consuming undertaking.
According to Remodeling magazine’s annual cost-versus-value report, some of the most cost-efficient measures include a steel entry door replacement, which makes a strong first impression on potential buyers, and roofing replacement. Having a sturdier roof can make a home that much more appealing – and valuable – to buyers. Likewise, buyers tend to be willing to pay more for homes with wood decks and new windows.
Some of the worst investments include adding a back-up power generator and adding a bathroom, since doing so can be expensive. By the time you add plumbing, cabinets and electricity, you’ve spent far more than you can expect to get back, the magazine estimates.
One theme to emerge from the findings is that it pays to make a strong first impression, and homeowners can often boost their curb appeal with relatively little financial investment. Even sprucing up a front yard or planting some flowers can go a long way toward making a house look attractive to buyers.
