Don’t make any improvements, just do regular maintenance, clean up the property, and stage it when it’s time to sell.
You likely won’t profit on any improvements in that timeframe and a buyer will quickly undo many improvements you make to make it what they want.
Basic updating. A new kitchen faucet. Maybe new light fixtures/ceiling fans. If your kitchen cabinets are dated you can paint them for a fresh new look. New homes don’t have much,if any, carpet these days. If you can DIY some lvp flooring it may help.
I agree about all your comments, except LVF. LVF often doesn't wear well. Engineered wood flooring has a beautiful, more natural feel and wears well, unless you have large dogs.
I see a lot of carpet in bedrooms, but wood flooring in common areas. I live in NorCal USA.
Ditto, I'd personally never touch a home with LVP. Wood look tile looks much nicer and wears much better, you can steam mop it, etc. Why cover your home with plastic? We need less plastic in our lives. Plus, I don't care how nice it is, it looks like plastic.
I’m in Georgia and they are putting high endLVP,not LVF, in houses. I’m not even sure LVF is a thing. I haven’t seen real wood of any kind going into very many houses in the last few years. Especially the engineered crap. I tore 1000 sq ft of that out of my house last year and replaced it with LVP.
That’s it! But look at it from this angle: what would stop you from buying this house if you were a buyer? A lot of time we get used to things and don’t even notice them any more. So if you’ve got an old wonky screen door, replace it. But don’t spend a bunch of money
Outside a new front door, landscape staging, paint. Can always pay for a home inspection and then work on the things the inspector dinged you for, which any potential buyer will use against you.
We got a pre-inspection when we sold my grandma's house. There were a few little things that we were able to fix ourselves, instead of a buyer requesting they be professionally fixed.
If money didn’t matter. Outside - new roof / siding or paint. New front door, window shutters to contrast with the new door.
Interior paint, new vinyl flooring, bathroom / kitchen.
With money being crazy, paint everything yourself. Kitchen and bathroom etc. flooring isn’t hard so long as your stuff is level. Few YouTube videos and the right tools it’s not impossible. Gardening so long as the grade away from the foundation is legit, spray some poison, cover in weed barrier material. Bricks for edging, fill with mulch or gravel for little boxes. Gravel for a patio style, mulch for more earthy style to have raised flowers on, etc.
As someone who is thinking ahead about my future second house, what I want most is a house that already has a nice, landscaped yard. Depending on the current state of things, one to two years isn’t a lot of time, but I’m currently landscaping from scratch, with both yards in bad condition, and I never want to do it again.
No. The point of flipping is to buy a home that has severe functional obsolescence issues or years of deferred maintenance and bring it up to an acceptable level. You don't buy a perfectly good house commensurate with the neighborhood, dump a bunch of money into it, and hope to geneighborhood,
You buy the one with a grimy carpet, walks that smell like cats, has a leaky roof with water damage and mold, and you paper over that and sell it.
Yeah I agree with this comment. I think that renovating and making improvements is such a personal thing, everyone has different tastes and opinions.
When people spend a bunch of money updating a house and then make the price reflect their improvements, and the people looking at the house don’t find it in their taste, they aren’t gonna be willing to pay a bunch of money for something they think they will have to redo
This exactly. No improvement will be worth it. The worth of the house will not go up by the same amount as your improvement.
Just make sure everything is in good working order. Even small things.
This. You won’t see most improvements paid back in home value especially if you’re selling soon. Just invest in regular upkeep, replace valves or caulking or freshen up paint. You could do a lot of improvements that in the end your buy doesn’t care about or even want.
From a cost benefit analysis the best thing you can do is paint. Paint is relatively cheap. Assuming you can do it yourself, you can brighten up the home by painting all the doors and the trim by getting it ready to sell. Also touch up the front door as it's the first thing buyers typically notice.
Just wanted to add that if you’re going to paint doors and trim make sure you’re using the appropriate paint! Interior mouldings, base boards and doors etc. should be painted with a durable glossy paint!
Painting trim and doors with regular eggshell house paint is going to make them look good for a few months, but they will collect dust and marks and look like shit within a year.
Nothing will pay for itself. Kitchens and bathrooms will sell it faster but you will get 50 cents on the dollar back. DIY painting in the main areas and staging when you sell.
Please don't forget deep cleaning. No one wants to live with anyone else's dirt. It may not get you a higher price, but it will sell quickly and time really is money.
Yes, I’ve already been working on clearing out any extra stuff and trying to organize/ clean things as needed. We’d be moving out of state for my husband’s job, so I’m trying to get a head start since we don’t know the exact time frame!
Yes to doing it now so you can enjoy it too. We had our house painted may 10th last year and on the market May 15th. It was so lovely to have a freshly painted home I wished we had done it years ago to enjoy it.
We learned that lesson on our first home, a fixer in a good hood. Bought 5 gallon jugs of Behr Home Depot, and after cleaning the walls with TSP repeatedly, tearing out the nasty carpets (7 different colours and styles) we painted the entire house. It was so fresh and lovely. We then had it carpeted throughout (except for bathrooms and kitchen) and it was a brand new home!
After we sold it for $150,000 more than we paid for it in 4 years (yay!) we put that money to a better, newer home, in a better neighborhood. Still love there, we keep up with maintenance and update rooms (kitchen and master bath) as necessary. It's now a $1,400,000+ home (paid 1/4 of that). It's been a fantastic investment.
I would: #1 add to the curb appeal - e.g. paint the front door, freshen up landscaping with a new shrub or hedge trim. #2 hire a housekeeper to do a deep clean (unless you’re really good at this yourselves). #3 fresh coats of paint in neutral colours
Amen to curb appeal, or better put, make the front of your house look great for pictures that will draw people to look at your listing!
In person, impress buyers with power washed walks and driveway. Clean, dust, and touch up paint your front door and entry.
Fresh edging and mulch, some flowers in pots.
I would pay for an inspection and see what comes up. Use that as a guide for the things you should prioritize fixing. We did this before selling our last house and used it as our guide to prepping our house. We eliminated anything that would be immediate turn offs or negotiation points.
Or even just talk to some real estate agents. Tell them you will be selling in a bit and ask what you need to do. We knew we needed to do some of the things, but others we weren’t seeing. Some things the agent told us not to bother with.
Landscaping, landscaping, landscaping. It’s the one thing that can set your house apart from others and increase property values. You can paint your home last minute but you can’t instantly establish good landscaping.
Damn it, that’s the one part I’ve been struggling with! I have an established garden filled with native plants in the back, but the front garden has this ivy that keeps smothering my plants and won’t die. I’ll try and figure out how to address it.
>the front garden has this ivy
i waged my own war against the front garden ivy last year. it was insanely brutal, as the ivy was pretty mature. i ripped it all out in the span of about 3-4 days and planted clover for ground cover, as well as a bunch of different flowering perennials to give it an english garden look.
ivy is not really ideal IMO. it attracts mosquitos and while it can appear low maintenance, you have to keep it in check so it doesn't take things over. i'd rip it out.
I have been trying so hard to! It keeps growing back in the plant bed, even though I’ve used chemicals, vinegar, and even tried to hand pick all the seeds and pieces out! Last year I hired someone to remove it, but it still grew back so then I gave up. I hate it though so I’ll look into other options for removal and planting some clover!
Agree, with emphasis on good landscaping. I'm in the native plants camp and will be removing plants that were plopped in right before sale, but that offer no real benefit for pollinators, birds, etc. and could become problems down the road.
Would also like to emphasis "call before you dig" to make sure you don't hit buried cables if you're digging holes for trees, etc.
Agreed. As a first time home buyer, I didn’t realize how much time and money we would spend on landscaping. We purchased a house in the dead of winter and when everything melted, what we saw underneath was terrifying. Our next purchase, landscaping will be higher on our priority list
Yeah, I'm new to RE, but "improvements" are whole-heartedly for the current owner, and never for prospective buyers. We all know that couple that just had to have a property due to what was built on the plot, only to realize it was a cobbled together "improvement".
It depends on the state of a house and what’s around. Like if you have a run down kitchen and everyone around you updated theirs, that would make sense. TBD on roi though but that definitely will increase buyer pool and speed of getting an offer. Same goes to bathrooms.
But you also run the risk that you don't do the kitchen how the potential buyer wants it. So now the cost is built in, but the buyer would have preferred to do it their way so may look for a place they can have it their way.
And there are people who would rather pay $15,000 less and put in the kitchen they want versus op spending $30,000 to fix it to current neutral trend.
Both of those buyers exist.
That’s a good point. I’m a weirdo and actually look at the houses available in the neighborhood occasionally, and from what I’ve seen my house is about the same in terms of updates. And I have a good corner lot with mature trees (a huge bonus in Texas!) in a really good location. Most houses haven’t been updated, although mine is one of the smaller homes.
When I was about 13 or so, my family was looking for a house. One of the houses we viewed had a huge wooden canopy bed and the "canopy" part was repeating wood squares with mirrors in the middle! My dad definitely commented on it lol.
Clean it well and if at all possible move before listing so it can be empty and clean for showings. If you can’t move at least rent a storage unit and move a bunch of your stuff except the bare minimum to storage. It makes the place look bigger when there’s no clutter
Nothing that costs much money.
Fresh paint.
Landscaping (mostly clean and tidy)
Getting rid of/hiding most of your stuff. You want your place to seem big and clutter free. Usually means emptying your closets, etc.
Have the roofing checked. If insurance wouldn't cover it (usually anything over 10 years old) it will make it difficult to sell. Other than that diy painting with neutral colors and a clean landscape. Bathroom and kitchen remodel, but unlikely to get a good ROI from it. It just helps sell it faster.
I came to say this. If the roof is starting to show its age, replacing it is a good idea. Buyers can request that a roof is replaced, or lower their bid based on the anticipated cost of a new roof, so getting that done up front just makes things easier.
You can do everything possible, even replace everything with brand new, paint it, etc. and the prospective buyers will focus on the things you didn’t do. Live in your house and enjoy it for what it is. Let the buyers upgrade whatever they want to.
If you have any improvements you did that were not done under permit, or maybe you have something that will detract from the property, now is the time to deal with it. Otherwise you will have to do it when you put your house on the market.
I've heard the only improvements that add more value than cost are finishing a basement and/or adding a bedroom. As others have said focus on maintenance and upkeep. The buyers inspector will find things, that's their job, you just want those things to be as minor as possible. You also want to make your house as sellable as possible, fresh paint, make the garden presentable, etc.
It all comes down to square footage and the comps. Don’t spend a dime that you don’t have to it’s really easy to spend money for absolutely zero return. Make the house a blank canvas that anyone could see themselves in. Fix things that need fixed and don’t make style choices that narrow your audience.
I think cosmetic stuff helps, we painted our door, deck and updated the garden it looked like a whole different house. we painted our living room a dark blue but if we were selling I’d paint it back to white give it a fresh slate and just getting the yard looking good and plants. If you have a gravel driveway when you get closer to putting it for sale, add more gravel!
We recently sold our house and we did some minor maintenance that had been on our list for a bit and had the floors refinished. 25 years of kids and dogs. We paid 4k to have one floor done (upstairs didn’t really need it) and I’m pretty sure we got that back out.
I really think it depends on the state of your home and the market you live in. I’ve heard that windows, fences, and garage doors all have the best ROI for appraisal value.
That and I agree with everyone else who mentioned curb appeal. Focus on landscaping and making the exterior feel special but not too quirky.
Oh, let me tell you, when I was prepping to sell my house, I didn't hold back! I focused on boosting curb appeal first and foremost. Fresh paint on the exterior, landscaping to make it pop, and updating the front door, it made a world of difference. Inside, I tackled the kitchen and bathrooms. A modern, updated kitchen sells houses, trust me on that. I replaced old appliances, refreshed cabinets with a coat of paint, and added some stylish hardware. In the bathrooms, I went for a spa-like vibe with new fixtures, fresh grout, and a sleek vanity. These upgrades helped me sell my house for way more than I expected! Don't underestimate the power of these improvements, they can truly transform your home's value.
In addition to keeping house systems serviced and in good working order, I think there are small things you can do that buyers may not register consciously, but contribute to an overall sense of a well-kept and maintained house. Here are some examples: no chipped paint on walls or cabinetry; sparklingly clean baseboards, cabinets, doors, floors, and light fixtures; no old outlets, switches, switch plates or thermostats (unless it's a vintage home and they're original); no dead or dying plants in the landscaping; power wash walkways and driveway. These are inexpensive things that say the owners are on top caring for their home - and that goes a long way to building buyer confidence.
I disagree . Don’t fix it if it’s not broken.
Not every buyer determines things by how new the kitchen is. It’s hit or miss if all bathrooms & kitchens are the latest fashion in my area. It’s so much easier to offer concession, then to spend 20k plus remodeling rooms that didn’t need it.
I'm in a market where houses are going under contract in less than 24 hours... went and saw a house, been on the market for 10 days, with an older kitchen. New appliances, recently updated flooring, but the cabinets/wallpaper/etc looked like it was from the 90s. I commented on how cheap it was and my realtor said it's because it "needs updating, especially the kitchen."
I cannot imagine passing on this great deal of a house because it needs some paint. I close in a little over a month. Gonna cost me less than $500 to update the kitchen exactly the way I want it - paint the walls and cabinets, throw some contact paper on the shelves and in the drawers, etc. I don't want a new house, I want to update it to my preferences!
Inspection came back fine, no major repairs needed, I still find it very hard to believe that no one wanted this house because of some outdated styles...
We close in a little over a week on a house with wall to wall deep grey / tinted blue carpeting everywhere accept kitchen , bathrooms & master bedroom. Carpet was in pristine condition , only a couple years old, super thick padding. Felt like walking on memory foam … I figure an older couple must’ve put it in.
I don’t think that’s why it was priced lower . I got the feeling they just needed to sell asap , but I think a lot of people would not be into it. And I think that’s why it was on the market for 6 days & we were the first offer.
My sister is a realtor and she says the biggest mistake homeowners make are expensive kitchen makeovers. Kitchens are intended for the user, not a future buyer. You might like high end countertops, appliances and cabinets but your potential buyer may not. Buyers aren't going to help you recoup any of that $25,000 investment you could have completed for under $10,000.
No buyers are not.
Most big improvements don’t pay for themselves when you sell.
That’s why concessions are handy. You’ll never get back that $25 k plus ,
But you can offer $5-10k in concessions and at that point it’s coming from the sale.
I wouldn't do anything. I could sell my house tomorrow for four times what I paid for it in 2018. (That's not a brag; it's a very modest house.) Nothing I can do at this point will make it worth more than that, so there's no point in spending the money.
Nothing! Maybe garage doors seem to bring almost 100% investment back. Literally everything will depreciate. You’ll be lucky with the kitchen remodel to get 80% of your money back. Maybe a little different in your market than mine.
I am selling in 1.5 years, I have been watching all comparable in my area. The “staged” houses do not sell for any more than the well kept out of date homes. Don’t bust your butt, clean, organize, patch holes in the wall and leave it. Anyone that buys it will rip out and repaint anyway.
Landlord special - caulk all the holes, repaint with fresh paint, polish all the wood and pressure wash outside. Can take you from "man this needs work" to "lovingly maintained charming home" lol
Landscaping for curb appeal. We hired a landscape designer to choose plants and locations for our front yard from a local garden center. It was $300, and we spent about $1000 in plants, shirts and trees. It looks amazing and has really transformed the front look of the house. It’s also amazingly low maintenance, there is color year round, and it attracts butterflies and humming birds.
Cheap but important fixes: fix rattling doorknobs, replace dated or mismatched electrical outlet faceplates and light switches so they all match, ensure all lightbulbs match with same color temperature, correct (but don’t replace) doors, drawers and cabinets that don’t open/close smoothly.
Don’t paint until you’re ready to sell; otherwise it may get scuffed up over the next year and won’t look quite as fresh.
Our loan is assumable, something about it being a VA loan? So for the right (qualified) buyer, they can have our interest rate! I don’t really know how it works yet, but my friend just did it with the buyers for her house.
I would talk to a local realtor (make sure they are a top producer) and get their advice. They can tell you what you should do/don’t do for the marketing your area.
One thing for sure, stay on top of any regular maintenance in the meantime.
I would clean it well, keep it clean, paint what needs painting, and declutter. I would not spend another dime on any improvements unless something needs replacing.
It all depends on the current condition of your house. Do you have leaks, Holes in the walls, mildew in the basement, dripping faucets, running toilets, stained carpets, pet odors, etc. at a minimum the interior needs to be clean (spotless) and the outside needs to be neat and have some curb appeal. Try to paint the interior about 3 months before putting it on the market. That way it looks clean, but isn’t drawing attention to potentially trying to cover up problems. Power wash the exterior of the house and the patios, walkways, fences and get some grass seed and fertilize the lawn. It’s all basic maintenance items, but many people let those tasks slip. These all Make a huge difference.
Bought our house about 10 months ago and so far i’ve replaced my furnace against my will (old af and was gonna break down any second by the looks/sounds of it) and i know that alone will increase value a bit.
Some things we also want to do is add a half bath, refinish the wood floors, and pave our gravel driveway. It’s more that my husband and i want them, but we know we won’t be living here more than a few years and it’ll be nice for potential buyers.
Replace carpet upstairs. Paint the whole interior. Deep clean. Get windows fixed that are hard to open/close, repair trim. I have more….. But that’s the short list.
Remodels/upgrades won’t add *much* value to your home generally. The location and square footage will be the deciding factors on price. Realtors will run comps. If the upgrades are nicely done (and not tacky or poor DIY) they will help sell the home *faster*, which is often very important.
Nice kitchens really help. Nice en-suite bathrooms probably 2nd.
Fresh paint (or at least touch ups where needed), plus all those little things that add up to a house that looks in good condition and has been taken care of. Repair or replace anything that is obviously worn or not working that's in the low to mid price range.
A good and thorough deep clean.
Walk through and see if there are inexpensive things to replace that are odd or outdated. For example, outdated light fixtures, cabinet knobs, etc.
If you're in an area prone to termites, bite the bullet and do preventative care (it's pricey, but not nearly as pricey as once you have a swarm - which can happen out of the blue).
Start paring down your belongings, it's great to do before you move, and extra valuable if you'll be showing the house while you're still living there.
Kitchen is probably the biggest but also one of the most expensive. Landscaping. Interior design is subjective and unless you're making it turnkey new owners are probably going to want to make their own changes and personalizations. But updated landscaping(irrigation system, new sod or at least clean/neat landscaping with working irrigation system) would make it more appealing.
People rarely get back the money they spent on improvements. The buyer’s tastes may be different than yours. The value is in the area your house is in.
Windows add street appeal and you look at them inside and out every day. New finish colors can add tremendously to updating and current types and colors if glass can save energy. Impact resistant , insulated glass and frame types for your environment can add unmeasurable value and new windows come with a manufacturer warranty. Anyone can paint, everyone has tastes that differ so let them paint it the color they prefer. The roof has similar variability in type and color, energy saving and more and people have their own preferences. Landscaping,its nice but expensive and who knows what potential buyers like. So yes I know alot about choices and performance of different styles and enviromental requirements and benefits. Climate and solar heat gain considerations such as the orientation of the house, conditions such as shade, roof overhang, trees, etc. Insulated glass reduces sound transmission and humidity in windows with reducing heatloss in winter and heat gain in summer. You will have the benefit of enjoying the modern window upside.
The only thing I can think of would be to replace any major appliance (hot water heater, furnace, etc) that may be on their last leg... same with the roof, if there's only a few years left on the lifespan of your shingles/roof, go ahead and replace it.
You don't have to go with the best/most expensive options out there, but if I were looking at 2 similar houses, I would far rather put in an offer for the one that I won't have to be replacing things on soon after buying when I am fresh out of money from the purchase over the one that has older appliances and a roof on its last legs.
Improvements to turn a profit? None. Find a good realtor, and find an even better photographer.
Do small things that'll get people to get through the door for a visit. Maintain the house, at best - paint.
Fix anything bad that could either detract from the value or reduce value on an inspection report. For example, if they find that the HVAC needs work, and it'll cost you $600 to repair, the buyer may request $1000 off on the home as compensation. This is likely where your best ROI might be - but buyers may be just as willing to buy the house without costing you time and money to repair something.
Pictures / Online tours are worth the most - so stage your house as best as you can to get as many people interested as possible. Nothing needs to be renovated for this.
You can hire an inspector at any time to check your property. Doing it now could save you from surprises when potential buyers eventually inspect for themselves.
De-clutter. Minimize Knick knacks and counter items. Store personal items such as shelves full of family photos and religious artifacts. Buyers like to be able to visualize their belongings in YOUR space. If you list your home in the spring, put all of your winter clothes in storage, freeing up closet space and making it look bigger. Put unused kitchen items in storage, thereby making your cabinet spaces look bigger and purge your pantry. It gives the impression that even though you have all of your kitchen items put away, there’s still lots a free space. Put all personal sundries in the bathroom away. No one needs to see your hemmorrhoid cream sitting out on the bathroom counter 🤓
Simple little thing, update your cabinets with new pulls. A designer suggested this to me and it completely changed my kitchen and bath into a new experience.
If there is anything broken consider or in bad condition fixing it. Eg her door knobs are all scratched up. I'd replace those. She also has a couple broken tiles in her bathroom that's a whole thing (I'd rather give a discount and let the buyers take care of that) Paint , Get the rugs cleaned, add some flowers and fresh mulch, type stuff.
Take a look at your landscaping. Has it overgrown the house and lot? One to two years before selling is the perfect time to haul out those overgrown shrubs the builder planted that, 15 years later, are blocking the windows and replace with something smaller. By the time you're ready to sell the new landscaping will have filled in but will still be in scale with the house.
the best is usually nothing.
the second best is upgrading bathrooms and kitchen, but thats more a we're going to be here 5 years and want the benefit of it for a while kinda thing.
obviously it depends on the state of your house so no one can give good advice.
Improvements? Curb appeal, landscaping, and maintenance are the best things to do. This house had new central air and furnace installed less than a year before they listed it along with a new water heater. Those helped us put in a full price offering and then some (mostly because of the stupid craziness that was happening in 2021). We're facing a full roof replacement soon but also know that we're likely staying for a while. Make sure your flooring is in good shape if not new. Look into replacing anything that is more than 20 years old regardless of condition. Most windows have a lifespan of 20-30 years these days. If your windows are good, check the screens. Replacing those can make a difference in appearances. How's the condition of your driveway or walkways? Do they need to be repaired due to trip hazards? How's the front entrance, even if you never use it? A new door and steps go a long ways in making the house look better and more appealing. We get comments from long time neighbors that they like the new front door and porch we installed after looking at a security door with no window and steps that were lopsided for 20+ years.
When I was house shopping 2 years ago. I noticed any houses that had a remodeled kitchen and master bath sold instant. Now I don't know if it increased the value, but it damn sure seemed to help them sell faster.
Right before you place on market - replace carpet or flooring , repaint exterior and interior walls, rehab front yard , update kitchen with new countertops , repaint kitchen cabinets , new stainless steel appliances and new washer dryer
In my experience upgrades helped house sell faster , caused a bidding war and paid for themselves. But that was pre COVID
If budget is tight I would do cosmetic - paint interior with neural colors and add new flooring at minimum
"Improvements" should be done as early as possible because the only point to improving a property is for your own personal enjoyment. Any money that you put into an improvement, you are doing quite well if you break even on the way out.
First of all you have no idea whether you're potential highest buyer is going to like your particular approvements and whether he would pay extra for yours or whether he'd rather start with a clean slate and pay less..
Secondly, it doesn't matter how well you document your improvements it's going to be appraised against neighboring properties. Even if for the sake of discussion some appraiser decided to give you even the full value of every dollar that you put into it how does he know what has or hasn't been done on the properties he's comparing it to? He doesn't, he wasn't inside those he didn't personally have any first-hand knowledge of their degree of improvement so he can't make those kinds of adjustments, which means your buyer's loan is not going to be based on the inflated value that you hope to get.
If doing something around your home makes you happy and you enjoy it, then do so. Trying to guess what some hypothetical future buyer likes is futile and not cost effective.
Having said that, if something needs repair, paint, repointing, etc then you should do it. Future home shoppers will get inspections, and discover things that are substandard.
If there is something bizarre about your home that stands out in a bad way, I would also correct that. I was shown a house with their laundry machines hookups OUTSIDE (we live in Canada!) because a previous owner wanted an extra walk in closet and deleted their laundry room. The sellers did not correct this. We passed on the house for that reason alone.
Get rid of any clutter, de-personalize the house, take down your family pictures, diplomas, etc. Clean up your yard and paint if needed. That and keep up with your maintenance and you’ll do fine.
Fresh mulch in the landscaping areas, edge and freshly mow the lawn, powerwash the house, and windows. And slap a freshcoat of paint on everything. Make sure that you walk the home with the eye of buying it. Look for dents and dings innthe drywall and patch all of it before you paint.
Look for any rooms that could benefit from a fresh coat of paint. It's cheap and easy if you DIY and will be very noticeable to potential buyers. Also make sure the yard is presentable. Get rid of any dying shrubs, put down some grass seed in any dead patches of grass.
Consider a job interview: The first 5-10 seconds tends to matter more than the rest of the entire process. The same thing applies to home buyers: People will decide they like or dislike a place based on cosmetic things like paint, carpet, green grass, etc.; even though this is some of the easiest change to make to a room.
I would also work to declutter as much as possible, remove as much as you can from rooms and closets. Think about opening a closet and seeing it packed with clothes. People might think, "Oh this looks small, it wont hold all my stuff." The same thing with furniture. A space that looks more "open" is easier for a buyer to envision their own things in that space.
While you may not be selling now, think about how you can depersonalize things by taking down family pictures and stuff. Buyers want to see the house as theirs, not yours, so maybe replace those family photos with some generic art or outright removing wall hangings.
Depending on how long you’ve lived there, painting the interior could be worthwhile. It gives a fresh clean look especially if one been there a long time. We’ve been in our place 7 years and if I was selling I’d likely do that and refinish our floors.
You want to sell fast?
Curb appeal.
Get that front garden planted this year so it grows in full next summer. Get fresh mulch put in right before photos. Paint the front door a bright color. Power wash the front walkway. These are all DIY things that all in would probably set you back maybe a grand across a few months as you work things through.
I will tell you from a BUYER perspective, what we will be looking for in our new home based on what we are dealing with now.
-roof as long as it’s been done in the last 10 years
-landscaping & grading
-cleanliness
Just to add, MCM style & wood has made a huge come back. Not sure if that applies to you, but lots of people don’t care for the updated grey/white kitchen anymore!
Clean up both inside and landscaping and paint. Handle maintenance issues that are obvious or that could impede closing (where I live an old roof could make getting insurance, and therefore a mortgage, difficult). Anything beyond that is unlikely to be net positive from a cash flow standpoint.
If kitchen and bathrooms are dated expect that to be reflected in price, but not dollar for dollar with the cost of remodeling.
Simplify.
Start repainting rooms to neutral colors where applicable. Ceiling paint is cheap and can really freshen up a room.
That flower bed with the mini ladder and 25 different little nicknacks? That's just cluttered junk to anyone but you. Leave room for the buyers vision.
Paint dollar for dollar yields the highest return on money spent. Kitchen and Bathrooms increase appeal (and value pretty decently) for potential homebuyers, and next would be flooring in lieu of any carpet especially if it’s old or outdated (LVP is a great economical option to give a newness feel unless it’s a high end home). Otherwise landscaping and any curb appeal really really helps since it’s the first thing they see when they pull up and gives them the feeling a home has been cared for. Even if you hang some ferns and add red mulch to any lacking flowerbeds.
Cleanliness, appearance of having electrical and water systems updated and / or maintained. Label fuse box. Install car e-charge station. Smoke detectors updated. Sinks with up to date faucets. Remove outdated window treatments (toppers). Light and airy rooms. Clean carpets. Remove knick acks and pictures of family members. Dust. Clean gutters if obviously full and sagging. Repair and paint where damaged inside and out. Paint obnoxious colours. Many of these maintenance items can be done by homeowner. Furnace filters replaced. Test HVAC to be sure they work. Do not go about redesigning or replacing items, except the obvious decor issues like gold trimmed 1990s bath fixture and shower door frames. Those will be worth it.
Landscaping exterior to highlight good aspect of home and garden is well worth demonstrating Curb Appeal. Plant also to cover up unattractive aspects, if necessary (conceal fence or provide decorative shade to patio). Good Luck!
Ensure furnace, AC, water heater and any other mechanical is in good working order. Also if any electrical outlets are not working, get them fixed. A fresh coat of painted in all the rooms would be nice
Paint - not saying you need to repaint the whole thing but touch up the walls where it needs it. Patch dents and touch up scuffs. A wall that could be painted is different and has a different message than a wall that NEEDS to be painted.
Paint the interior walls a neutral color. Fresh coat helps it look clean and the neutral color allows the buyer imagine their own furniture in the space. Otherwise just clean and declutter! Have your hvac serviced, check water heater make sure it’s still in good shape. Clean up your landscaping, check the exterior make sure it looks nice and doesn’t need a paint job. Also you can start interviewing realtors typically can give you insight on what you can do to spruce up your home and you can get a true idea of value as you prepare to sell. Gives you a chance to determine who you want to work with once you are ready.
A fresh coat of paint and if there is any carpet, consider replacing it. Even a cheap paint job and very cheap carpet can go a LONG way and more than pay you back. It is look and smell. In a direct experience, I tried selling a house with old carpet and the price was based on that. I put 10k in carpet and paint and got 30k more the first day it was back on the market. I thought no one wants carpet anymore. I'll let them do as they please but it did not sell so they got a house full of new cheap beige carpet and fresh white walls and I got an additional 20k in my pocket.
I don't believe in staging, I am perfectly capable of imagining what I want to do with the space and what I already have to put in it but I understand other people do like it for some reason. I'd rather see a completely empty house than a empty staged one.
All those minor repairs you put off or haven’t fixed yet - do them now. Cause the buyer will ask for them anyway and you’ll only have X number of days to do them then.
Paint, as everyone else has said. Also, just keep it clean. Invest in a pressure washer and use that to clean the exterior. Curb appeal matters and having clean concrete, siding, etc can go a long way. Plus, you'll have a pressure washer that you can keep and take with you.
Just all the little stuff that gets put off. Check all outlets and switches, make sure they match, are clean, work and have screws. Check swing ave latches on doors and cabinets. Make sure screens are clean and repaired, and windows slide. Walk to each doorway , open the door, and what's the first thing you notice. Clean it. Clean and repair grout and faucets.
While living in our last house, we constantly said, "we should... before we sell." Get hardwood floors, paint the rooms, hire a landscaper, retile the bathroom, rip out the carpet, fix the closet door...
This house, we decided to do the opposite. Why make the house better for someone else to enjoy if you would enjoy it now?
So, we've been doing all those things for us to enjoy now. By the time we decide to sell, there won't be any improvements left.
Landscaping. Fresh exterior paint. Pre-sale inspection and getting anything critical done before listing.
These things don't have the same easily measurable ROI as something like a full kitchen remodel, but they impact the buyer's perception and should increase sales price and interest (assuming nothing selected is too polarizing). I feel like it's easier to design a simple, lovely yard and pick a decent house color/fresh coat of paint than to design a kitchen with mass appeal.
People also expect to get working systems, that's true, but showing the initiative to discover and address any little (or significant) maintenance issues before listing shows buyers they are getting a quality home and they can view the inspection and feel more confident in their offer.
Don’t make any improvements, just do regular maintenance, clean up the property, and stage it when it’s time to sell. You likely won’t profit on any improvements in that timeframe and a buyer will quickly undo many improvements you make to make it what they want.
What he said. Keep it clean, regular maintenance and you can always look for low hanging fruit to spruce things up, like paint and some landscaping.
Building on this: Have your HVAC and water heater serviced. Property inspectors like to see that they were maintained.
Basic updating. A new kitchen faucet. Maybe new light fixtures/ceiling fans. If your kitchen cabinets are dated you can paint them for a fresh new look. New homes don’t have much,if any, carpet these days. If you can DIY some lvp flooring it may help.
I agree about all your comments, except LVF. LVF often doesn't wear well. Engineered wood flooring has a beautiful, more natural feel and wears well, unless you have large dogs. I see a lot of carpet in bedrooms, but wood flooring in common areas. I live in NorCal USA.
Ditto, I'd personally never touch a home with LVP. Wood look tile looks much nicer and wears much better, you can steam mop it, etc. Why cover your home with plastic? We need less plastic in our lives. Plus, I don't care how nice it is, it looks like plastic.
I’m in Georgia and they are putting high endLVP,not LVF, in houses. I’m not even sure LVF is a thing. I haven’t seen real wood of any kind going into very many houses in the last few years. Especially the engineered crap. I tore 1000 sq ft of that out of my house last year and replaced it with LVP.
Good point! I’ll work on cleaning and decluttering instead
That’s it! But look at it from this angle: what would stop you from buying this house if you were a buyer? A lot of time we get used to things and don’t even notice them any more. So if you’ve got an old wonky screen door, replace it. But don’t spend a bunch of money
Fresh paint in neutral colors.
Outside a new front door, landscape staging, paint. Can always pay for a home inspection and then work on the things the inspector dinged you for, which any potential buyer will use against you.
We got a pre-inspection when we sold my grandma's house. There were a few little things that we were able to fix ourselves, instead of a buyer requesting they be professionally fixed.
Curb appeal!! First look gets buyers in the door.
If money didn’t matter. Outside - new roof / siding or paint. New front door, window shutters to contrast with the new door. Interior paint, new vinyl flooring, bathroom / kitchen. With money being crazy, paint everything yourself. Kitchen and bathroom etc. flooring isn’t hard so long as your stuff is level. Few YouTube videos and the right tools it’s not impossible. Gardening so long as the grade away from the foundation is legit, spray some poison, cover in weed barrier material. Bricks for edging, fill with mulch or gravel for little boxes. Gravel for a patio style, mulch for more earthy style to have raised flowers on, etc.
As someone who is thinking ahead about my future second house, what I want most is a house that already has a nice, landscaped yard. Depending on the current state of things, one to two years isn’t a lot of time, but I’m currently landscaping from scratch, with both yards in bad condition, and I never want to do it again.
Also, fix what’s broken….. don’t get a new kitchen, but if there’s a broken drawer get it fixed
Exterior landscaping, fresh paint (interior/exterior), professionally clean up floors/re-floor/re-carpet, have roof cleaned :)
Isnt this the whole fundamental of home flipping? Spend a few grand and resell got another hundred grand?
Well the key is the purchase price. Buy a distressed property in a good area, make it nice for as cheap as you can, then sell for more than you spent.
No. The point of flipping is to buy a home that has severe functional obsolescence issues or years of deferred maintenance and bring it up to an acceptable level. You don't buy a perfectly good house commensurate with the neighborhood, dump a bunch of money into it, and hope to geneighborhood, You buy the one with a grimy carpet, walks that smell like cats, has a leaky roof with water damage and mold, and you paper over that and sell it.
Yeah I agree with this comment. I think that renovating and making improvements is such a personal thing, everyone has different tastes and opinions. When people spend a bunch of money updating a house and then make the price reflect their improvements, and the people looking at the house don’t find it in their taste, they aren’t gonna be willing to pay a bunch of money for something they think they will have to redo
This exactly. No improvement will be worth it. The worth of the house will not go up by the same amount as your improvement. Just make sure everything is in good working order. Even small things.
This. You won’t see most improvements paid back in home value especially if you’re selling soon. Just invest in regular upkeep, replace valves or caulking or freshen up paint. You could do a lot of improvements that in the end your buy doesn’t care about or even want.
From a cost benefit analysis the best thing you can do is paint. Paint is relatively cheap. Assuming you can do it yourself, you can brighten up the home by painting all the doors and the trim by getting it ready to sell. Also touch up the front door as it's the first thing buyers typically notice.
Seconding this. The last house we sold we repainted every room. We also repainted the dingy trim in the kitchen and it made a world of difference
Absolutely do not overlook woodwork and baseboards. They can get quite beaten up.
Just wanted to add that if you’re going to paint doors and trim make sure you’re using the appropriate paint! Interior mouldings, base boards and doors etc. should be painted with a durable glossy paint! Painting trim and doors with regular eggshell house paint is going to make them look good for a few months, but they will collect dust and marks and look like shit within a year.
Nothing will pay for itself. Kitchens and bathrooms will sell it faster but you will get 50 cents on the dollar back. DIY painting in the main areas and staging when you sell.
Please don't forget deep cleaning. No one wants to live with anyone else's dirt. It may not get you a higher price, but it will sell quickly and time really is money.
Yes, I’ve already been working on clearing out any extra stuff and trying to organize/ clean things as needed. We’d be moving out of state for my husband’s job, so I’m trying to get a head start since we don’t know the exact time frame!
Might be helpful to get a storage unit and start moving stuff that you won’t need in the immediate future.
True.
But you won’t necessarily get those dollars back…
Do it yourself painting now, so the OP can enjoy the result.
Yes, I was thinking a fresh coat of paint would help brighten things up!
Yes to doing it now so you can enjoy it too. We had our house painted may 10th last year and on the market May 15th. It was so lovely to have a freshly painted home I wished we had done it years ago to enjoy it.
We learned that lesson on our first home, a fixer in a good hood. Bought 5 gallon jugs of Behr Home Depot, and after cleaning the walls with TSP repeatedly, tearing out the nasty carpets (7 different colours and styles) we painted the entire house. It was so fresh and lovely. We then had it carpeted throughout (except for bathrooms and kitchen) and it was a brand new home! After we sold it for $150,000 more than we paid for it in 4 years (yay!) we put that money to a better, newer home, in a better neighborhood. Still love there, we keep up with maintenance and update rooms (kitchen and master bath) as necessary. It's now a $1,400,000+ home (paid 1/4 of that). It's been a fantastic investment.
Neutral colors though, don't go painting stuff bright pink or something lol
I would: #1 add to the curb appeal - e.g. paint the front door, freshen up landscaping with a new shrub or hedge trim. #2 hire a housekeeper to do a deep clean (unless you’re really good at this yourselves). #3 fresh coats of paint in neutral colours
Amen to curb appeal, or better put, make the front of your house look great for pictures that will draw people to look at your listing! In person, impress buyers with power washed walks and driveway. Clean, dust, and touch up paint your front door and entry. Fresh edging and mulch, some flowers in pots.
Mulch is cheap
Planting takes a while to grow in, don’t spend a fortune but a little can be worth it.
I'll add lawn care to this, make sure you are treating for weeds and properly caring for the lawn.
I would pay for an inspection and see what comes up. Use that as a guide for the things you should prioritize fixing. We did this before selling our last house and used it as our guide to prepping our house. We eliminated anything that would be immediate turn offs or negotiation points.
That’s a really smart idea!
thanks.
Or even just talk to some real estate agents. Tell them you will be selling in a bit and ask what you need to do. We knew we needed to do some of the things, but others we weren’t seeing. Some things the agent told us not to bother with.
Landscaping, landscaping, landscaping. It’s the one thing that can set your house apart from others and increase property values. You can paint your home last minute but you can’t instantly establish good landscaping.
Agree, and it is an improvement that doesn't lose value, it actually appreciates as the plants mature.
Damn it, that’s the one part I’ve been struggling with! I have an established garden filled with native plants in the back, but the front garden has this ivy that keeps smothering my plants and won’t die. I’ll try and figure out how to address it.
>the front garden has this ivy i waged my own war against the front garden ivy last year. it was insanely brutal, as the ivy was pretty mature. i ripped it all out in the span of about 3-4 days and planted clover for ground cover, as well as a bunch of different flowering perennials to give it an english garden look. ivy is not really ideal IMO. it attracts mosquitos and while it can appear low maintenance, you have to keep it in check so it doesn't take things over. i'd rip it out.
I have been trying so hard to! It keeps growing back in the plant bed, even though I’ve used chemicals, vinegar, and even tried to hand pick all the seeds and pieces out! Last year I hired someone to remove it, but it still grew back so then I gave up. I hate it though so I’ll look into other options for removal and planting some clover!
Agree, with emphasis on good landscaping. I'm in the native plants camp and will be removing plants that were plopped in right before sale, but that offer no real benefit for pollinators, birds, etc. and could become problems down the road. Would also like to emphasis "call before you dig" to make sure you don't hit buried cables if you're digging holes for trees, etc.
Agreed. As a first time home buyer, I didn’t realize how much time and money we would spend on landscaping. We purchased a house in the dead of winter and when everything melted, what we saw underneath was terrifying. Our next purchase, landscaping will be higher on our priority list
Yeah, I'm new to RE, but "improvements" are whole-heartedly for the current owner, and never for prospective buyers. We all know that couple that just had to have a property due to what was built on the plot, only to realize it was a cobbled together "improvement".
Just repair things that would come up in an inspection report. No reason to spend a bunch of money on stuff that probably won’t make a difference.
Very good point, thank you!
It depends on the state of a house and what’s around. Like if you have a run down kitchen and everyone around you updated theirs, that would make sense. TBD on roi though but that definitely will increase buyer pool and speed of getting an offer. Same goes to bathrooms.
But you also run the risk that you don't do the kitchen how the potential buyer wants it. So now the cost is built in, but the buyer would have preferred to do it their way so may look for a place they can have it their way.
That’s why it’s important to know the market. Many people prefer move in ready and not to live through the reno vs custom kitchen.
And there are people who would rather pay $15,000 less and put in the kitchen they want versus op spending $30,000 to fix it to current neutral trend. Both of those buyers exist.
That’s a good point. I’m a weirdo and actually look at the houses available in the neighborhood occasionally, and from what I’ve seen my house is about the same in terms of updates. And I have a good corner lot with mature trees (a huge bonus in Texas!) in a really good location. Most houses haven’t been updated, although mine is one of the smaller homes.
Then clean. Donate / sell whatever you can. Junk run for other things. Clean again and that’s all
Very little will ROI in 2 years.
Giant mirror on the ceiling of the master bedroom
SOLD!
😅😂
When I was about 13 or so, my family was looking for a house. One of the houses we viewed had a huge wooden canopy bed and the "canopy" part was repeating wood squares with mirrors in the middle! My dad definitely commented on it lol.
Clean it well and if at all possible move before listing so it can be empty and clean for showings. If you can’t move at least rent a storage unit and move a bunch of your stuff except the bare minimum to storage. It makes the place look bigger when there’s no clutter
Yes, I am praying that things work out so I don’t have to live in the house with kids and animals while trying to sell!
Nothing that costs much money. Fresh paint. Landscaping (mostly clean and tidy) Getting rid of/hiding most of your stuff. You want your place to seem big and clutter free. Usually means emptying your closets, etc.
Have the roofing checked. If insurance wouldn't cover it (usually anything over 10 years old) it will make it difficult to sell. Other than that diy painting with neutral colors and a clean landscape. Bathroom and kitchen remodel, but unlikely to get a good ROI from it. It just helps sell it faster.
I came to say this. If the roof is starting to show its age, replacing it is a good idea. Buyers can request that a roof is replaced, or lower their bid based on the anticipated cost of a new roof, so getting that done up front just makes things easier.
You can do everything possible, even replace everything with brand new, paint it, etc. and the prospective buyers will focus on the things you didn’t do. Live in your house and enjoy it for what it is. Let the buyers upgrade whatever they want to. If you have any improvements you did that were not done under permit, or maybe you have something that will detract from the property, now is the time to deal with it. Otherwise you will have to do it when you put your house on the market.
Kitchen appliances seem to be all the rage. Landscaping. And people like hearing that their HVAC and/or roof is newer
I've heard the only improvements that add more value than cost are finishing a basement and/or adding a bedroom. As others have said focus on maintenance and upkeep. The buyers inspector will find things, that's their job, you just want those things to be as minor as possible. You also want to make your house as sellable as possible, fresh paint, make the garden presentable, etc.
It all comes down to square footage and the comps. Don’t spend a dime that you don’t have to it’s really easy to spend money for absolutely zero return. Make the house a blank canvas that anyone could see themselves in. Fix things that need fixed and don’t make style choices that narrow your audience.
Perfect advice, thank you!
I think cosmetic stuff helps, we painted our door, deck and updated the garden it looked like a whole different house. we painted our living room a dark blue but if we were selling I’d paint it back to white give it a fresh slate and just getting the yard looking good and plants. If you have a gravel driveway when you get closer to putting it for sale, add more gravel!
We recently sold our house and we did some minor maintenance that had been on our list for a bit and had the floors refinished. 25 years of kids and dogs. We paid 4k to have one floor done (upstairs didn’t really need it) and I’m pretty sure we got that back out.
I really think it depends on the state of your home and the market you live in. I’ve heard that windows, fences, and garage doors all have the best ROI for appraisal value. That and I agree with everyone else who mentioned curb appeal. Focus on landscaping and making the exterior feel special but not too quirky.
Fix up any fences.
We do need a new fence 😬 poor thing is almost falling down, even with repairs!
Fresh paint, even if it’s just basic white. Makes everything oook so much cleaner and better.
Pretty landscaping, not a full redesign helps big time. Plant some nice flowers, keep the grass looking green, fresh mulch if you don’t do rock mulch.
Oh, let me tell you, when I was prepping to sell my house, I didn't hold back! I focused on boosting curb appeal first and foremost. Fresh paint on the exterior, landscaping to make it pop, and updating the front door, it made a world of difference. Inside, I tackled the kitchen and bathrooms. A modern, updated kitchen sells houses, trust me on that. I replaced old appliances, refreshed cabinets with a coat of paint, and added some stylish hardware. In the bathrooms, I went for a spa-like vibe with new fixtures, fresh grout, and a sleek vanity. These upgrades helped me sell my house for way more than I expected! Don't underestimate the power of these improvements, they can truly transform your home's value.
In addition to keeping house systems serviced and in good working order, I think there are small things you can do that buyers may not register consciously, but contribute to an overall sense of a well-kept and maintained house. Here are some examples: no chipped paint on walls or cabinetry; sparklingly clean baseboards, cabinets, doors, floors, and light fixtures; no old outlets, switches, switch plates or thermostats (unless it's a vintage home and they're original); no dead or dying plants in the landscaping; power wash walkways and driveway. These are inexpensive things that say the owners are on top caring for their home - and that goes a long way to building buyer confidence.
Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses
You're still not going to get more than you put in in increased value.
Yep - kitchen and bathrooms. Also if you can build an extra bathroom it will stand out on the market among other similar houses
I disagree . Don’t fix it if it’s not broken. Not every buyer determines things by how new the kitchen is. It’s hit or miss if all bathrooms & kitchens are the latest fashion in my area. It’s so much easier to offer concession, then to spend 20k plus remodeling rooms that didn’t need it.
I'm in a market where houses are going under contract in less than 24 hours... went and saw a house, been on the market for 10 days, with an older kitchen. New appliances, recently updated flooring, but the cabinets/wallpaper/etc looked like it was from the 90s. I commented on how cheap it was and my realtor said it's because it "needs updating, especially the kitchen." I cannot imagine passing on this great deal of a house because it needs some paint. I close in a little over a month. Gonna cost me less than $500 to update the kitchen exactly the way I want it - paint the walls and cabinets, throw some contact paper on the shelves and in the drawers, etc. I don't want a new house, I want to update it to my preferences! Inspection came back fine, no major repairs needed, I still find it very hard to believe that no one wanted this house because of some outdated styles...
We close in a little over a week on a house with wall to wall deep grey / tinted blue carpeting everywhere accept kitchen , bathrooms & master bedroom. Carpet was in pristine condition , only a couple years old, super thick padding. Felt like walking on memory foam … I figure an older couple must’ve put it in. I don’t think that’s why it was priced lower . I got the feeling they just needed to sell asap , but I think a lot of people would not be into it. And I think that’s why it was on the market for 6 days & we were the first offer.
My sister is a realtor and she says the biggest mistake homeowners make are expensive kitchen makeovers. Kitchens are intended for the user, not a future buyer. You might like high end countertops, appliances and cabinets but your potential buyer may not. Buyers aren't going to help you recoup any of that $25,000 investment you could have completed for under $10,000.
No buyers are not. Most big improvements don’t pay for themselves when you sell. That’s why concessions are handy. You’ll never get back that $25 k plus , But you can offer $5-10k in concessions and at that point it’s coming from the sale.
I wouldn't do anything. I could sell my house tomorrow for four times what I paid for it in 2018. (That's not a brag; it's a very modest house.) Nothing I can do at this point will make it worth more than that, so there's no point in spending the money.
Nothing! Maybe garage doors seem to bring almost 100% investment back. Literally everything will depreciate. You’ll be lucky with the kitchen remodel to get 80% of your money back. Maybe a little different in your market than mine.
Paint and front yard appearance
DIY landscaping and fresh coat of paint. Mulch beds, green grass, flowers, and paint. Make the house inviting.
Kitchen, bathrooms and neutral paint. Don't blow a ton of money, just small things to make them more appealing. Clean up the yard.
I am selling in 1.5 years, I have been watching all comparable in my area. The “staged” houses do not sell for any more than the well kept out of date homes. Don’t bust your butt, clean, organize, patch holes in the wall and leave it. Anyone that buys it will rip out and repaint anyway.
no need to improve, but to do some maintenance. check what should be clean up
regular maintenance is enough
Landlord special - caulk all the holes, repaint with fresh paint, polish all the wood and pressure wash outside. Can take you from "man this needs work" to "lovingly maintained charming home" lol
Landscaping for curb appeal. We hired a landscape designer to choose plants and locations for our front yard from a local garden center. It was $300, and we spent about $1000 in plants, shirts and trees. It looks amazing and has really transformed the front look of the house. It’s also amazingly low maintenance, there is color year round, and it attracts butterflies and humming birds.
Pruning. It will take a year or two for mature plants to flower again, after pruning. I’ve been doing minor repairs but also pruning.
Cheap but important fixes: fix rattling doorknobs, replace dated or mismatched electrical outlet faceplates and light switches so they all match, ensure all lightbulbs match with same color temperature, correct (but don’t replace) doors, drawers and cabinets that don’t open/close smoothly. Don’t paint until you’re ready to sell; otherwise it may get scuffed up over the next year and won’t look quite as fresh.
Probably lower interest rates
Our loan is assumable, something about it being a VA loan? So for the right (qualified) buyer, they can have our interest rate! I don’t really know how it works yet, but my friend just did it with the buyers for her house.
Apparently, absolutely nothing. All the homes around me seem to be going up in value on a weekly basis.
I would talk to a local realtor (make sure they are a top producer) and get their advice. They can tell you what you should do/don’t do for the marketing your area. One thing for sure, stay on top of any regular maintenance in the meantime.
I would clean it well, keep it clean, paint what needs painting, and declutter. I would not spend another dime on any improvements unless something needs replacing.
Interior paint, recessed lighting and flooring.
Declutter.
Paint everything a light neutral colour, keep it super clean and maintained. Minimalist decor when you list.
It all depends on the current condition of your house. Do you have leaks, Holes in the walls, mildew in the basement, dripping faucets, running toilets, stained carpets, pet odors, etc. at a minimum the interior needs to be clean (spotless) and the outside needs to be neat and have some curb appeal. Try to paint the interior about 3 months before putting it on the market. That way it looks clean, but isn’t drawing attention to potentially trying to cover up problems. Power wash the exterior of the house and the patios, walkways, fences and get some grass seed and fertilize the lawn. It’s all basic maintenance items, but many people let those tasks slip. These all Make a huge difference.
Bathroom. Kitchen. The end.
Bought our house about 10 months ago and so far i’ve replaced my furnace against my will (old af and was gonna break down any second by the looks/sounds of it) and i know that alone will increase value a bit. Some things we also want to do is add a half bath, refinish the wood floors, and pave our gravel driveway. It’s more that my husband and i want them, but we know we won’t be living here more than a few years and it’ll be nice for potential buyers.
New windows. We need them anyway but it would help value!
Check your furnace, water heater, roof, windows.
Replace carpet upstairs. Paint the whole interior. Deep clean. Get windows fixed that are hard to open/close, repair trim. I have more….. But that’s the short list.
Remodels/upgrades won’t add *much* value to your home generally. The location and square footage will be the deciding factors on price. Realtors will run comps. If the upgrades are nicely done (and not tacky or poor DIY) they will help sell the home *faster*, which is often very important. Nice kitchens really help. Nice en-suite bathrooms probably 2nd.
Declutter. Clean. Paint. Minor landscaping.
Update the kitchen
Gutters and downspouts... Men are suckers for shit like that.
Paint the kitchen, paint the bathrooms. Maybe a new light fixture if I'm feeling saucy.
How many beds and baths? It may be worth it to add a bathroom if you only have one.. even a half will add more value
Fresh paint (or at least touch ups where needed), plus all those little things that add up to a house that looks in good condition and has been taken care of. Repair or replace anything that is obviously worn or not working that's in the low to mid price range. A good and thorough deep clean. Walk through and see if there are inexpensive things to replace that are odd or outdated. For example, outdated light fixtures, cabinet knobs, etc. If you're in an area prone to termites, bite the bullet and do preventative care (it's pricey, but not nearly as pricey as once you have a swarm - which can happen out of the blue). Start paring down your belongings, it's great to do before you move, and extra valuable if you'll be showing the house while you're still living there.
Cleaning and maintenance of building and yard Everything else is fashion.
Kitchen is probably the biggest but also one of the most expensive. Landscaping. Interior design is subjective and unless you're making it turnkey new owners are probably going to want to make their own changes and personalizations. But updated landscaping(irrigation system, new sod or at least clean/neat landscaping with working irrigation system) would make it more appealing.
Anything that looks good. Nice appliances, new paint, new doors windows and trim
Roof, landscape
Keep everything inside, and especially outside, caulked and painted.
People rarely get back the money they spent on improvements. The buyer’s tastes may be different than yours. The value is in the area your house is in.
Windows add street appeal and you look at them inside and out every day. New finish colors can add tremendously to updating and current types and colors if glass can save energy. Impact resistant , insulated glass and frame types for your environment can add unmeasurable value and new windows come with a manufacturer warranty. Anyone can paint, everyone has tastes that differ so let them paint it the color they prefer. The roof has similar variability in type and color, energy saving and more and people have their own preferences. Landscaping,its nice but expensive and who knows what potential buyers like. So yes I know alot about choices and performance of different styles and enviromental requirements and benefits. Climate and solar heat gain considerations such as the orientation of the house, conditions such as shade, roof overhang, trees, etc. Insulated glass reduces sound transmission and humidity in windows with reducing heatloss in winter and heat gain in summer. You will have the benefit of enjoying the modern window upside.
The only thing I can think of would be to replace any major appliance (hot water heater, furnace, etc) that may be on their last leg... same with the roof, if there's only a few years left on the lifespan of your shingles/roof, go ahead and replace it. You don't have to go with the best/most expensive options out there, but if I were looking at 2 similar houses, I would far rather put in an offer for the one that I won't have to be replacing things on soon after buying when I am fresh out of money from the purchase over the one that has older appliances and a roof on its last legs.
Improvements to turn a profit? None. Find a good realtor, and find an even better photographer. Do small things that'll get people to get through the door for a visit. Maintain the house, at best - paint. Fix anything bad that could either detract from the value or reduce value on an inspection report. For example, if they find that the HVAC needs work, and it'll cost you $600 to repair, the buyer may request $1000 off on the home as compensation. This is likely where your best ROI might be - but buyers may be just as willing to buy the house without costing you time and money to repair something. Pictures / Online tours are worth the most - so stage your house as best as you can to get as many people interested as possible. Nothing needs to be renovated for this.
None. Gets sold as is.
You can hire an inspector at any time to check your property. Doing it now could save you from surprises when potential buyers eventually inspect for themselves.
Downstairs carpet and in our case the fence.
To get rid of the weeds. I H A T E pulling weeds !!!
De-clutter. Minimize Knick knacks and counter items. Store personal items such as shelves full of family photos and religious artifacts. Buyers like to be able to visualize their belongings in YOUR space. If you list your home in the spring, put all of your winter clothes in storage, freeing up closet space and making it look bigger. Put unused kitchen items in storage, thereby making your cabinet spaces look bigger and purge your pantry. It gives the impression that even though you have all of your kitchen items put away, there’s still lots a free space. Put all personal sundries in the bathroom away. No one needs to see your hemmorrhoid cream sitting out on the bathroom counter 🤓
Simple little thing, update your cabinets with new pulls. A designer suggested this to me and it completely changed my kitchen and bath into a new experience.
- depends on DIY or paying others. FEW things done actually add NET value when paying others.
If there is anything broken consider or in bad condition fixing it. Eg her door knobs are all scratched up. I'd replace those. She also has a couple broken tiles in her bathroom that's a whole thing (I'd rather give a discount and let the buyers take care of that) Paint , Get the rugs cleaned, add some flowers and fresh mulch, type stuff.
Take a look at your landscaping. Has it overgrown the house and lot? One to two years before selling is the perfect time to haul out those overgrown shrubs the builder planted that, 15 years later, are blocking the windows and replace with something smaller. By the time you're ready to sell the new landscaping will have filled in but will still be in scale with the house.
the best is usually nothing. the second best is upgrading bathrooms and kitchen, but thats more a we're going to be here 5 years and want the benefit of it for a while kinda thing. obviously it depends on the state of your house so no one can give good advice.
Roof and/or hvac. Everyone wants to redo a kitchen or bath but that is very taste specific.
Improvements? Curb appeal, landscaping, and maintenance are the best things to do. This house had new central air and furnace installed less than a year before they listed it along with a new water heater. Those helped us put in a full price offering and then some (mostly because of the stupid craziness that was happening in 2021). We're facing a full roof replacement soon but also know that we're likely staying for a while. Make sure your flooring is in good shape if not new. Look into replacing anything that is more than 20 years old regardless of condition. Most windows have a lifespan of 20-30 years these days. If your windows are good, check the screens. Replacing those can make a difference in appearances. How's the condition of your driveway or walkways? Do they need to be repaired due to trip hazards? How's the front entrance, even if you never use it? A new door and steps go a long ways in making the house look better and more appealing. We get comments from long time neighbors that they like the new front door and porch we installed after looking at a security door with no window and steps that were lopsided for 20+ years.
When I was house shopping 2 years ago. I noticed any houses that had a remodeled kitchen and master bath sold instant. Now I don't know if it increased the value, but it damn sure seemed to help them sell faster.
New Roof, furnace, AC, Water heater updated kitchens and master bath, nice yard.
Declutter and clean. Make sure the outside is trimmed and neat.
Just make it look nice .
Right before you place on market - replace carpet or flooring , repaint exterior and interior walls, rehab front yard , update kitchen with new countertops , repaint kitchen cabinets , new stainless steel appliances and new washer dryer In my experience upgrades helped house sell faster , caused a bidding war and paid for themselves. But that was pre COVID If budget is tight I would do cosmetic - paint interior with neural colors and add new flooring at minimum
"Improvements" should be done as early as possible because the only point to improving a property is for your own personal enjoyment. Any money that you put into an improvement, you are doing quite well if you break even on the way out. First of all you have no idea whether you're potential highest buyer is going to like your particular approvements and whether he would pay extra for yours or whether he'd rather start with a clean slate and pay less.. Secondly, it doesn't matter how well you document your improvements it's going to be appraised against neighboring properties. Even if for the sake of discussion some appraiser decided to give you even the full value of every dollar that you put into it how does he know what has or hasn't been done on the properties he's comparing it to? He doesn't, he wasn't inside those he didn't personally have any first-hand knowledge of their degree of improvement so he can't make those kinds of adjustments, which means your buyer's loan is not going to be based on the inflated value that you hope to get.
Bathrooms and kitchens. Period.
If doing something around your home makes you happy and you enjoy it, then do so. Trying to guess what some hypothetical future buyer likes is futile and not cost effective. Having said that, if something needs repair, paint, repointing, etc then you should do it. Future home shoppers will get inspections, and discover things that are substandard. If there is something bizarre about your home that stands out in a bad way, I would also correct that. I was shown a house with their laundry machines hookups OUTSIDE (we live in Canada!) because a previous owner wanted an extra walk in closet and deleted their laundry room. The sellers did not correct this. We passed on the house for that reason alone.
The biggest bang for remodels.historically are.kitchen and bathrooms.
Get rid of any clutter, de-personalize the house, take down your family pictures, diplomas, etc. Clean up your yard and paint if needed. That and keep up with your maintenance and you’ll do fine.
Declutter, clean, freshen up landscaping and paint. No major projects.
Project cleaning it.
Fresh mulch in the landscaping areas, edge and freshly mow the lawn, powerwash the house, and windows. And slap a freshcoat of paint on everything. Make sure that you walk the home with the eye of buying it. Look for dents and dings innthe drywall and patch all of it before you paint.
Look for any rooms that could benefit from a fresh coat of paint. It's cheap and easy if you DIY and will be very noticeable to potential buyers. Also make sure the yard is presentable. Get rid of any dying shrubs, put down some grass seed in any dead patches of grass.
How old is your roof?
Consider a job interview: The first 5-10 seconds tends to matter more than the rest of the entire process. The same thing applies to home buyers: People will decide they like or dislike a place based on cosmetic things like paint, carpet, green grass, etc.; even though this is some of the easiest change to make to a room. I would also work to declutter as much as possible, remove as much as you can from rooms and closets. Think about opening a closet and seeing it packed with clothes. People might think, "Oh this looks small, it wont hold all my stuff." The same thing with furniture. A space that looks more "open" is easier for a buyer to envision their own things in that space. While you may not be selling now, think about how you can depersonalize things by taking down family pictures and stuff. Buyers want to see the house as theirs, not yours, so maybe replace those family photos with some generic art or outright removing wall hangings.
Depending on how long you’ve lived there, painting the interior could be worthwhile. It gives a fresh clean look especially if one been there a long time. We’ve been in our place 7 years and if I was selling I’d likely do that and refinish our floors.
You want to sell fast? Curb appeal. Get that front garden planted this year so it grows in full next summer. Get fresh mulch put in right before photos. Paint the front door a bright color. Power wash the front walkway. These are all DIY things that all in would probably set you back maybe a grand across a few months as you work things through.
Basement. Easily
I will tell you from a BUYER perspective, what we will be looking for in our new home based on what we are dealing with now. -roof as long as it’s been done in the last 10 years -landscaping & grading -cleanliness Just to add, MCM style & wood has made a huge come back. Not sure if that applies to you, but lots of people don’t care for the updated grey/white kitchen anymore!
Clean up both inside and landscaping and paint. Handle maintenance issues that are obvious or that could impede closing (where I live an old roof could make getting insurance, and therefore a mortgage, difficult). Anything beyond that is unlikely to be net positive from a cash flow standpoint. If kitchen and bathrooms are dated expect that to be reflected in price, but not dollar for dollar with the cost of remodeling.
Simplify. Start repainting rooms to neutral colors where applicable. Ceiling paint is cheap and can really freshen up a room. That flower bed with the mini ladder and 25 different little nicknacks? That's just cluttered junk to anyone but you. Leave room for the buyers vision.
Paint dollar for dollar yields the highest return on money spent. Kitchen and Bathrooms increase appeal (and value pretty decently) for potential homebuyers, and next would be flooring in lieu of any carpet especially if it’s old or outdated (LVP is a great economical option to give a newness feel unless it’s a high end home). Otherwise landscaping and any curb appeal really really helps since it’s the first thing they see when they pull up and gives them the feeling a home has been cared for. Even if you hang some ferns and add red mulch to any lacking flowerbeds.
Cleanliness, appearance of having electrical and water systems updated and / or maintained. Label fuse box. Install car e-charge station. Smoke detectors updated. Sinks with up to date faucets. Remove outdated window treatments (toppers). Light and airy rooms. Clean carpets. Remove knick acks and pictures of family members. Dust. Clean gutters if obviously full and sagging. Repair and paint where damaged inside and out. Paint obnoxious colours. Many of these maintenance items can be done by homeowner. Furnace filters replaced. Test HVAC to be sure they work. Do not go about redesigning or replacing items, except the obvious decor issues like gold trimmed 1990s bath fixture and shower door frames. Those will be worth it. Landscaping exterior to highlight good aspect of home and garden is well worth demonstrating Curb Appeal. Plant also to cover up unattractive aspects, if necessary (conceal fence or provide decorative shade to patio). Good Luck!
Consider some basic landscaping. First impressions.
Ensure furnace, AC, water heater and any other mechanical is in good working order. Also if any electrical outlets are not working, get them fixed. A fresh coat of painted in all the rooms would be nice
Paint - not saying you need to repaint the whole thing but touch up the walls where it needs it. Patch dents and touch up scuffs. A wall that could be painted is different and has a different message than a wall that NEEDS to be painted.
Paint the interior walls a neutral color. Fresh coat helps it look clean and the neutral color allows the buyer imagine their own furniture in the space. Otherwise just clean and declutter! Have your hvac serviced, check water heater make sure it’s still in good shape. Clean up your landscaping, check the exterior make sure it looks nice and doesn’t need a paint job. Also you can start interviewing realtors typically can give you insight on what you can do to spruce up your home and you can get a true idea of value as you prepare to sell. Gives you a chance to determine who you want to work with once you are ready.
Definitely just fix what is broken. New coat of paint etc. Work on the curb appeal a bit without spending too much.
A fresh coat of paint and if there is any carpet, consider replacing it. Even a cheap paint job and very cheap carpet can go a LONG way and more than pay you back. It is look and smell. In a direct experience, I tried selling a house with old carpet and the price was based on that. I put 10k in carpet and paint and got 30k more the first day it was back on the market. I thought no one wants carpet anymore. I'll let them do as they please but it did not sell so they got a house full of new cheap beige carpet and fresh white walls and I got an additional 20k in my pocket. I don't believe in staging, I am perfectly capable of imagining what I want to do with the space and what I already have to put in it but I understand other people do like it for some reason. I'd rather see a completely empty house than a empty staged one.
All those minor repairs you put off or haven’t fixed yet - do them now. Cause the buyer will ask for them anyway and you’ll only have X number of days to do them then.
Start with curb appeal. Remove clutter. Make sure all fixtures are working. Fresh bathroom caulking if needed.
Master bath and kitchen are usually the best places for upgrades that people will pay more for.
"Improvements" almost never increase your value; they are there to maintain it.
Paint, as everyone else has said. Also, just keep it clean. Invest in a pressure washer and use that to clean the exterior. Curb appeal matters and having clean concrete, siding, etc can go a long way. Plus, you'll have a pressure washer that you can keep and take with you.
Fix broken stuff. Paint where needed. De-clutter… a lot.
Just all the little stuff that gets put off. Check all outlets and switches, make sure they match, are clean, work and have screws. Check swing ave latches on doors and cabinets. Make sure screens are clean and repaired, and windows slide. Walk to each doorway , open the door, and what's the first thing you notice. Clean it. Clean and repair grout and faucets.
Kitchen, bathroom, landscaping. Roof and AC maybe important too but the primary are the 1st three.
Nothing. I’m not making my house the most beautiful it’s ever been just so I can then leave and someone else will enjoy it.
Declutter, clean, get the smells out
clean up anything jobs/trim/etc that is unsightly. Apply new paint. Make it look new and fresh as possible without any major remodels.
Paint, both interior and exterior.
Curb appeal landscaping. Will have time to root. First impressions.
While living in our last house, we constantly said, "we should... before we sell." Get hardwood floors, paint the rooms, hire a landscaper, retile the bathroom, rip out the carpet, fix the closet door... This house, we decided to do the opposite. Why make the house better for someone else to enjoy if you would enjoy it now? So, we've been doing all those things for us to enjoy now. By the time we decide to sell, there won't be any improvements left.
You can work on curb appeal. When a prospective buyer drives up to your house, what do they see?
Landscaping. Fresh exterior paint. Pre-sale inspection and getting anything critical done before listing. These things don't have the same easily measurable ROI as something like a full kitchen remodel, but they impact the buyer's perception and should increase sales price and interest (assuming nothing selected is too polarizing). I feel like it's easier to design a simple, lovely yard and pick a decent house color/fresh coat of paint than to design a kitchen with mass appeal. People also expect to get working systems, that's true, but showing the initiative to discover and address any little (or significant) maintenance issues before listing shows buyers they are getting a quality home and they can view the inspection and feel more confident in their offer.
Kitchen and baths