Proven Ways to Increase the Resale Value of Your Home

When it comes to selling your Crescent Heights home in Cedar City, and getting a good price for it, little things mean a lot. But if you only have so much time and money to invest where do you start?

In an effort to answer this question, Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted an online survey in 2005 of 303 real estate professionals from around the country and what they found was some simple strategies that don’t take a lot of time or money.

Stage and declutter your home

While not expensive, clearing out the clutter in your home is one of the most important changes you can make in helping to stage your property to compete with the competition. This means keeping up on needed repairs, cleaning the walls and baseboards and minimizing clutter from your everyday life like the mail laying on the kitchen counters.

“It’s remarkable what regular home maintenance, cleanliness and minimizing clutter can do for you when it comes time to sell your home,” Stratum Realtor Sam Dodd said. “It’s all about staging. Not everyone likes your pets, hobbies, sports teams or religion.” Clean it up “If it’s dirty, it won’t sell,” Dodd said, “no matter what. It can be in a great location and have the perfect layout for a potential buyer but if it’s not clean none of that matters.”

In fact, most of the agents who took the survey said they focus on overall cleanliness and space as the biggest factor in selling a home. According to Consumer Reports, cleaning can deliver a 3 to 5 percent return on investment, and it’s something that doesn’t cost any money because you can do it yourself.
When showing the home, raise window blinds, lower toilet seats and make sure the place looks at least as good as it would if you were having someone important over for dinner. 

Enhance your curb appeal

Like the other two suggestions, first impressions make a big difference in whether you sell your home and the return you’ll get back. Make sure the outside of the home matches the inside.  As soon as a potential buyer drives up to your house, they’re making judgments. That's the value of a homes curb appeal.

This means evens a broken mailbox can cost you a sale.  Invest in some potted plants and mow your lawn. Likewise, make sure there’s no garbage laying around and clean up the toys skewed across the front yard.

Pay attention to details

The things you may think are insignificant are the very ones that may turn out to be major selling points. This includes paint touch-ups, clean windows and replacing fluorescent bulbs with incandescent or halogen ones and removing or minimizing the art on the wall.

If the budget allows, adding new appliances in the kitchen, replacing kitchen cabinets or upgrading to energy-efficient windows can also bring in more money.  Refresh your kitchen and bath.  These are some of the most important rooms in your home. Consumer Reports estimates you can increase your home’s value by as much as 7 percent through renovation.  If you don’t have the budget for renovations, I recommend at least fresh paint.  “Fresh paint is a low-hanging opportunity to freshen up your space and potentially boost your asking price.”

Choose a neutral palette to increase the appeal to as many tastes as possible. Buyers need to be able to visualize themselves living in the home and certain paint colors may send them down the street.

That said, however, I advised homeowners against putting a lot of money into things like carpet, paint and other aesthetics that a new homeowner will likely want to change anyway.

Invest in good photos for the listing

Make sure your real estate agent offers great photos that show your home in its best light when it comes time to list it. This is often the very first impression a buyer will have. Looking at the photos online is when they decide whether they want to visit. If the photos don’t do the home justice, you’ll lose potential buyers before you even have a chance to show them the home.

Also, when it comes to open houses and showings, I suggest the homeowner leave. Sellers often get in the way of a sale by taking things too personally. It’s a good idea to leave this to the realtor.

Are you considering selling your home in Parowan?   Fill out the contact form and I will call you to schedule a time where I can discuss these options as well as give you an approximate sales value on your home.   It has no cost or obligation and could save you thousands of dollars.