Inexpensive tips to increase value of your home
Thursday, September 21, 2006If you are selling your home, getting a good value for it could prove troublesome. But before you throw in the towel and sell your home for a price way below your expectations, you could try doing some inexpensive renovations to increase your home's value up to 20%. That's not a bad figure, is it?
Here is a brief walkthrough of the steps you can undertake to make your home worth much more that it is today.
The Kitchen: Bigger is Better The kitchen is one of the critical areas to address in your efforts to increase your home's worth. Homebuyers are looking for spacious kitchens that are clean, in good repair and have the necessary furnishings for working.
To make the kitchen look more spacious, try installing lights that will make it look brighter. You could also redo the windows to remove clutter and make it spill in more light. This will have the effect of making the kitchen look bigger. Make sure the floorings and the table tops are in good repair. If it is not beyond your budget you could even replace the current flooring with stone or tile, which is a lot better than linoleum that cracks and tears.
Keep the kitchen in good repair. It doesn't cost much to have scratches and bumps fixed. If you have busted fixtures or electrical outlets, have them repaired with good materials.
A paint job will do wonders not just for your kitchen but for the whole home. So consider adding a good layer of paint on your home.
The Yard Simple gardening would do much to make your home more appealing. Keeping the yard in order, and tending to the garden would result more in a yard that would most likely attract buyers.
To stress the significance of a good yard, mature trees will typically add about $1000 to the value of your home. So imagine the impact of a well-tended garden to the value of your home!
The Living Room Like the kitchen, living rooms must give the impression of space. Some people do so by installing mirrors. However, this technique is also suited to the bedroom. The little repairs - like light bulbs and electrical outlets.
Make sure the living room is airy, a coating of light colored paint, installation of good lamps, and a general cleanliness of the living room will contribute much to this effect.
Bedroom Like the other rooms, the bedroom has to be particularly spacious, airy and bright. Mirrors are particularly effective at accomplishing this effect. Most five-star hotels have to project an impression of space, and they employ this technique to its full effect.
Make sure the rooms have a sufficient number of electrical outlets. The flexibility this offers will add much to the value of your home.
If you plan to install new surfaces, you might also want to consider using natural materials such as stone, marble, quality wood, and others. Studies have shown that many people react favorably to these materials. They also add a feeling of cleanliness to the rooms. Make the cabinets and closets as large as possible without making the rooms they are in look cramped, you may have to employ a few illusionary tricks here but the results are astounding.
Bathrooms Use fluorescent lighting instead of incandescent lighting to provide your bathrooms with a light feel. Installing inexpensive amenities to your bathroom like towel holders, racks, shower curtains, shower fixtures and other will enhance the appearance and appeal of your home.
You can mix, match and experiment with the tips given here. The principle of the whole is that you should make your home look spacious, airy, and light. You should also make sure your home looks different from the other homes in your neighborhood. If you can one up their amenities, then well and good! There are other tricks and illusions you could employ to achieve this - tricks that do not have to be expensive at all! So go ahead give your home a good look and start increasing its value today!