Whether you’re looking to sell this year or you’ve just bought your first house, it’s never a bad time to think about how you can boost the resale value of your home. Even better, there are plenty of changes that you can make to your home that will make it nicer to live in and help you out when it comes time to sell. Here are some tips to prepare your house for sale.
Kitchen and Bathroom Makeover
Obviously it would be great to just redo everything in the house, but it’s going to be hard to justify that kind of price tag to prospective buyers and there are definitely going to be some areas where you get more bang for your buck than others. Two such areas are easily your kitchen and your bathrooms.
What makes these rooms special are all of the fixtures. Things like countertops, sinks, and cabinets can instantly help prospective buyers date your home. Worn down and discoloured surfaces will throw a bad light on your entire house, leading your buyers to believe that it’s old and hasn’t really been taken care of.
Compare that with showing off sparkling new counters, high tech appliances, and fashionable cabinets. This gives buyers the right impression, letting them know that you’ve taken care of the place during your time.
A Fresh Coat of Paint
Like your kitchen and bathrooms, chipped or off-colour paint can ruin your buyer’s entire opinion of the house before they’ve even completed the tour. If your house has seen some action and you’re looking to cover up scuffs and scrapes, try an eggshell or matte paint finish. Ideally you want to shoot for neutral colours throughout the house. While going for that hot pink living room that you’ve always wanted might really attract one or two buyers, you’re going to reach a larger crowd by sticking to the middle of the road.
Keep Everything in Good Shape
OK, so your house is looking great, but it needs to be in good shape under the hood as well. Here are some great tips for home maintenance, but remember to keep track of receipts for all the work you have done. Being able to show your potential buyers the records behind your home maintenance is a must to help you justify that higher asking price.
I you’ve gone the DIY route on your home maintanence try keeping a note of the work done along with before and after pictures if you can. You can also use some of those pictures in a virtual tour to get more people “into your house,” so to speak and show off to more prospective buyers.
Think About Timing
When are you going to sell your house? It may be tempting to make the decision to sell and just jump right into it, but there are huge benefits to biding your time.
First of all, you’ll want to keep an eye on the market. Of course you don’t want to sell when the market’s at a low point, but, counterintuitive as it may seem, you also don’t want to sell immediately after the market has peaked. At this point the market is flooded with buyers looking to sell at the uncommonly high prices, but this flood of buyers mixed with the average cost of a buying a new home drives interest from sellers down, making it hard for your to stand out.
Ideally you’ll want to sell just before the market peaks. But this is a bit of a gamble if you’re not an expert, so this is definitely one area to defer to a realtor on.
One other little-known tip is to sell during the holiday season. Buyers will typically be in higher spirits at this point and vacation time is plenty, especially for families with children who are making use of their holiday break.
There’s no shame in finding a real estate agent to help you navigate this labyrinth of criteria. Just be sure to choose wisely and avoid common mistakes when hiring an agent.
Recap
Let’s recap really quickly. First things first, you’re going to need a house that looks good. That means an up-to-date kitchen and bathrooms as well as an appealing and unmarked coat of paint. Second, you’ll want to make sure that everything is working well behind the scenes. Whenever you do maintenance make sure that you keep a record of it to make your home more attractive to buyers. Finally, think about when you want to sell. Sell when the market is on the rise, but before it’s peaked and, if possible, try to reach out to buyers when they’re in high spirits during the holiday season.