Get Your Home Ready To Be Appraised!
Before you sell your home, you want to make it as attractive to homebuyers as possible. Most homebuyers obtain mortgage loans to buy homes and mortgage lenders will determine your home’s value through a bank appraisal. Appraisals take a lot of factors into consideration – your home’s age, size, condition, and location; recent sales data of homes that are most similar to yours; property tax data; and your home’s features. If your home’s asking price meets the appraisal value, your buyer’s lender will greenlight the purchase.
But, there is also a subjective element to determining home values. Does your home have the curb appeal, finishes, and up-to-date amenities of other similar homes in your neighborhood? Even if you don’t plan to sell your home anytime soon, routine maintenance and updates are crucial to sustaining home values.
How do you find out the true value of your home? You can pay for your own bank appraisal or contact your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network professional for a comparative market analysis – a computer-generated report from your agent’s multiple listing service that shows homes like yours for sale, homes that have recently sold, their asking, and selling prices respectively, features, and locations, among other information.
They will also tell you what homebuyers want in today’s homes. Ask for their recommendations on updates that you may have planned as they will know which ones will deliver the most return (ROI) in your market and which ones won’t be worth the trouble. The biggest question is where to put your money to work to increase the value of your home.
Just as values can be subjective, so can homebuyers’ opinions of homes in poor condition, including dated décor and aging systems. What was once a must-have like an all-white kitchen may look out of date. They look carefully at any item that’s costly to replace such as the roof or AC. They want to buy a home and move in without having to repair or replace anything.
What can you do to add value to your home? Here are some suggestions:
Begin with routine maintenance. Check to make sure all systems are in working order and arrange to repair anything that’s broken as soon as possible. Don’t forget about small annoyances like the window that won’t open or the door that scrapes the floor. They matter a lot if a homebuyer, home inspector, or appraiser notices them. A homebuyer will wonder if one item wasn’t fixed, what else was neglected?
Improve your home’s curb appeal. Curb appeal should be taken literally. What does anyone see when they pull up to the curb – a home that shows pride of ownership, or a home that shows neglect? Peeling paint, leggy or untrimmed bushes, broken pavers on the walkway, and cobwebs on the porch light drag down curb appeal. Fresh flowers in the garden, trimmed trees, mown grass, a new welcome mat, a new light fixture, and a fresh coat of paint in an eye-catching color are just a few things you can do for an instantaneously positive impression.
Update your finishes. According to FSCB.com, a fresh coat of paint can deliver 100% ROI and increase your home’s sales price throughout your house can increase the home’s sale price by as much as 5 percent. Keep your color choices neutral, but modern. A relatively inexpensive update such as painting your front door or replacing an old light fixture can make a big difference in the look of your home.
Upgrade for sustainability. Today, people have a strong sense of responsibility to protect the environment. They look for ways to reduce their footprint and lower their costs as homeowners, such as insulating the home and upgrading to energy-efficient appliances at the very minimum. Not only will your home look more contemporary, but you’ll reap the benefits as the current homeowner.
You may wonder if adding solar panels will pay off. Research shows that it will. Reenergizeco.com reports that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that every dollar saved on energy through solar increases the home’s value by $20, and that CNBC found that 80 percent of buyers look for solar panels and other energy efficiency upgrades when they hunt for houses. Research by NREL found that homes with solar panels sell 20 percent faster than similar homes that are dependent on the traditional power grid. If you’re still on the fence, the cost of electricity, the amount of sun your area receives, and installation costs can be compared to the financial benefits of a federal solar tax credit and state or local credits which can help you decide whether or not to proceed.
Weigh the cost/reward of certain improvements. Where you live makes a difference in the return you can expect from certain improvements such as a swimming pool which are becoming more desirable as more commuters are working from home. Extreme weather is also adding to private pool popularity. But there are caveats. As a luxury amenity, an in-ground swimming pool is expensive to install and requires regular maintenance and safety features like fencing which may not appeal to some homebuyers. Above-ground pools cost far less but they’re considered temporary structures and do not add value to your home any more than a storage shed or any other moveable or collapsible structure would. That said, a beautiful swimming pool in the right climate where you can get at least three months of use in the hottest weather can be a life-saver with lots of benefits – family fun, entertaining friends, and getting fit. In-ground pools are typically found in higher-end neighborhoods and enhanced with professional landscaping and other accouterments such as an outdoor kitchen, a loggia, and a cabana for bathing and dressing.
Does a swimming pool add value to your home? If you live in an area that supports a swimming pool lifestyle, then future buyers may also want a pool as an amenity. Your pool and surrounding landscaping should be in pristine, clean condition and showcase your home’s outdoor living space.
Kitchen and bathroom updates are most desirable. These are the rooms that sell houses. The better shape they’re in the more they’ll contribute value to your home. According to HGTV.com, a kitchen or bath remodel can generate as much as 100 percent or greater return on your remodeling costs. These are the rooms that set the tone for any home in terms of updates that utilize higher-end appliances and finishes such as granite countertops, stone floors, and wood cabinets.
Add square footage. Most homebuyers move because they want more space. If the addition is done well and makes the layout of the homework better, with no visible difference between the older space and the new space. You can also gain living space by finishing out your basement or attic – again in a seamless way that makes the finished space sensible and desirable.
Every home is unique, with its own appeal. Your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network professional can help you determine which improvements are most pertinent for your particular home.
