Our homes are one of our largest assets and an important commodity as well as our shelters, keepers of our memories of family fun, exciting life events, and a place to rest our weary selves each night. With that in mind, one of the most important elements of our job is to help our clients get the highest offers possible on their property so that they receive the best available return on the initial investment they made in their home.
Over the years we have evaluated which pre-sale improvements both small and large get our clients the most money out of the sale. To do so, we begin by conducting an evaluation of the home, with a critical eye to any improvements whether as small as touching up paint, to as large as having hardwood floors installed that would positively affect the offer price, with an eye to what will get the most bang for the buck.
We begin by walking through the home with our clients and collaboratively visualizing how they want the property to present on the market. While we walk through, we brainstorm ideas and come up with a list of what would be ideal.
With that list in hand, we then bring in our stable of awesome, pre-vetted contractors who give bids on the improvements we would like to consider. Once the bids are in hand, we again meet with the clients to discuss each item we’ve considered, targeting the improvements we believe will get a 2 to 1 return on investment.
If any projects are contracted, we then work with the team to schedule the work and make sure everything happens in a timely manner to get the property on the market on schedule.
Here are a few items we’ve found get our clients the best return on their investment:
A new coat of paint, if needed, adds a terrific element of freshness and the clean walls create a blank canvas so buyers can visualize themselves and their furnishings living in the home.
Either refinishing existing hardwood floors or adding them to replace dingy carpeting adds a huge wow factor and generally boosts the homes price significantly.
Giving out-dated kitchens a mini-face lift is very important. Updating lighting fixtures goes a long way and painting outdated cabinets and replacing the hardware gives sellers a huge bang for the buck.
Replacing either old or dull lighting fixtures with modern lighting fixtures throughout the home gives a sense of the property being up to date and adds to the amount buyers are willing to spend to purchase the property.
In bathrooms and for kitchens with old tile, we recommend using Miracle Method, which powder coats old tile and makes them look fresh, clean and new.
A couple of improvements we’ve found don’t get a high return on the investment are purchasing new cabinets and appliances.
Interesting to note is that most clients spend between fifteen and thirty thousand dollars investing on improvements before they put their home on the market, but because of that upfront cost, they are able to get significantly higher prices on the sale of their homes.
Navigating the process can feel overwhelming and tricky, but we are with our clients helping and advising them all along the way.
