Adding Value
Which items will add value to your home and help with resale when the time comes to sell?
The answer is: “Only the ones that future buyers will also want and be willing to pay for.”
As a general rule, choosing the functional over the merely cosmetic and choosing neutral over unusual or exotic will pay off when you go to sell your home. Taste and current trends can also affect the value of an update. Unusual colors have a limited appeal. You will want to stick with neutral colors that just about anyone could utilize in their new home.
Which updates will add the most value to your home?
- Updates that increase usable space (an extra bathroom, larger and/or upgraded kitchen, master bedroom suite, more closet space, conversion of unused space to a home office). One of the driving factors in a home's value is the Dollar per Square Foot. Increasing your overall living square footage can equate to a huge increase in the value of your home.
- Updates that will lighten and brighten your rooms (white or light color paint and floor coverings, light woods, skylights, larger windows, French doors).
- Updates that will open your home to the outdoors for fresh air and entertaining (French doors to the patio or garden).
- Updates that will increase privacy and security (fencing, landscaping).
- Appliances that are old and outdated should be replaced before putting your home on the market. Unless your home is a no-holds-bared luxury property, you should avoid the super high end appliances also.
- Landscaping, by many real estate professional's opinion, is the single most cost effective upgrade you can implement for your home. The relatively low cost of flowers, shrubs and beautifying the front and rear yard can have a major impact on the way a potential home buyer views the property.
Properly Marketing Your Calgary Home
At the end of the day, the single largest factor in how quickly and for how much your home will sell for is the level and quality of marketing done by your REALTOR.
In today's competitive real estate market, it takes much more than a couple photos from an iPhone and you home placed in the local MLS. The top REALTORS in Calgary will use high level digital marketing to advertise your property. They may take professional photos to show your property in the best light. A top agent will insure that you home is a featured property on Calgary's top real estate websites.
When you are interviewing your next REALTOR about selling your home, be sure to ask them what will they do to market your property.
