Increase Your Capital From Selling Home

Upon deciding to sell your home, there are many choices to be made in the home selling process, some obvious, some not so.  Understanding all aspects and avenues to increase the capital you receive upon selling your home is very important to maximizing its value to you and your family. Unless you have time deadlines approaching or extenuating circumstances it is mostly advisable to spend a little money and time on smaller fixes and upgrades, as these will not only increase the value of your home but also make it much more attractive to future buyers.  Very few buyers want a fixer upper, they are looking for their proverbial dream home, or a home that suits most of their needs.  There are not looking for a constant money pit, one that will be an expensive hobby for years to come.  Even if you are under the gun, so to speak, many fixes and upgrades take very little time and money, but make a big impact.  This includes fixing functional and cosmetic issues, simple maintenance work, and properly staging and marketing your home.  Let’s talk over a few of them.

The curb appeal of your home is consistently listed as the number one selling point.  This image is not only the main image on most marketing of your home, but is also the first impression for a prospective buyer and agent.  They will judge your home by the curb appeal and may not even click on your digital flyer or go to a showing just because they don’t like your homes curb appeal.  You may have the perfect home for a buyer outside of the curb appeal and they may never know it because they’ve already crossed your home off of their list.  Simple garden and yard maintenance is key.  Simple yard maintenance is typically very cheap and just takes some hard work with minimal cost.  Buyers are not looking for anything crazy or unique so just stick to things such as new sod, bark, flowers, and such.  Power washing the driveway, sidewalks, and home siding can add an additional pop.  Same with cleaning all of the windows and making sure all screens are in place.  Exterior touch up paint can be a good selling point as well as nicely edged yard and new house numbers and mailboxes.  You cannot easily change the bones of your home or do any major changes, but if you just stick to cleaning all curb appeal aspects well and fix or minimalize any issues gives the impression that nothing is wrong with the home and it has been well taken care of.  If you can get a buyer in the front door happy and intrigued, more than half the job is already done.

Staging homes has become very popular and if you can try and do yourself has no cost.  You can hire a professional staging company that can go as far as putting all of your belongings in storage and renting all new furniture and such to make your home look perfect.  This can be quite costly, but pay for itself in a higher sale price and a quicker sale as well.  Buyers are looking for efficiency and usefulness in a home and need it to check off most of their need boxes, as well as trying to check off as many of their want boxes as well.  Maximizing your homes selling points and showing a buyer the best and most useful way to use the space is important.  Cleaning and de cluttering is the number one step in the process and might be the most important step as well.  Buyers want to feel comfortable in your space and feel like the home was well taken care of.  Having an extremely clean home does the trick.  Buyers also want to see large spaces and know that the home will provide enough suitable storage space.  De cluttering and having very minimal furniture and fixtures while still being useful does the trick.  Try and only use and display your best things and only use the minimal amount.  Show a buyer how the space can be used best by the way it is cleaned, decorated, and organized.  Don’t cater these fixes to your needs or to what you’ve always wanted.  If necessary, use a designer to tell you what the majority of buyers are currently looking for in your area and cater specifically to those needs while controlling unique and individual ideas, instead using pale colors and finishes and organizing to appease the masses.  If you have some capital there are many ways to increase the capital while also increasing the buyer appeal.  Replacing all older appliances and fixtures can really impress the cook of the house and an updated kitchen and bathroom space can be enough to sell the house to the right family.  Updating paint can be minimal in cost but have a huge impact.  Adding closet space or staging rooms as specialty rooms can help a buyer envision themselves living there and close the deal.  Many families need rooms for things such as storage, working out, working from home, or have multiple children and need multiple kids’ rooms as well as multiple bathrooms.

Try and do some research or ask an expert when it comes to updating and remodeling.  Different projects cost massively different amounts and take different amounts of time to complete.  They also have different effects on the overall value of the home.  Try and get a good feel for all of the issues your home may face, and make a checklist with cheaper fixes first and take into account how much more the homes’ value increases upon completion.  Try and have your home as perfect as possible before you put it on market.  When marketing your home, pay careful attention to everything from the quality and angle of the images you use, to how the description is written up.  Try and know your market buyer and cater to his needs and help them understand why your home is the perfect home for their family.  Carefully analyze and create the best game plan for your home, family, budget, and time constraints.  Leave no stone unturned and it will pay in the long run.