Accents

5 Areas to Accent When Boosting Home Value

Screen Shot 2016-10-13 at 12.21.09 PM

If you’re considering putting your home on the market, the first thing you want to know is how much you can ask. When your realtor gives you an estimate, your next thought is likely going to be “How can I increase that number?” Fortunately, boosting your home’s value does not have to mean renovating the bathroom or adding a home theater.

Helping your home attract more buyers, and higher bids can actually be done on the cheap with DIY projects. As some areas of your house are more valuable than others, here are the five areas you should be accenting with your home improvements.

The Kitchen is Top Priority

The kitchen is what sets the tone for your buyer’s opinion of the home. A nice, modern kitchen is worth far more than a home with spacious bedrooms but a shabby kitchen. To accent your kitchen, create some form of accent wall above the counters. This could mean tiling, mosaics, sponge painting, or simply adding a coat of accent paint. Consult your realtor, an interior designer, or even magazines for an idea of which would work best in your space.

Elegant Bathrooms Spell Luxury

Plain, basic bathrooms tell a buyer that the home is not updated or that it lacks the modern, sophisticated feel that they’re looking for. But when you add a little paint, frame your mirrors, and attach matching metal hardware, suddenly that same bathroom makes your home look great.

Your priority for the bathroom is ensuring all the fixtures match and the mirrors have frames. These two simple, affordable upgrades can make a big difference in the perceived value of your home to prospective buyers, despite the fact that they cost you little to implement.

Bedrooms are Still Important

Even if the bathroom is beautiful and the kitchen is lovely, small, plain bedrooms can easily put a dent in your sale. Of course, making small bedrooms bigger is not an option, but paint can work wonders to create an optical illusion. Lighter wall colors tend to make spaces feel larger, while painting molding the same color can help eliminate the appearance of a border. When a room is small, you don’t want a molding highlighting the size.

Even if your bedrooms aren’t small, you should still consider a fresh coat of paint. New paint looks clean and can help eliminate signs of wear and tear on your walls. If your walls are an outdated color, repainting becomes critical. Many buyers today want modern, and the wrong shade of paint can negatively impact your chances of a good sale.

The Front Yard is the First Impression

A stellar first impression is crucial when selling a home. Whether you have a front yard or just a front porch, you need to be sure the buyer is happy as they enter the property. For yards, you should be sure your grass is healthy and trimmed with neat, easy-care landscaping where applicable. Plant hardy shrubs and flowers to add color while adding the simple yard care selling point. You might also want to plant a shade tree as trees can actually cut energy costs for future homeowners.

The main goal is to make the yard or porch look lively, inviting, and well-kept while boasting ease of care to potential buyers.

Increasing home value does not need to be hard. Even the bare minimum can help boost your profits. A new coat of paint in a few high-profile areas that buyers pay the most attention to can work miracles, while swapping out mismatched hardware can instantly make a home seem more cared-for and up-to-date. As long as you focus on the most important areas of the home, you should be all set to start increasing your home’s value.

Paul Denikin began learning about DIY home repair projects after his daughter, Maggie, was born with special needs. He has learned a lot through trial and error as he has worked to make his family’s home safe and accessible for her. Today, he shares his DIY knowledge on DadKnowsDIY.com, a website that offers home improvement project how-tos and other accessibility information.

Image via Pixabay by sferrario1968

You Might Also Like

Previous Story
Next Story

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.