Thursday, December 15, 2011

Improving the Real Estate Value of Your Home

Selling your home is a bittersweet affair. While you may be excited about moving to a new residence, your current abode has served as a place where many nice memories were made. You look back fondly on the days you threw parties, witnessed small children engage in food fights and a host of other events.

Over time you may have slackened off in maintaining your home, while Mother Nature subjected it to many harsh weathers. Physically, your home has changed and so has its real estate value. Now that you plan on selling it, it's time to spruce it up in order to attract a buyer as well as allow you to command a good price.

Here are several suggestions you can follow:

• Inspect each room for cracks, leaks and similar defects. Their severity will impact your home's real estate value, so document everything that you see on a notepad.

• Write down a solution for each defect. Does it need just a quick coat of paint? Is new plumbing the only answer? You won't be able to justify a high price tag if your home's defects require lots of professional intervention.

• Do minor repairs you can easily handle. If you have tools available at home, you should have no trouble performing repairs that don't require a professional's attention. Some examples are fixing leaky faucets, replacing light bulbs, and repainting your child's bubble gum pink bedroom wall into a neutral shade that's easier on the eyes, like beige or pale yellow. These little changes can still do wonders for real estate value.

• Organize your daily living staples into one or two cabinets. Then, keep the rest of the closets and cabinets in your home empty for potential buyers to inspect. When trying to sell your home, expect prospects to snoop around a bit to see how organized and well-maintained the house is. Chances are they will check every nook and cranny, down to the hinges. Giving them empty cabinets and closets to inspect will allow them to see the quality of your home while imagining how their own things would look stored inside them.

• Keep your refrigerator clean and presentable. You wouldn't want a prospect to catch a whiff of week-old Chinese takeaway or that unsealed tub of Caesar salad dressing sitting in your fridge as you open the door to proffer him a soda. There are people who judge others based on the cleanliness and contents of this particular appliance. Never give them the impression that you're a slacker.


Based on the article by Arvin Cubil Mejillano

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