If you have owned and sold an automobile, you will know the value of doing some basic maintenance and clean-up before putting it on the market and increasing its resale value. Home sales are no different. If you plan on selling your home, it is time to seriously consider doing some home improvement projects to increase your home value.
As far as home improvement projects are concerned, you can follow two basic approaches: have it done by professionals or do-it-yourself (DIY). Home improvement projects done by professionals will be costlier. Therefore, if it is unnecessary, it makes more sense to go with DIY projects to add value to your home. The following are eight relatively inexpensive and easy DIY home improvement projects to help increase your home value.
Start From the Outside
The first thing people see when approaching a house is the outside area. Therefore, the front yard plays a huge role in creating first impressions. In selling, first impressions are very important to grab the customers’ attention. The following are four things you can do on your own to make the home look good again.
- Make the garden look nice: If you have any plants or trees that need a trim, then take care of it. Mow the lawn and remove leaves if necessary. Adding some flowering plants is perhaps the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to give your garden a facelift.
- Install some stepping stones: Do you have any stepping stones in your garden? If not, adding some can raise the house’s aesthetic value. If you don’t feel like spending too much money on it, you can always make stepping stones on your own by using quick-dry cement and accessories like seashells, pebbles, or marbles. However, if you are willing to spend a little bit more money, you can buy pre-cut stones, and all you need to do is some shovel work to install them.
- Install some lights: You have mowed the lawn, planted, and installed a stepping stone pathway to the front door. Why not install a few lights to show off your achievement? If you are not interested in installing larger lights, you can always put in some small, solar-powered lights on either side of the pathway. This will not only enhance aesthetic value but also be a practical addition.
- Doors and Windows: Although not part of the garden, the front door and windows are the first things people notice when looking at a house. The front door is technically “outside” and usually adjacent to the garden. Painting a door is an easy DIY and if you are free to choose a color, then go with a darker color. Studies have shown that houses painted with darker colored doors sold for more money.
Move to the Inside
After touching up the outdoors, it is time to take care of the indoors. If the outdoors is about aesthetics, then indoor projects are more about practical things. This is the time to take care of a leaky faucet or a broken ceiling fan. Regarding DIY indoor work, the following are four relatively easy projects.
- Leaking AC: If cold air-conditioned air is escaping the house, it is time to plug the leaks. New home buyers will look into this since a leaky house can add a great deal to the monthly utility bill. An easy fix is to caulk the gaps around the doors and windows.
- Give cabinets and drawers a facelift: If knobs, pulls, and hinges are starting to show their age, then you can easily replace them with newer, better-looking hardware. The only accessories you will need are a screwdriver and some screws.
- Painting projects: If you are up for it, then splashing on a fresh coat of paint indoors and outdoors is a great way to enhance the value of your home. Painting is relatively easy with a great ROI compared to the skill required to do some DIY projects.
- Time to get rid of stuff: If you live in a cluttered house, it is time to roll up your sleeves and start decluttering. Start by putting away what you want to keep and throwing away the rest. You could even throw a garage sale and make money on those old CDs and toys lying around the house. Either way, a neat-looking house increases its market value with little effort and will make moving out much easier when the time comes.
Wrapping Up
Many easy and cheap ways exist to improve a home and increase its value. Just let the house “speak” to you, and it will tell you what it needs.