Hi there! Emily Farber with Lepic-Kroger, Realtors, in Iowa City, Iowa. Thanks for
joining me. The topic of today's video is the best home improvement projects to
increase your home's value. Are you thinking about selling soon? If so, great!
This is just the topic that you should listen to, because not all home
improvement projects have a good ROI or return on investment. And, I want you to
take notice, down below in the description, you'll see a link for a free
downloadable guide-- my sellers' guide to help you on your journey as you get
prepared to list your home.
Not all home improvement projects are created equal, and they certainly aren't going to feel equal in terms of the hit to your wallet.
Many times people upgrade their homes simply because that's what they want, and
that is totally fine! If you've always dreamed of having a chef's kitchen or a
spa-grade bathroom, by all means, go ahead and create what you want if you have the
means to do so. Keep in mind, however, that just because you spend money on your
house doesn't mean you're going to see all of that money back when it's time to
sell. Your return on investment may not be 100%. Before you spend
any money at all it's important to take a good hard look at your house. If your
roof is old and leaking, if your HVAC system is shot, if your foundation needs
some serious attention no buyer is going to be interested in your jazzy bathroom.
What they are going to be interested in are the basic components of your house,
so take care of those basic maintenance items before you spend any money
upgrading anything. What you get back on a project depends, in a large part, on
your home's already existing value, its potential value, the value of other
neighborhood homes and the overall conditions of your local market.
At the end of the day, real estate is always a local game. So, assuming you
don't want to spend thousands of dollars, what are some of the projects you can do
that are relatively inexpensive and easy in order to increase the value of your
home? First and foremost, let's talk about curb appeal. If you can't get people out
of their cars and through your front door you're not gonna get anywhere. You
absolutely must up your curb appeal. So, spruce up that yard, mow the grass,
fertilize the lawn, trim the bushes, or take those overgrown bushes out, and
plant something new. Trim the trees! People often ignore their trees. They
need to be trimmed up from the ground, trimmed away from the house,
dead branches taken out. Don't ignore the trees. Power wash if you need to. Take a
good look at the north side of your house. Often the north side of the house
becomes mildewy-looking and nasty. Take a look at your gutters. Do you have little
baby plants growing out of your gutters?! Because if you do, either you need to
climb up there, or you need to hire someone to climb up there to clear those
puppies out. Then I want you to stand at your front door and just stare at it. Is
your door...sad? Is it weathered? Is the paint chipping? Is it dented? Don't
be like that. Think about replacing your front door.
Replacing your front door is a project with a decently high ROI. Here in the
Iowa area a new steel front door is going to run you about $1444 according
to 2018 costvsvalue.com. They
estimate that your return value on that shiny new door purchase is about
$1203, which gives you an ROI of about
83%. Now, I realize that's not a 100% ROI, but it's pretty high, and
part of sprucing up your house is not only to increase your value but also
shorten those days on market. The way you shortened those
days on market is to make your house stand out, in better ways, than your
competition. Let's talk about your lights. Are they ugly as all get out?
Are they brass? Are they tacky? You don't have to have ugly light fixtures and you
don't have to break the bank in order to update them. Just go to any big box
retailer and pick out some modern fixtures. Think brushed nickel, oil rubbed
bronze. Whatever you do, just be consistent and take that metal
throughout the house. Alright, I know you've probably heard it a thousand and
one times but... paint. Oh my gosh, paint is one of the least expensive,
biggest bang action items that you can do while you're sprucing up your house
to increase the value. You may like that red dining room, but I can guarantee you
that almost nobody else will. You might think that your wallpaper is tasteful,
again, almost nobody else will. And you think your yellow kitchen is cheerful...mmm.
Let's repaint all of those strongly-colored rooms in a lovely neutral.
Neutrals may get the rap for being boring, but they do appeal to the
greatest number of people. Your rooms are going to look fresh, clean, on-trend and
they're going to appeal to the masses.
I went to my local Sherwin-Williams store to check up on pant trends. I spoke with the sales associate and I asked her
which are the most popular neutral colors that she's seeing sold here in
the early part of 2019, and she handed me a handful of paint chips. Do you notice
anything about them? They're all grays and grieges. A griege, if you don't know, is
a blend between grey and beige. Some will trend warmer while others trend cooler.
What works in your home is going to depend upon the colors and the light in
your home. So, just because you like a paint chip in the store does not mean
that it's going to look great on your walls. So, how do you overcome
that? You need to narrow down your choices to a few options, and then by
sample sized pots of those paints. When you get home you can either paint a
little section on your wall, decent size, probably at least twelve by
twelve, or you can paint on a large piece of cardboard or poster board. Paint down
near your floor, butting up against the trim and the floor, so that you can see
how the paint works with the existing fixtures in the house and then just live
with it for a day or two. You're going to want to see how that paint looks during
different times of the day with different light qualities--natural light
and artificial light. If you're really confused about which one will work best
in your house, take the picture and go back into the paint store and talk to
one of the associates. They'll be able to point you in the right direction of
popular colors that have the undertones that will play best with what is
existing in your house.
Let's talk about knobs and pulls. It's another inexpensive and easy way to upgrade the look of your kitchen and your bathroom. Shoose some
new knobs and pulls. This suggestion is a little more expensive than the others,
but it will make a big impression. If your kitchen appliances are dated or in
bad shape you may want to consider replacing the whole set. Fridge,
dishwasher, stove, and microwave. Just go with your standard mid-grade stainless
steel appliances. It's really going to impress buyers. Kitchens and bathrooms
are the sexiest rooms in the house. That's where builders spend the most
money and that's where people spend the most time. So, if you're going to spend
money in your house, spend it in the kitchen and the bathrooms. Let's talk
about some common remodels that a lot of people are interested in.
According to costvsvalue.com 2018 edition, your average mid-range
kitchen remodel is gonna cost you upwards of $63,000!
I know, right?! The amount of money that you could expect to see back if you were
to turn your house around and sell it right away is only a little over $32,000,
which gives you a rather sad return on investment of 50.9%.
Now, if you've been dreaming of a brand spankin' new kitchen, by all means, go
ahead and do it if you have the money and you plan to live there for years. But
if you're remodeling that kitchen simply to turn around and sell the house,
expecting to see all that money back again, and more, save yourself. Likewise, a
mid-range bathroom remodel is probably gonna cost you a little bit more than
$18,000. If you were to turn around and sell your house right
away, what could you expect to see as a result of that bathroom remodel? Only a
little over $10,000. That puts your ROI at 56%. Really nothing
to write home about. Hey, thanks for joining me on my video today. I hope you
found it to be helpful. If you'd like further advice on inexpensive upgrades
that you can do to your home in order to prepare it for sale. you know where to
find me. I'd be happy to help you! Also, I would suggest that you download my free
seller's guide, the link of which is in the description box below. I will catch
you next time.