Selling your home is a lot of things: exciting, stressful, rewarding and a lot of hard work. Getting your home ready for sale is something that all sellers need to be prepared for and every house has a different level of intensity in this endeavour. You want your home to be absolutely stunning to wow potential buyers as well as get your desired sale price. Home improvements can be a great way to achieve this but sellers beware, there are many pitfalls when it comes to these renovations for your soon-to-be sold home. If you’re not careful, you may find you cost yourself more on improvements than adding value to your home. Here are 6 home improvements you’ll probably want to avoid when preparing your home for sale.
1. The Basement
Finishing a basement is often more expensive than you think. While many potential buyers will love a brand new finished basement, the cost is rarely offset during a sale. It’s often very time consuming as well. You don’t want to miss a hot market! It’s usually better to leave the basement for the new buyers to finish.
2. Brand New Kitchen Appliances
New appliances are expensive and you don’t often see a return on investment in selling your home. Unless your kitchen appliances are an awful eyesore or are in desperate need of replacement, it’s usually better to leave them be. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
3. Hot Tubs and Pools
Hot tubs and pools can bring a lot of interest for your property but if you don’t have one, it’s rarely worth investing in one for sale. If you already have one, that’s great but don’t invest in one! Additionally hot tubs and pools come with future maintenance chores that many buyers aren’t often keen for. Consider skipping a hot tub.
4. Intense and High Maintenance Landscaping
If you’re selling in the spring, summer and fall, you may be tempted to do up your garden with all the bells and whistles but this will often have the opposite effect on buyers. Sure, you’ll attract them to the property but most buyers like ‘easy’ landscaping that doesn’t require heavy maintenance. Focus on making your landscaping nice but not maintenance intensive.
5. Renovations That Are Close To Your Heart
Remember that your renovations should appeal to a wide audience. Things that are personal and close to your heart often will not mean the same thing to potential buyers. Installing a quirky mosaic in your bathroom may appeal to you but not all buyers are looking for that. Keep it simple and easy, you can always add the mosaic to your new home!
6. Any Trending or ‘Hot Right Now’ Improvements
Improvements that are hot right now are better left for staging rather than renovations. Fashion is fleeting and just because something is trendy at the time of renovation doesn’t mean it will be trendy when the property is up for sale.
In all of this, your realtor is your biggest ally. They’ll be able to advise you what should and shouldn’t be done. Staging can also really help in presenting the best version of your home. Talk to your realtor and let them help you get your home sale ready without the pitfalls.