Sunday, January 3, 2010

Adding Value to Homes for Sale

By Vanessa Cruz

Selling homes is not always easy, especially when the economy situation is not favorable. It is hard to find prospective homebuyers when people are craving for extra cash inflows. But still, homeowners may find problems too when the situation is favorable. For example, there may be high competition in the housing market or decreased value of homes.

Homeowners often get disappointed when they find out that their homes are not worth that much. Well, check the condition of your home and see if you can do some things to add the value. The following tips can help you increase your home value, and you can do before starting with the advertising: make improvements in the major rooms, apply for home warranty, and do furniture repositioning.

1. Improvements. This is true if your home is in poor condition. Many old homes have problems with plumbing and roof. Everyone just knows that it is hard to fix the two. Make sure you finish the 'minor' leakage because small problem can raise big curiosity for buyers. Nevertheless, make sure your bathroom and kitchen are in good condition. In most cases it is worth a lot to spend money fixing them, which are the two most value adding rooms to a home. If the kitchen looks dirty or old, you can replace some cabinets or simply dismissing the bad ones. Repaint the kitchen is also a good idea. Painting is the shortcut to create different nuance to your home, from old to new, from boring to refreshing. While that, your bathroom may need new fixture or some decorating works if it has not been updated for quite a long time. A standard bathroom nowadays is equipped with shower. Make sure you have it too. But beware with your improvement cost. Only if your home is in poor condition you can proceed from the effort. Otherwise that is just a waste. If your home is already in good condition, the benefit will not outweigh the cost. Anyway, consider doing the improvement yourself to save cost and obtain more.

2. Home warranty. Home warranty provides short term insurance coverage to your home. If there are major appliances and plumbing problems during a pre-specified period of time, you can avoid the cost incurred of fixing them. It is a wise decision if you want to sell an old home. Besides it is good to avoid costs that may happen while home is on process of selling, homebuyers will also feel more secure with the age of your home.

3. Repositioning. If you have old furniture or wrecked blocks, consider repositioning them. Homebuyers will love if a home looks spacey, so get rid of the unused stuff before you make presentation. If there is demolished wall, spend a little money to repaint the part and you are approaching perfection! Just make sure the details are well done. Buyers are willing to spend hours and come back again and again to inspect the details. Minor improvements may be enough to cover the missing values of your home. And now you are ready to contact the nearest real estate agent and start advertising.

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