Which Home Improvements Should You Make For Best Return? [VIDEO]

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I asked you all to send me your questions about buying and selling real estate, and I got two good questions from Bob that I’d like to answer for you today.

Bob asks, “For those of us who may not be planning to list our homes now, what improvements should we make to the interior and exterior of our homes in priority order?”

The very first priority should be to look at each room, starting at the front of the house. Look at your front porch and the foyer of your home. Do you have a lot of items cluttering the area? You should have no more than one, two, or three items on a surface.

Walk by every room and look at each of your three items, and think about which things you’d like to keep and which you can stand to throw away or donate. The next step is to begin sorting the items in order of priority.

The next question Bob asks is, “Which kinds of improvements will get me the best return on my investment and what kind of budget should I allocate for them?”

Again, I’d suggest going room-by- room and looking at every detail in the room, including light fixtures, blinds, outlets, and windows. There is a lot that can go wrong in kitchens and bathrooms as well, so be sure to test all of your appliances, sinks, and plumbing. Look for any leaks or drainage issues. If you know any handy people that can help you out, have them test your appliances and repair anything that isn’t functioning properly.

Make a list of anything that’s not working. If the cost is less than $500, I would suggest that you fix it. Any major issues like settlement cracks or problems with retaining walls should be directed to your real estate agent so that they can let you know how best to deal with it.

In terms of a return on investment, how much money can Bob expect to get back from tidying up his house and making repairs?

When a buyer walks through a home and feels that it has been well-maintained and is in move-in condition, they will generally make a much better offer than they will on a house that feels cluttered and in need of repair.

I can’t give you an exact dollar amount that you can expect to receive, but I can tell you that by decluttering and making necessary repairs, you will have a better chance to get an offer, get a good offer, and to get multiple offers. By neglecting these two things, you risk not receiving any offers or getting a lowball offer.

If you decide to spend $10,000 on improvements like these, I would expect that you’ll get at least $20,000 to $40,000 back in the offers you’ll receive. Here’s a quick example. A client I was working with recently had a beautiful house with a distracting orange kitchen that she didn’t want to paint. I convinced her to spend $2,000 painting it, and she got $71,000 over her asking price.

Thanks for the great questions, Bob! If you have any questions about getting your home ready for the market or anything else related to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

P.S. This video only scratched the surface of getting your home "market-ready." Stay tuned for more videos discussing the next three steps you may need to take to get more money when you sell!

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