Whether you plan on selling your house in the next few years, or if you just want to make some much needed updates to your home, renovations can be a great way to increase the value of your property.

However, not all updates will pay for themselves. Some upgrades that we want for personal reasons, such as building an addition for more space, could come back to haunt you if it isn’t to the taste of potential homebuyers in the future.

So, in this article, we’re going to talk about five simple updates to your home that have the best chance of increasing its selling price. That way, when you do finally decide to move on from your home, you can sell for the price you know your home is worth.

Improve your lighting

You don’t have to be a carpenter to increase the value of your home. When a potential buyer enters your home for the first time, two of the first things they’ll notice are the lighting and the spaciousness of the room.

Since lighting is an essential part of creating spaciousness, increasing the former will also increase the latter.

So, what are some ways you can increase lighting?

• Add recessed lights to the ceilings of your home. It will open up space in the ceiling and allow for a greater number of lights overall.

• Add lighting under the cabinets in your kitchen

• Use large mirrors for decoration to increase lighting and create the illusion of spaciousness in smaller rooms

Painting for the modern homeowner

Home decor trends come and go. Not long ago, wallpaper was the go-to choice. However, the surest way to increase the value of your home is to use bright and neutral colors since, statistically, these appeal to the largest number of people.

Fresh paint and good lighting work together to make your home seem more polished and modern. And, for just a few hundred dollars, you can paint your whole home.

Remember, however, that it is easy to scuff up the walls in your home. So, it’s a good idea to paint closer to the date you think you’ll be trying to sell.

Low maintenance landscaping

While there are people who enjoy mowing the lawn on Saturday morning, those people tend to be few and far between. One thing potential buyers will consider when viewing your home is how difficult it will be to take care of the yard.

Adding an irrigation system, removing unnecessary obstacles, and planting hardy bushes and plants will woo potential buyers.

Upgrade the most outdated room in your home

If your home is in need of serious upgrades, it’s best to start with the room that needs it the most, especially if that room is a bathroom or kitchen. Replacing an old vanity or putting new tile down can be simple ways to spruce up a bathroom that’s looking dated.

Fix the little things

If you have a couple of years before you plan to sell, that gives you time to fix the small issues that you’ve noticed and will continue to notice. Maintaining your home now will give you less to worry about when the time comes to sell, and you don’t want to be dealing with leaking faucets when that day arrives.

Tweet

There is no set amount of time that you will need to allocate to sell your residence. In certain instances, a seller can generate lots of interest in his or her house and receive an offer to purchase within one day of listing a home. On the other hand, a seller sometimes requires many weeks or months to stir up interest in his or her home.

Ultimately, you should strive to commit as much time as you can to sell your home. If you do everything possible to promote your residence to potential buyers, you could reap the benefits of a fast, profitable house selling experience.

There are many things that a seller can do to ensure a seamless home selling experience, and these include:

1. Improve Your Home Both Inside and Outside

Remove clutter from inside your home – you'll be happy you did. In addition to making it easy to show off the true size and beauty of your home, eliminating clutter could help buyers envision what life may be like if they purchase your house.

Meanwhile, your home's curb appeal can make a world of difference during the property selling journey. If your house boasts a stunning front lawn and other exceptional home exterior features, your home may be better equipped than ever before to make a positive first impression on prospective buyers.

2. Establish an Aggressive Initial Home Asking Price

Take a look at the prices of comparable houses in your city or town. In addition, evaluate the prices of recently sold houses in your area that are similar to your own. This housing market data may help you establish an initial home asking price that falls in line with the current housing market's conditions.

Furthermore, it may be beneficial to conduct a house appraisal. With an appraisal report in hand, you'll have a property valuation that you can use to establish an aggressive initial asking price for your residence.

3. Hire a Real Estate Agent

A real estate agent is an expert guide for selling homes. He or she can help you list your residence, promote it to prospective buyers and much more.

Of course, let's not forget about the assistance that a real estate agent provides at each stage of the property selling journey, either. A real estate agent will help you create a house selling strategy and put this plan into action. He or she will be ready to respond to any of your home selling concerns or questions too. And if you're unsure about how to proceed at any point during the house selling journey, a real estate agent can provide property selling recommendations and suggestions.

For those who want to add a house to the real estate market and streamline the home selling journey, it may be a good idea to hire a real estate agent. By collaborating with a real estate agent, you can get the support you need to quickly navigate the home selling journey.

Tweet

Do you ever wish that they taught a class in high school called, “Things You’ll Actually Need to Know In Life?” You’d learn how to prepare your taxes, what investing is, and how to buy a home.

Unfortunately, all of these important life lessons tend to be self-taught; you pick them up along the way and learn from your mistakes.

However, it needn’t be that way. Our goal today is to give you an accurate idea of what to expect when you’re buying your first home. We’ll go over a typically home buying timeline and discuss how long each step can take. This will give you a better idea of how long it will take to close on your first home.

Step 1: Build credit and save for a down payment

Estimated time: 2+ years

The first step of buying a home is to make sure you’re financially secure enough to do so. While there are ways to purchase a home with low or no down payments (See FHA, USDA, and VA loans), generally it’s wiser to wait until you have a sizable down payment saved. This will save you money in interest and mortgage insurance in the long run.

Next, you’ll need to start working on your credit. If your credit score took some hits due to late payments when you were younger, now is the time to start fixing those mistakes by making on-time payments and paying off outstanding balances.

Step 2: Have a plan for the next phase of your life

Estimated time 6+ months

One of the most important, and least talked about, parts of buying a home is understanding what it means to own a home. If you have a spouse, partner, or family, you’ll need to be in agreement that you’re prepared to stay in one place for the next 5 or more years.

Buying a home is expensive and you won’t want to go through the process of closing on a home if you aren’t sure you’ll stay. This means making sure your career won’t bring you elsewhere in the near future.

Step 3: Get prequalified and preapproved

Estimated time 1-3 days (depending on how much initiative you take)

Getting prequalified for a mortgage takes minutes. You simply fill out an online form and the lender will give you an idea of the type and size loan you could qualify for. Be forewarned: they’ll also use this information to call and bother you about getting a mortgage from them.

Once you’re prequalified, it’s just a matter of working with the lender to provide the correct documentation for pre-approval.

Getting preapproved takes a bit longer (1-3 days), since it requires a credit check and some work on your part--namely, gathering and sending income verification.

Once you’re preapproved, you can safely start shopping for homes without worrying that you’re wasting time looking at homes that are overbudget.

Step 4: House Hunting

Estimated time: 30+ days

It’s a seller’s market. So, if you’re buying a home right now there is competition out there. You’ll need to dedicate a substantial amount of time to researching homes online, contacting sellers’ agents, and following up on calls. Like before, the amount of effort you put into this process determines how quickly and smoothly you’ll get through it.

Step 5: Making an offer and closing

Estimated time: ~50 days

Average closing times for buying a home has grown to 50 days according to a recent study. However, by securing financing ahead of time and acting quickly, you can drastically cut down the time of these process to as little as two weeks.

Tweet

Before you list your residence, you'll want to consider your home selling price closely. By doing so, you can improve your chances of generating significant interest in your home without sacrificing any potential profits.

Ultimately, finding the best home selling price can be quick and easy – here are three tips to help you do just that.

1. Perform a Real Estate Market Analysis

Evaluate how your house stacks up against the competition by performing a real estate market analysis. This will enable you to collect a broad assortment of housing market data and set an aggressive price for your house based on the current real estate sector's conditions.

As part of a real estate market analysis, take a look at the prices of local houses that are similar to your own. This will help you establish a price range for residences in your city or town.

Also, check out the prices of recently sold homes in your region. This housing market information will help you differentiate between a buyer's market and a seller's market and ensure you can price your residence appropriately.

2. Get Your Home Appraised

A home appraisal offers many benefits for a home seller that extend beyond establishing the best home selling price.

During a home appraisal, a property inspector will examine a residence both inside and out. Then, he or she will offer an inspection report that outlines a house's strengths and weaknesses as well as the present value of a house.

When it comes to figuring out the best home selling price, a home appraisal is ideal. This appraisal will make it easy for you to establish a competitive price for your home from the get-go. Plus, it may help you uncover innovative ways to improve the condition of your house before you add your residence to the real estate market.

3. Consult with a Real Estate Agent

Although a home seller may conduct a comprehensive real estate market analysis and receive a home appraisal as he or she evaluates the best home selling price, nothing beats working with a real estate agent. In fact, a real estate agent is happy to provide expert home selling assistance and ensure that you can get the best results possible at each stage of the home selling journey.

A real estate agent will learn about your home selling goals and help you map out the home selling journey accordingly.

For example, if you're in a hurry to sell your house, a real estate agent can help you set an aggressive price that results in a quick home sale. On the other hand, if you're dedicated to maximizing the value for your residence, a real estate agent will make it simple to optimize your home selling profit.

With a real estate agent at your side, establishing the best home selling price should be no trouble at all. This housing market professional will go above and beyond the call of duty to support your home selling goals and guarantee that you can enjoy a seamless home selling experience.

Tweet