Avoiding Over Improvements That Could Cost You Thousands

If you are considering selling your home and your intent is to recover the costs of your home remodeling project, and increase your profit margin on the sale of your home, you need to avoid a pitfall that could wind up costing you thousands of dollars. It’s called over-improving and how to avoid over-improvements is not always clear.Enhance Your Appeal to Buyers!Most people believe that in order to make their home more attractive they need to remodel. However, the most valued improvements are often cosmetic. From the time a Buyer walks through your front door until he or she tours your back yard, the improvements that make the greatest impression are simple–fresh paint, new carpets, a freshly painted front door, sparkling new door knobs and fixtures. You will also want to focus on increasing your home’s curb appeal with a neatly manicured lawn and flowering plants in decorative planters, and a new welcome mat at the front door. These low cost solutions should always be your first options. Once you have performed these minor makeovers, then consider if embarking on larger remodeling projects will really be worth it. What is Your Competition Like?From the time a Buyer walks through your front door until he or she tours your back yard, the improvements that make the greatest impression are simple–fresh paint, new carpets, a freshly painted front door.… Click To TweetTake time to visit other homes in your area that are currently for sale. Often home sellers hold open house which is a perfect opportunity to tour a home and see how your home compares to others on the market. If your home has many of the same features as the other homes and is also in similar condition. You probably will not need to do any costly remodeling.If other homes have more upgrades than yours, or if the other homes are in better condition, then you will want to determine what you can do to your home to make it more comparable to the other homes and weigh the cost of the projects you come up with. Once you know how much a project will cost, ask a licensed real estate professional if by completing the remodeling project you are considering, what type of impact it would have on the sale of your home.