If you’ve lived in the same house for years, you may be considering a change of scenery and may want to sell your home in the process. You can fix up your place to command a good price from the buyer. Kathy McLeary explains, in her article for HGTV:
In the first year my husband and I lived in our house, we spent almost $20,000 on home improvements. When we set that money aside at the beginning of the year, we dreamed about granite counters and steam showers; what we ended up with was a new furnace, new gutters, a drainage system to keep the basement dry, new landscaping and lots of new paint … I wondered if we had spent that money wisely. If we had put our house up for sale, would potential buyers have really cared about the dry basement and reliable furnace?
This is food for thought, for both a home buyer and seller. Considering the many houses up for sale in NC, what kind of house renovation would hasten a sale? The National Association of Realtors, in an article in Los Angeles Times, confirmed that October showed the best resale activity in the U.S., so far, for the year—an increase of 2.5% YoY from October 2013. The hike was attributed to increased employment and low mortgage rates.
This might be the right time to work on your house for a resale. You can entrust the legwork for home renovation in Durham, NC to Prince and Sons, Inc., focusing on some key spaces.
For the kitchen: Conventional materials
Kitchens are one of the first places house buyers check out, and some property agents recommend a remodel due to the high return on investment. McLeary says that you need to consider a conventional look for the remodeled kitchen, such as putting natural wood or stone floors, stone countertops, and all-wood cabinets.
For the bathroom: Walk-in showers
A bathroom that sports a clean but elegant look can win over a buyer before long. An architect interviewed for the article says current trends in bathroom remodeling in Durham, NC and other cities lean toward walk-in showers over bathtubs. If your house has at least three bedrooms, it’s also recommended to have a second bathroom built instead of remodeling the current one. Some buyers see the value in having two bathrooms.
For the house exteriors: Enhanced curb appeal
Property agents agree that a house with a poor curb appeal usually turns off buyers, no matter how orderly or stunning the interiors are. Experienced contractors recommend repairing or replacing siding as a way to improve home exteriors, as well as to reduce maintenance costs.
(Source: Which Home Improvements Pay Off?, HGTV)