Preparing your home for sale can be quite strenuous. What can you do to increase your home’s value? And what repairs/additions will give you a good return on the value? The entire real estate market is crazy and difficult to navigate. That’s why, as experienced Maryland home inspectors, we wanted to put together this little guide offering suggestions for how to get the best value for your home.
Fix Any Structural Issues
Most people neglect the structure of their home when they’re thinking about selling. While that scented candle you placed out is nice and acts as the cherry on top, that’s just it. It’s just a cherry. The structure of your home is the ice cream itself, and without it you don’t have a sundae, just some whipped cream and a cherry (which isn’t half as good!).
Many home-buyers take a home’s structure into serious consideration. Things like the roof, HVAC, the water heater, and pipes are all integral parts of your home, and if not functioning properly, make the home less appealing. If any of your home’s structural components are old or are in need of repair, you should seriously consider either repairing or replacing them. If anything is in too bad of shape, your home may not be approved by a Maryland home inspector.
Make Sure Your Landscaping is Top-Notch
One of the first things a potential home-buyer sees as they approach your home is not your house, but your yard. You want to make this first impression a good one. Many sellers think only about the house itself and neglect the yard, leaving it cluttered and unkempt. This is a big mistake.
Make sure your yard is cleaned up, with no junk or clutter laying around. Then spruce it up a bit! Cut the grass, trim the hedges, plant some new trees and flowers, put new mulch in the planting bed. You get the idea. You may even want to consider hiring a professional landscaping company. Whatever you do, just have your yard looking its best!
Update and Modernize Your Kitchen
One of the most important rooms in your house when it comes to selling it is your kitchen. Today’s buyers want a kitchen that could rival that of Gordon Ramsey’s. There are a couple of things you can do to renovate or revamp your kitchen. You could conduct a full-blown overhaul, redoing and replacing everything, though this is time-consuming and costly. Many sellers choose to update and upgrade kitchen appliances like the refrigerator and the oven. This is the best way to go, it’s cost-effective, and most buyers put a lot of stock into what appliances come with the home.
How Do I Know Which Things I Should Fix and Which Ones to Leave Alone?
If you’re having trouble deciding which components of your home should be fixed before you sell, don’t worry. This is a big decision and one that’s difficult to make. Take some of this stress off yourself by contacting a professional Maryland home inspector. Highland Home Inspections has served Maryland for years and we’ve learned the ins and outs of the real estate business. Give us a call today, we’d love to help you in any way we can.