Thinking of doing some improvements this year to increase the value of your home? Do you know which home upgrades offer the highest ROI?
If you don’t, this is your cue not to spend your hard-earned dollars on any home upgrade until you know exactly what you are doing, says Tide Management team.
To help you, this post offers valuable insights that will guide your home improvement efforts and help you secure the highest returns on the project.
Here are 8 things you should think of before upgrading your home
- Function before aesthetics
Do not choose a project based on its aesthetic appeal. Every improvement you make to your home must serve a clear function and answer a pressing question.
- Focus on what annoys you
If a specific aspect of your current home design annoys you, it will probably annoy others as well. Such problems represent pain points that the new design must address.
- Maintenance before renovation
You will get more value from doing proper maintenance and basic upgrades than from a wholesale remodeling.
- Small is often bigger
Small things like updating trim, upgrading light fixtures, adding a new color of wall paint, or new siding cost very little but attract high returns.
- Think long-term
What are your plans for the house? If you choose to sell your home or convert it to a rental property, will the new additions help or hinder those plans?
- Go natural
Where possible, always go with natural materials like stone, wood, etc., they don’t go out of fashion. If anything, they often gain value with time.
- Add more sq ft to your house
Projects that increase the square footage of your home often sell well. Finish your basement or other unfinished areas and add an extra bathroom.
- Things that can be counted
These can be included in the listing. Examples include: adding a new bathroom or bedroom, a walk-in closet, deck, or garage door.
Based on the above, what are the top home improvement projects to do in your home that will guarantee the highest return on investment?
5 home improvement projects for increased property value
- Upgraded plumbing fixtures and repiping
Up-to-date and efficient plumbing systems significantly improve the function and market value of your home. Updating your faucets, showerheads, and sinks will give your home a modern feel that helps to make the right first impression. Repiping your house improves the overall performance of the plumbing system. Buyers will pay top dollar for this last upgrade because it guarantees peace of mind. Note that features like hot tubs and pools may deduct from your home’s value.
- Small bathroom updates
Simple fixes that give your bathroom a facelift can add several thousand dollars to the selling price of your home. Consider small steps like swapping out outdated lighting fixtures or using soft colors to make the bathroom feel less cramped. Replace the outdated bathtub with a new model or reglaze the existing one. Add vertical or floating storage spaces to make the bathroom look bigger. Increase natural lighting to improve the overall ambience.
- Electrical upgrades
The wiring and electrical systems in most homes can not meet the demands of modern technology and appliances. They are outdated, and even when they are not, they still lack the needed capacity. For instance, most homes don’t have nearly enough USB outlets to power the number of devices people use in their homes at the same time. Upgrading your home’s wiring, improving the quality of the panels, and adding more outlets will increase the property’s value.
- Entry door replacement
An entry door replacement is one of the most impactful upgrades for your home. At the same time, it is one of the simplest. People see your front door from hundreds of feet away, and they use what they see as a yardstick to anticipate what to expect inside your home. Every aspect of your front door matters; from the pathway to the knocker, door handle, colors and materials, as well as lighting, and surrounding plants.
- Repaint your home
Repainting your home lets you shave years off its age. A new coat of paint improves the home’s appearance and gives you a chance to address imperfections on the surfaces to be repainted. With the right paint colors, you can make your home look bigger, brighter, and airier, even if you don’t change any other feature inside the space. Wall paint acts as a backdrop to improve the impact of all other home upgrades.
To conclude, before starting the remodeling process, there are three questions you want to ask yourself:
- What do I want to achieve?
- How much do I want to spend?
- Where are my starting and stopping points?
As most homeowners have found out, if these questions are not fully answered, you will waste a lot of time and money before you eventually realize what you want. Another thing you should never do is try to remodel the entire home at once; you will become overwhelmed.