Tips for Sellers:
Thinking of selling your home? Home improvements to increase value.
There are two reasons for pursuing home improvement projects:
two approaches will conflict:
Just want to do it: In situation A, the project is perceived as a necessary or worthwhile
improvement to your family's lifestyle. Say you have two or three teenagers in the family and
the morning bathroom situation is completely out of control. It doesn't matter if an additional
bath generates a 150 percent return on investment or actually decreases the value of the
home (unlikely, unless you're a completely incompetent do-it-yourself with a bizarre design
sense). The economic impact just doesn't matter. If you have the money for a new bath and
you don't want to move, you add the bath. It's that simple.
Or say you're a barbecue fanatic and the only feature missing from the dream home you've
just purchased is a sprawling backyard patio with a natural-gas grill custom built with
flagstone and river rock. Again, return on investment just isn't going to be a critical question.
The improvement becomes more comparable to purchasing a depreciating asset that you
feel is a necessity for your lifestyle, such as an automobile. When the barbecue adds a deluxe
patio to a home that already the most expensive property in the neighborhood - perhaps
destroying the entire backyard in the process - there's a good change that very little of the cost
will be recouped in a subsequent sale.
An even better example might be a pool. If you're a person who simply has to have one - Fine!
Put in a pool. But it's probably worth checking with a real estate professional first, just to make
sure you fully understand that adding a pool might actually lessen the property's value and
make it more difficult to sell should you later decide to move. That's the reality in many
markets. That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't do it, especially if you're planning to live
in the home for the rest of your life.
Really need to do it: The "Type B" home improvement project is pursued primarily to increase
the property's saleability. In turn, this often increases your return on investment. A good real
estate agent can advise you of possible improvements that will attract more potential buyers
and also pay for themselves either through increasing the homes value or through shortening
the time it takes to sell the home.
Here we're typically talking about projects such as: painting - either because the existing paint
is in bad shape or is an unusual color: replacing carpets - again because of age, color or
style: repairing or resurfacing a cracked driveway or sidewalk: refacing kitchen cabinets: and
trimming or removing overgrown or unattractive landscaping.
While spending several thousand dollars on your home right before you sell it might not
sound very appealing, it's not uncommon for the right work to more than pay for itself in a
higher selling price and shorter marketing time.
Consult with an experienced real estate agent to learn what improvements will make your
home more marketable in comparison to similar properties that are now - or recently have
been - on the market in your area.
Thinking of selling your home? Home improvements to increase value.
There are two reasons for pursuing home improvement projects:
- Just want to do it: You want some new features in a home to improve your family's
quality of life, but you don't want to leave your current home. - Really need to do it: You want to make your home more marketable to maximize return
(or minimize loss) and speed up the sale process.
two approaches will conflict:
Just want to do it: In situation A, the project is perceived as a necessary or worthwhile
improvement to your family's lifestyle. Say you have two or three teenagers in the family and
the morning bathroom situation is completely out of control. It doesn't matter if an additional
bath generates a 150 percent return on investment or actually decreases the value of the
home (unlikely, unless you're a completely incompetent do-it-yourself with a bizarre design
sense). The economic impact just doesn't matter. If you have the money for a new bath and
you don't want to move, you add the bath. It's that simple.
Or say you're a barbecue fanatic and the only feature missing from the dream home you've
just purchased is a sprawling backyard patio with a natural-gas grill custom built with
flagstone and river rock. Again, return on investment just isn't going to be a critical question.
The improvement becomes more comparable to purchasing a depreciating asset that you
feel is a necessity for your lifestyle, such as an automobile. When the barbecue adds a deluxe
patio to a home that already the most expensive property in the neighborhood - perhaps
destroying the entire backyard in the process - there's a good change that very little of the cost
will be recouped in a subsequent sale.
An even better example might be a pool. If you're a person who simply has to have one - Fine!
Put in a pool. But it's probably worth checking with a real estate professional first, just to make
sure you fully understand that adding a pool might actually lessen the property's value and
make it more difficult to sell should you later decide to move. That's the reality in many
markets. That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't do it, especially if you're planning to live
in the home for the rest of your life.
Really need to do it: The "Type B" home improvement project is pursued primarily to increase
the property's saleability. In turn, this often increases your return on investment. A good real
estate agent can advise you of possible improvements that will attract more potential buyers
and also pay for themselves either through increasing the homes value or through shortening
the time it takes to sell the home.
Here we're typically talking about projects such as: painting - either because the existing paint
is in bad shape or is an unusual color: replacing carpets - again because of age, color or
style: repairing or resurfacing a cracked driveway or sidewalk: refacing kitchen cabinets: and
trimming or removing overgrown or unattractive landscaping.
While spending several thousand dollars on your home right before you sell it might not
sound very appealing, it's not uncommon for the right work to more than pay for itself in a
higher selling price and shorter marketing time.
Consult with an experienced real estate agent to learn what improvements will make your
home more marketable in comparison to similar properties that are now - or recently have
been - on the market in your area.
| INFORMATION FOR SELLERS |
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| ................................................. Office (951) 216-2002 Clarke Van Deventer DRE # 01743829 (909) 322-9031 Barbara Baker DRE # 00524780 (909) 721-7750 Office Hours: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday |
