When a homeowner decides on a remodeling project, they don’t just want it to improve their quality of life — they also want it to provide a significant return on investment (ROI) when their home is sold. Although no project will recoup 100% of the money put into it, there are a few that come close. Read this article to learn what home improvements will increase your home value the most.
1. Improve Your Landscaping
Improving your landscaping is a great way to wow potential buyers. Here are several landscaping tips to try before selling your home to enhance your curb appeal:
- Add color: If your yard consists of just grass and a few trees and bushes, it won’t catch anyone’s attention. To attract potential buyers, consider adding color to your yard with some annuals, perennials or seasonal flowering shrubs. Salvia bushes provide beautiful purple blossoms during the summertime, and euonymus alatus provide stunning red leaves in autumn.
- Add attractive masonry: Professional stonework adds a powerful, dynamic look to your home. You can choose from a wide variety of materials and colors, making it easy to blend with the style of your home.
- Green up your grass: You can do this by watering, fertilizing, aerating or removing weeds from your yard.
- Trim it: Mow your yard regularly to keep it looking its best.
- Plant deciduous trees: Tulip trees, dogwoods and red oaks are great additions.
- Vary the height and texture: Add visual interest by planting small evergreen trees, tall bushes and sprawling vines for varying textures and heights. You can consult a landscape designer to help you with plant placement and pairings.
- Add mulch or gravel: Whether in your flowerbed or at the base of your trees, gravel and mulch look far better than just dirt. They also serve two practical purposes — they prevent weeds from growing and reduce evaporation, which conserves water.
- Add containers to your porch: Container plants are a great way to decorate the entrance to your home.
- Prune your shrubs and trees: Overgrown plants will often make a home appear rundown. Pruning them once a year can greatly improve the appearance of your yard.
While you may be tempted to go all out on your landscaping project, remember that some buyers — especially millennials — may not like homes with extensive landscaping work because of the high maintenance costs they require.
2. Update Your Exterior
Your the exterior of your home is the first thing that potential buyers will notice, so it’s critical that it looks its best. Five great ways to give your exterior a facelift are:
- High-quality fiberglass doors: These doors are exceptionally strong and the newest models are designed to resist forced entry.
- Porticos: A portico will protect your entranceway from rain and sun give your home a sense of grandeur.
- Patios: These aesthetically pleasing surfaces are slightly sloped to allow water to easily flow away from your home. They require almost no upkeep and last for many years.
- Siding: As your siding comprises the majority of your home’s exterior, upgrading it will obviously make a significant impact on your home’s curb appeal. Brothers Aluminum offers a wide selection of vinyl siding colors, profiles and textures, allowing you to easily match the style of your home.
- Roofing: Your roof is the only barrier between you and the harsh elements, and potential buyers will be looking for a roof that is dependable and sturdy. Replacing your roof won’t just ensure that you’ll be protected from the elements — it can also boost your home’s curb appeal by up to 40%.
3. Paint and Clean the Walls
A freshly painted room is attractive to any buyer, and clean, updated exterior walls can also make a great impression. Painting is a quick and inexpensive update, so it’s one renovation that’s definitely worth doing.
If you decide to paint, make sure to pick the right color and paint type. Zillow analyzed over 30,000 images of sold homes and found that ones with walls painted in light shades of gray, blue, pale blue and powder blue sold for significantly higher than expected.
They also found certain colors in particular rooms increased a home’s value by over $1,000. If you opt for one of these colors, chances are you’ll attract a large number of potential buyers:
- Light blue bathrooms
- Blue kitchens
- Brown living rooms
- Slate blue dining rooms
- Cadet blue bedrooms
- Navy blue front doors
- Greige exteriors
Of course, if you don’t have the budget for a fresh coat of paint — and your walls are still in good condition but just a little dirty — giving them a wash can still make a huge difference.
4. Upgrade Your Kitchen
The kitchen is the most used space in your home, and many buyers prioritize it over all other areas, so it’s one of the best updates you can make to sell your home. To help your kitchen win over potential buyers, you’ll want to create a space that is both inviting and functional, which you can achieve with the following enhancements:
- Durable, high-quality countertops: Granite, quartz, marble and ceramic are all excellent choices.
- Practical pantry space: Walk-in and slide-out pantry designs tend to work well.
- Lighting under your cabinetry: Under-cabinet lighting is aesthetically pleasing and makes food preparation easier.
- Paint: Cabinets, baseboards, moldings and trim are just a few areas in the kitchen that often need a new coat of paint to keep it looking its best.
- Depersonalize: If you have potential buyers visiting your home, it’s best to remove personal items like family photographs, religious or political decor, artwork and memorabilia. This way, the prospective buyer can better envision themselves in the home.
- Update old appliances: Updating old dishwashers, refrigerators, microwaves and range units are just a few ways you can make your kitchen looker fresher and more functional.
5. Upgrade Your Bathrooms
Bathrooms are, along with kitchens, some of the most functional spaces in our homes and another area where you can make a great impression on potential buyers. If you dislike everything about your bathroom, a full-scale renovation may be the best course of action, but in many cases, making just a few upgrades can be very impactful. Some excellent bathroom upgrades offered by Brothers Aluminum include:
- Vanities and cabinets
- Faucets and sinks
- Shower stalls
- Mirrors, sconces and light fixtures
- Flooring options such as limestone, tile and wood
Before browsing catalogs of tiles, fixtures and tubs, think about what aspect of your current bathroom you’d like to enhance. Often just changing a few of the above options can make all the difference.
6. Replace Old Windows
If your windows are showing signs of age, fixing or updating them before selling can make your home dramatically more attractive and liveable. If your windows are experiencing any of the following issues, consider replacing them:
- You hear outside noise. If you’re hearing lots of noise from outside, this may mean your windows are incorrectly sealed or just poorly made.
- There’s a draft. If you feel a breeze even when the windows are shut, this could mean faulty seals, poor installation or various other things.
- The frames are chipped, soft or water-damaged. In this case, your windows are likely beyond repair.
- It’s hard to open, close or lock your windows. Improperly installed windows tend to develop issues with balance, which makes them hard to open and close. Rotting and rusting can also make windows challenging to use.
- Condensation has built up between the layers of glass. This means that the seals have failed and are allowing moisture to get in between the panes of glass. When these seals fail, any gas that is used to make the window more energy-efficient is no longer there.
To avoid the above issues, install new, high-quality windows with the most cutting-edge features, including:
- Multi-chambered extrusions
- Interlocking rails
- Multi-layer weather-stripping
- Drop-in seals
- Compression bulb seals
New windows will increase the energy efficiency, security and appearance of your home, significantly increasing its resale value.
Contact Brothers Aluminum for Your Next Home Remodeling Project
Since 1980, Brothers Aluminum Corp. has been doing home improvement and remodeling projects in all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County and Connecticut. Contact us today and tell us about your upcoming project.
