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The housing market has taken a wild ride over the past few years, with the average home price jumping over 33% from $383,000 in 2020 to $510,900 by the end of 2024. If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market soon, you may be set to earn a tid𓂃y profit, thanks to that spike in home valuations.
But you don't need to rely on changes in the housing market alone to increase your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:home’s value ahead of a sale. Let’s take a look at what upgrades, renovations🦩, and even simple fixes can h𝄹elp you boost your sale price.
Key Takeaways
- A clean and clutter-free home can help buyers better visualize living there.
- Adding new rooms can increase your home’s value, but not all spaces may count as livable square footage.
- Energy-efficient upgrades, such as solar panels and insulation improvements, can boost home value.
- Upgrading the kitchen and bathrooms can have a positive impact on home value.
- Improving curb appeal through landscaping and exterior enhancements can attract potential buyers.
1. Clean and Declutter
Potential homebuyers want to walk into a home and imagine themselves living there. As the seller, it’s up to you to create the ജillusion for them. Help them imagine the space as an empty and inviting canvas that’s ready to welcome them home.
To accomplish this, your home should be virtually spotless. When potentia🃏l buyers start touring, they shouldn’t see much in the way of personal belongings like family photos or sentimental items.
Instead, give them a clean slate to better visualize their own furniture and family photos hanging from the walls. If they w𝄹alk into the house and it feels like they’re intruding on someone else’s personal space, they’ll have a harder time imagining their own family living there.
Note
Decluttering your home is a relatively simple and inexpensive process, especially if you’re able to d💖o it yourself and store your belongings for free.
Once you’ve removed mos♛t of your personal belongings (including what’s in your drawers, cabinets, and closets), do a deep clean of the home. For this, you may want to bring in a team of professional cleaners, since they have the equipment and expertꦑise to clean beyond what most homeowners can accomplish on their own. This step is especially important if you have pets or smokers residing in the home.
While cleaning services vary by region, home size, and level of detail, the national average cost runs between $152 and $287 per cleaning. However, a move-out cleaning may be more expensive, running as high as $300 or more, depending on the size of your home.
2. Add Usable Square Footage
Much of a home’s price is dependent on its livable square footage. Adding usable square footage to the home can help make your home more desirable and valuable to homebuyers—but keep in mind not all home additions and ♑renovations will yield a dollar-for-dollar increase🦩 in home value.
In fact, most additions will not deliver a 100% 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:return-on-investment, though this depends greatly on how much you spend and what your home ultimately sells for. Here are some average ROIs on common home additions:
- Bedroom: Up to 75% ROI
- Primary bathroom and walk-in closet: Up to 63% ROI
- Bathroom: Up to 53% ROI
- Sunroom: Up to 50% ROI
If you’re considering finishing another space in your home, like the attic, garage, or basement, find out first if those spaces will be counted as part of your home’s livable square footage. Most areas in the U.S. don’t allow below-ground spaces (like unfinished basements) to count toward a home’s livable square footage, for example. Attics may also require additional features, like a permanent staircase and ceilings of at least a certain height, to be considered livable space.
That said, finishing unfinished spaces in your house can still help increase your home’s value and attract homebuyers, even if it doesn’t add to your home’s squar💯e footage.
Does It Make Sense to Renovate Before Selling?
If you’re selling y⛦our home, you want to squeeze out as much value as possible. However, it doesn’t 📖always make sense to drop thousands and thousands on increasing the square footage right before selling—especially since, as we noted earlier, you’re not guaranteed to make your money back.
However, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:housing markets are extremely localized. It may help to look at similar homes for sale or recently sold in your area and consider what yours may be missing. If you only have one bathroom and three bedrooms, for example, you may find that homes with two bathrooms are going for much more. Or, if finished basements are common in your neighborhood, neglecting to update yours could make it difficult to sell your home at a compe🧜titive price.
Tip
You may want to speak to your realtor or a local appraiser about what 🌞renovations are most attra⛄ctive to your specific area before determining if the potential increase in home value is worth the investment.
Home Improvement Basics
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3. Upgrade the Kitchen and Bathrooms
A kitchen is the central gat🉐hering space for families and visitors, making it a major focal point for most homebuyers. This also makes it one of the most sc𒀰rutinized areas during an open house or private showing. A kitchen upgrade can, in many cases, improve your home’s value.
Just put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. Few people are particularly enthused about the idea of purchasing a home in need of major kitchen repairs. If your kitchen looks more like a '90s relic than a functional, modern gathering space, you could be alienating a good portion of homebuyers—or limiting how much they’re willing to pay.
It’s hard to pinpoint an average ROI for kitchen remodels, since costs vary from minor cosmetic upgrades to major overhauls with new cabinetry, appliances, flooring, plumbing, and more. But generally speaking, the less you spend—while still improving the space—the higher the ROI will likely be. The National Association of Realtors states that both minor kitchen upgrades and major kitchen renovations return a 60% ROI for homeowners on average.
For reference, a basic kitchen remodel is considered anything below $25,000, while a midrange remodel jumps up to $60,000, and a high-end remodel tops out at around $300,000.
🐎Keep in mind, even a basic remodel can make a big difference in how buyers view your spaꩲce. A minor remodel can include key cosmetic upgrades like:
- Painting cabinets
- Installing new appliances
- DIY tiling or drywall
- Upgrading handles and other hardware
More luxury finishes and larger projects can bump up the price, but may al🎀so help increase the value of the space. These include:
- New countertops and flooring
- Installing an island
- Changing the footprint or layout of the kitchen
- Custom cabinetry
- High-end appliances
- Luxury tile backsplash
Do Bathroom Upgrades Increase Value?
A bathroom renovation recovers on average about 50% of the cost—meaning it may not always be the most lucrative home value investment. That being said, bathroom remodels can, in some cases, help clinch the deal (especially in a competitive market). In fact, it’s within the top five recommended remodeling projects the NAR recommends sellers do before selling—though notably, it falls right below a kitchen upgrade.
Similar to kitchens, bathroom remodels can vary greatly depending on the size, desired features and finishes, and existing space. The national average cost of a bathroom remodel is $12,119, though a major renovation can be upwards of $30,000.
4. Make Your Home More Energy-Efficient
More homebuyers are prioritizing energy-efficient solutions as utility prices continue to climb. Not only can these upgrades reduce monthly utili🥀ty costs, but they may make homes eligible for certain federal or state tax credits.
Keep in mind that certain upgrades may come with a hefty price tag. For example, the national average for installing solar panels is $28,241, though current federal tax credits drop the price to around $19,873. Costs vary greatly by region, however.
Homebuyers are generally willing to pay more for homes with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:solar panels already installed. One survey found that properties with solar panels sell for around 4.1% more than those without, which comes out to around $9,000 in added value.
Other effective home energy improvement projects to൩ consider include:
- Upgrading leaky or old doors and windows
- Adding insulation to attics or uninsulated areas of the home
- Installing energy-efficient water heaters, HVAC systems, and appliances
- Installing low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucets
5. Enhance Curb Appeal
First impressions are incredibly important, and there’s no exception when it comes to your home. Buyers will ꦦmake a snap judgment about the property based on their first impression of your home, which starts with what they can see from the street.
While you don’t have to go overboard with a total landscape remodel, consider some simple ways to increase your home’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:curb appeal, including:
- Painting the front door, window sills, fencing, and siding, or exterior
- Planting colorful flowers and shrubs
- Cleaning up debris
- Repairing fencing
- Adding simple front porch decor
6. Install Smart Home Technology
When added strategically to a home, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:smart home technology may provide a small boost in the home’s value—though the key is to not go overboard with your technology upgrades, as this can get expensive fast🍷.
The average cost of installing smart home technology ranges between $2,000 and $6,000, while the inclusion of certain smart home technologies can increase a home’s value by 5%. As with other upgrades, however, there is no guarantee these improvements will yield a higher home value—especially if you’re selling to a demographic that isn’t interested in them. Those in the market for a starte♈r home, for example, may not be willing to pay more for tech upgrades. The sam❀e may be said for buyers approaching retirement, as their priorities typically lie elsewhere.
Paying For Renovations
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What Projects Can Negatively Affect Home Value?
Any home renovation or project that is too personalized can negatively impact home value. Projects that ෴are also poorly constructed, require ongoing maintenance and upkeep (like a swimming pool), or feel out of place with the rest of the home or neighborhood can also bring down home value or limit potential buyers.
What Are the Key Areas to Focus on When Upgrading the Kitchen and Bathrooms?
Buyers want kitchens and bathrooms with ample storage, modern finishes, and good functionality. While finishing touches (like cabinet color, hardware, a🐼nd countertops) are imp🐠ortant, it’s much easier and less costly for buyers to make cosmetic updates to these areas of the home than to do a full renovation.
What Is the Cheapest Way to Add Value to My Home?
Before putting your🎀 home on the market, do a fresh coat of paint in every room and along the exterior of your home. Fix minor repairs and scuffs, install fresh carpet (if you have wall-to-wall carpet), and address any obvious damage or concerns.
Deep clean the ho🏅me, or hire a professional team to do it, once you’ve removed the majority of your belongin💛gs from the space. If you have some extra funds in the budget, consider updating lighting fixtures, cabinet hardware, doorknobs, or other small, yet highly visible details.
The Bottom Line
When the time comes to list your home on the market, you want to know you’re getting a fair price for your property. Depending on your local housing market, you may be able to make meaningful investm♐ents in the property now and recoup the costs with a higher sales price later on.
The key is to be strategic and thoughtful with your upgrades, as spending more doesn’t always guaran🔯tee a bigger payout on the other side. Focus on what’s worked well for other homes in your area, and talk to your real estate agent 🎃if you’re unsure where to start.
More Advice
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Zoe Hansen / Investopedia