Homeowners don’t always think about selling their home, so they may neglect certain features or additions that could improve the resale value of their home. Even if you have no plans of leaving, you never know what the future holds. A job could take you to a new city, or you could find a better house in another state, and then you’re left with a home that needs to be sold. Don’t wait until you have a “for sale” sign in the yard to debate the value of that remodel or addition.
If you really want to get more for your house and ensure the next occupants fall in love with the place, here are ten features of a high-value home.
#1. Attic insulation
Too many people neglect the attic and its role in helping their home retain heat. Losing the warm air from your furnace to an uninsulated attic easily runs up your energy bill, but it’s an easy fix. The materials it takes to insulate the attic are cheap and can be a weekend DIY project if you have the time.
In addition to insulating the walls, caulking around windows and doors can enhance your attic’s ability to trap the heat and keep your house toasty warm. The people who move in after you will certainly appreciate it—and so will their energy bill.
#2. A residential elevator
Adding a residential elevator to a house probably isn’t a feature most people think of, either because they’re typically thought to be incredibly expensive or they seem like an addition only the aging, infirm, and elderly can take advantage of. None of the aforementioned reasons is true!
With the level of customization and reduced costs offered by manufacturers of residential elevators, they’re becoming a staple of modern conveniences. Sure, these lifts can keep seniors in their homes when stairs would otherwise force them to leave, but they’re good for much more than that. They can help make carrying in groceries easier or transporting boxes of seasonal decorations and tools throughout the house less of a chore.
An elevator can be made the focal piece of a room or hidden behind a door discreetly. It all depends on what you want to get out of it and the design of your house.
#3. Additional storage or living space
Never underestimate the power of additional storage space or more living space in a home. Having convenient access to organizational storage that doesn’t cramp the rest of your house can be a massive improvement to not only your home’s value but to its functionality as well. The same goes for extra living space. Such additions could be add-ons or the product of a renovation, turning otherwise unused space into something more functional.
Built-in shelving units, an extra utility closet, anything that could be used to make the lives of the house’s occupants easier is always a selling point.
#4. An updated kitchen layout
Often one of the first things people think to update are the kitchen appliances. Stainless steel appliances look great and all, but if the kitchen has a crummy layout, no amount of pretty appliances is going to fix a dud of a workspace. Fixing the flow of a kitchen makes the job of plugging in new appliances or hardware easier—for you or the next people who move in.
Really, new homeowners want to envision where their stuff is going to go, and a functional kitchen is a great place to highlight the home’s ability to adapt to the whims and dreams of its owners.
#5. Landscaping
Landscaping should start early for it to be a feature capable of positively influencing your home’s resale value. Think long term, future value with mature shade trees. Planting them early will give them time to grow, and in a few years, you have natural shade and a strategically laid out yard. This is why landscaping is a crucial task to be handled early on.
Think of it as a proactive investment in your landscape, whether you end up selling your property or not—trees will take a couple of years to mature, and when they do, they’ll be there regardless of whether you’re still living there or not.
#6. Renovated attic and/or basement
Although this could fall under additional living space, occasionally houses will already have plenty of space in either of these rooms that simply goes unused. Putting your attic and basement to use—creating a functional layout that could be used for just about anything is a renovation worth considering before putting your house on the market.
It could easily become an extra bedroom, storage, or something else the new owners need. The point is to give them the power to envision what the space could be for themselves while making it easy for them to realize that vision.
A trend with most, if not all of the above features, is to lay the groundwork for someone else’s dream house. Renovated rooms, better layouts, more storage—all these things can be taken advantage of any number of ways depending on the needs of the new owners. Making your house less work for the next occupants is the simplest way to raise its resale value.
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