Things TO DO BEFORE Listing your 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.

In the right market conditions, a project might fit into both categories. Other times, though, the 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-yourselfer 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 fiend 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 aficionado adds a deluxe patio to a home that's already the most expensive property in the neighborhood ' perhaps destroying the entire backyard in the process ' there's a good chance 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 the 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. It's called "functional obsolescence" and translates to a market resistance to a home for something it lacks (which is typical for it's area or price range) or something like an In-ground pool. 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. It just means it's worth knowing the cost and salability impacts at the front end ' even if they're not going to deter you from pursuing the project.

Really Need To Do It ' The "type-B" home improvement project is pursued primarily to increase the property's salability. 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 home's 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 hundred 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.

Allow Rick to give you advise based on his 8 years as a real estate appraiser 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.

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LITTLE IMPROVEMENTS = BIG RETURN

A FEW DOLLARS WELL SPENT CAN EARN BACK TWICE AS MUCH!

It's always a good idea to spruce up the exterior and interior of your home before listing it for sale. But that doesn't mean you have to undertake major and/or expensive projects.

Rick Fortson offers home sellers a list of specific modifications to make before listing their home for sale. And it's always the minimum needed for the maximum return. After all, if you wanted to undertake a large-scale project, you probably wouldn't be selling!

Here are some simple steps you can take to increase the perceived value of your home and make a great first impression. Not all on the list will apply to you, but you can get my personal opinion about YOUR home after I walk through.

Exterior Appearance
Keep lawns cut
Trim hedges and shrubs
Weed and edge gardens
Clear driveway and clean up oil spills
Clean out garage
Power wash
Touch up paint
Plant colorful, inexpensive flowers ' in pots if necessary

At The Front Door
Clean porch and foyer
Ensure door bell works
Repair any broken screens
Fresh paint or varnish front door
Repair door locks and key access

Create A Buying Mood
Make sure your home smells fresh and clean
Turn on lights
Turn on air conditioner/heater
Open the drapes
Light the fireplace

Create Space
Clear halls and stairs of clutter
Store surplus furniture
Clear kitchen counter and stove top
Clear closets of unnecessary clothing and 'stuff'
Remove empty boxes and containers
Put away personal photos so buyers can envision the house as theirs

Maintenance
Repair leaking taps and toilets
Clean furnace and filters
Tighten door knobs and latches
Repair cracked plaster
Apply fresh coat of paint or touch up where necessary
Clean and repair windows
Repair seals around tubs and basins
Replace defective light bulbs
Oil squeaking doors
Repair squeaking floor boards