DIY Home Improvements to Increase Your Home’s Value
People usually believe that in order to significantly increase the value of their property they need to sell their house, then buy another real estate and invest a bunch of money in it. In reality, there is no need to speculate in the real estate market nor do you have to spend a huge amount of cash on home improvement. The value of your property can simply be increased by several DIY improvements that will not require a large amount of money nor labor hours but you will need a lot of goodwill. Needless to say, you also need to stay safe during all the repair and construction work.
Every free weekend you have can be used for a specific improvement, so after a year or two, your house will become unrecognizable. This change for the better will not go unnoticed with the real estate agents and potential buyers as well. When the time comes to sell your home you can expect a huge turnover that will come after minimal investments. Here is a list of all the DIY home improvements that you can try out in order to increase your home’s value to make it more marketable.
Plenty of storage space
Did you ever notice how people who are interested in buying a particular property keep looking around every corner and behind the doors? If you have, we will let you know that they are not looking for hidden flaws but for additional storage space. You can never have enough of this, so every square inch counts. There are numerous ways in which you can increase storage space apart from adding extra cupboards. One neat solution is to extend the reach of the existing units by extending them all the way to the ceiling. Not only will this method add extra storage room but you will no longer have to dust the top of the cupboard. Furthermore, you can add shelving to any niche you have in the wall. Open closet storage is a trend in interior design.
Increasing curb appeal
They say that when meeting someone, the first impression is very important. The same thing goes for inanimate objects like the house. Basically, when prospective buyers pull up the driveway and get a first good look of your house, it has the potential to make or break the deal. That is why you need to crank up the curb appeal of your house in every way possible. Before you start sprucing up the front yard, you need to declutter the exterior of your house by removing any junk and cleaning the paths, signs, and wall surfaces.
Firstly, you can repaint the front door and perhaps change the color into a more vivid hue, like orange, light blue or yellow. This will divert the attention of people visiting from more important issues like faulty gutters, for instance. Secondly, the house number plaque has the potential to become the centerpiece of the façade. Forget the regular small piece of tin format and go with large numbers in italics that can be imprinted straight into the wall of the house. This will give out a sense of stateliness and opulence, creating the illusion that the inside of the property is more luxurious than it really is.
Staying safe
As we mentioned earlier, an extra shelf here and there can make a palpable difference in the interior of the house. Although the work involved does not involve master carpentry, you are still going to have to manipulate boards and hammer nails, which is not a child’s play at all. In fact, home improvements might come cheap but if you injure yourself, then it will all be in vain. Protective gear is not that expensive these days and it will consist only a small fraction of the overall budget, so don’t be lazy enough to invest in protective headwear, clothing, and footwear. A helmet will protect you from falling objects, hand gloves will prevent a wood splinter getting under your skin, and steel toe boots like the ones Redback Boots make will ensure your feet stay safe. With so many nails lying around that you can step on, you can never be too safe!
Décor alterations in the bathroom
One of the rooms that you spend the least time in during the day is the bathroom. However, due to the main function of this room, a few extra details will look good in the eye of realtor and they will definitely influence the overall value of the house. Small details that are not costly to purchase and install could translate into big money when the house goes up for sale. For instance, a towel warmer is luxury detail that future owners will know to appreciate. Furthermore, you can adorn the vanity mirror with a LED strip around it to accentuate the mirror. Finally, a potted plant like bamboo or fern is ideal for the bathroom.
Valuable plant life
In fact, plants are more than welcome in your home and they are the easier DIY improvement to implement from all the listed here. You need not to have a full-scale garden, although that would be a huge plus, a flower pot here and there has the potential to turn over the atmosphere in the entire house. The thing is that plants give out an impression of homeliness that will make your property more desirable. The basic notion is that you and your family are well inside this house, the potential buyer’s family will also feel comfortable and lush plant life is the best indicator of this. Spread the plant tactfully throughout the house to show potential buyers that they are not purchasing mere real estate but a real home.
Lighten up!
Most real estate agents bring their clients to look at your property during the day but you have the possibility to create a light show that would make them at least drive by the house at night to see it. Basically, start by replacing all the old incandescent lights with LED lights that are multicolored and could be dimmed automatically. This way, you needn’t have external lights, as each room will have a light of a color and shade of its own, so the house will appear as kaleidoscope from the street. You will be the talk of the neighborhood and the prospective buyer would want a piece of the glory to himself/herself. The whole hype is made possible with changing just a couple of lights; how cool is that!
Small thermostat, big save
Another thing that people go crazy about these days is modern technology and automatization. Needless to say, this costs money but there is one trick that you can apply when it comes to the heating system. Namely, the thermostat unit is small in size but usually, manufacturers don’t spend much on its design. This is where you step in and order a trendy, space-like design with digital numbers and sleek black house. The function of the device will remain the same but its appearance will make a huge impact on the overall atmosphere inside the living room. New owners will feel as if they were on a space station every time they turn up the heat. It might seem childish but the reality is that people adore such gadgets.
As you have seen from the 8 tips and tricks listen here, sprucing up your house to increase its market value is not that hard or expensive. In fact, you are likely to have plenty of fun choosing, ordering and installing all the DIY improvement you end up doing.
Liam Smith is a young and aspiring Australian blogger with a passion for everything related to home, design, and lifestyle. He has a B.Sc. in Interior design and is an avid reader.
