It is very easy to overspend and to spend one’s resources in the wrong direction. Allow me to start with the more ‘affordable’ improvements that can be done which have been shown to add value to the sale of the house immediately. Or conversely, without doing these improvements the value of your listing is likely to be reduced or affected in some way or another. The first batch of improvements I shall highlight are what I call the ‘curb appeal’. First impressions go a long way so getting these improvements done is paramount to increasing the listing price of your Vancouver real estate for sale!
Tidy up the Yard. Getting rid of trash and things lying around the yard is a very good starting point. Make sure the lawn is in good condition and mow it if it is too long. Clean up the edges of the sidewalk and get rid of weeds. Trim your hedges and mulch the flower beds. If the garden looks a bit bare and lacks colour plant some flowers and do as much landscaping as you can. I have experienced listings which have not sold for months or even years and once these people became my clients I got the landscapers in to clean up the yard and do some sprucing... and it sold!
Get rid of Clutter inside your home.Put your unwanted items of furniture, clutter and excess possessions into storage. There are de-cluttering companies that I use for my listings who will have the place looking as good as new in no time. It is cheap and simple to do but will definitely add value to your listing.
Add some fresh paint to the interior. This is not expensive though it can make the place feel fresh and new. Patch up any holes in the walls, add a coat of primer. When the primer dries lightly sand it with a fine-grit sandpaper. Add some latex paint and then lightly sand that layer as well. Wipe the walls down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and grit after the sanding session. Then apply the final coat of latex paint. This technique will make the house feel like it has been professionally painted and will only cost you time effort, paint and a good quality roller. If you don’t want to go to the effort of repainting then wash the walls and windows to make the existing paint feel as good as new. Painting the trims will also give your home a new feel.
Carpet cleaning.There are various systems that you can hire yourself to clean the carpets. These systems range from steamers to carpet cleaning machines that shampoo the carpets. It is also possible to rent dry cleaning systems too which kill the bacteria and moulds. Vacuum the carpet after dry cleaning and you will be amazed at the difference.
Put up some new blinds and curtains.This is an inexpensive solution as over time the old blinds and curtains lose their colours and the sun can fade them. New ones will make the place feel fresh and worth more money.
New light switches and outlets.I always advise my clients to get a professional in to do electrics however simple it may seem. After all if you get it wrong you could kill yourself or someone else. Dimmer switches are great for creating an atmosphere and new outlets and switches give the ‘impression’ that the wiring is new too. Make sure that these additions are done to code or house inspectors will detect them if they are not; hence getting the professional to do this.
Refinish the kitchen.The cabinets in the kitchen can get worn and look tired very quickly. Brighten up the cabinets if the kitchen is small or dark. A cheap way to do this is to have a store that makes the cabinet doors size them up and have a handyman install them. Kitchen remodelers can be expensive so the latter option can cut the cost in half.
Check your bulbs.Upping the wattage of the bulbs in your home is a very cost effective way of making the house feel larger.
Check the size of your house. This sounds like a ‘funny’ one to suggest but quite often the size that you think your house is or the last size the place was last listed at is incorrect! Floor plans when the building was originally built can be deceptive when they are compared to what has actually been built! Get a professional floor plan company to check the exact measurements of your floor space. You could add some money to the asking price of your listing immediately if this is larger than you expected.
Once the basic improvements have been made you may wish to make some bigger and more expensive improvements to your Vancouver real estate for sale! This is a list of my suggestions, though not exhaustive, it should cover the main changes you could do and what return you could expect when it comes to selling the house.
Food and Water.These are the basics of mankind. The two most important rooms to invest your home improvements budget into are the kitchen and the bathroom. Remodelling a kitchen could include new appliances, new cabinets and new countertops. Remodelling Magazine’s annual ‘cost vs Value’ study states that, for example, if $14,000 to $38,000 was spent on the average kitchen remodelling, the average return on your investment is 87% of that on the sales price. Other studies have shown that this figure (87%) can actually be up to (125%) in some cases. In the same study above, remodelling a bathroom which cost around $9,000 to $14,000 which includes a new toilet, sink, countertops could return an (80%) of its cost on the sale of the house. In other studies, this figure has also been reported to go up to (125%) as well.
Adding some more space. Without doubt one of the main ways to increase the value of your home is to add some more floor area. This could be new rooms, upgrading the attic or basement, or building a garage. A new bathroom addition has been reported to return from (81% to 125% return). Upgrading the attic or basement (100 to 125% return). Adding a new room (40%-75% return). Adding a patio (50-75% return) and adding a new deck (40% to 80% return). Adding a fireplace (75% to 160% return). Building a garage (75% to 100% return). According to Len Robinson the co-author of the Consumer’s Guide to Remodelling & Construction, adding a new bedroom to a small home, which has one or two bedrooms will return double what you paid for it (or 200% return).
Then after all of that I have to advise my clients of the additions that don’t add as much value and offer a great return on their investments. Quite often I get there too late and many of these ‘improvements’ have been done already. The owners of the houses who spent all that money then expect to get it back on the sale price of their homes. One client I know had spent over $400,000 making improvements to their very expensive house. Unfortunately I had to inform them that they were likely to get back in the region of $150,000 to $200,000 in the asking price. Although it had all been renovated beautifully, and the house looked amazing, quite often the return is not what the renovator expects. The problem then occurs when the seller wants to include this in the Listing Price of the house. The high listing price can put off potential buyers looking for Vancouver real estate for sale and who are looking at the same floor areas in other houses for a lesser price. I often use the analogy that when you add new wheels to a car, paint it, and upgrade the engine, the sale price of the car often stays the same as if you had not done any of those upgrades. Here are some additions that don’t add as much to the value of the house.
Other additions that don’t add as much value to your Vancouver real estate for sale! There are some additions you can make to the house which can be expensive and not really return as much when you come to selling. These are: adding a new home office (54% return), reroofing (60% return), window replacement (68% return), adding a sunroom (60% return), refinishing the basement (69% return).
Keeping up with the Joneses.If all the houses in your neighbourhood have two bathrooms and you have one, the addition of the extra bathroom is not going to recoup you much.
Adding several feet to one side of the house.On the surface this seems like a great idea as your 15 foot room will become 5 feet more of usable floor space. You might do this so that you can walk around the dining room table without bumping into the wall. The problem being is that the price per square foot to do this kind of renovation is likely to outstrip the benefits. Adding a completely new room is a better use of the resources and gains a better return on investment.
Adding a new pool. Unless everyone else in your neighbourhood has a pool and you don’t, then this addition is not going to bring you back a large return on investment. Simply put, adding an in-ground pool often reduces the number of people who will think about purchasing your house. People who don’t like pools see them as liabilities and requiring high maintenance. For example a young family may not want a pool with young children around. I have had sellers in West Vancouver who have wanted to move because they DON’T want a pool any more. I personally love pools but they were sick of the upkeep.
Don’t ‘pimp your house’.Adding high end accessories to an ‘average’ house is quite often a matter of personal taste. The return on these high end improvements is very dependent on whether your future buyers have the same taste as you do. This narrows down the chances of selling and can therefore price you out of the market when you decide to sell.
Adding High-end built-in appliances.Be careful here. Adding expensive high-end appliance to an off-the-floor kitchen might result in the value of the expensive appliances getting lost when it comes to sell. It may be that these high-end appliances simply don’t fit into this home or neighbourhood.
Adding hand-painted tiles.This is very much an expensive personal decision. Quite often the new buyers will eye up the expensive hand-painted tiles as one of the first things they want to remove when they move in. Return on investment is lost.
Adding a central vacuum.It is expensive to put in with all the piping throughout your home. Most people would rather spend the additional money on a cleaning service than worry about lifting their vacuums up and down stairs.
Adding central air conditioning.You add the air conditioning unit at the cost of premium closet space. This harms the house more than it benefits it.
Adding new windows. With new windows buying cheap will mean you will have to buy twice. Cheap windows can cut the light into your house which in turn can devalue your house from being a bright cheery place to being a dark sombre one. If you are going to replace all the windows make sure you spend the money on the high-efficiency double-hung tilt-in windows. If the windows are not falling out I would advise you to leave them well alone.