This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

7 things home owners do that diminish their home's value

7 things home owners do that diminish their home’s value when they go to sell.

 

Increase your chances of getting the most money for your home by avoiding these common mistakes.

Find out what's happening in Eaganwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Owning a home is a very personal thing because some these people feel that this is the one place that they can make their very own. This is very true but unfortunately in the world we live in you always have to consider how it will be perceived by potential buyers when you go to sell your home. As a real estate agent who sees more homes than I can count in a year, you would be surprised by some of the mistakes I see made by homeowners on a very consistent basis. I'd like to clue you in on the 10 things to avoid that can severely hurt the value of your home when you go to sell it.

Find out what's happening in Eaganwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

1)Over improving your home for the neighborhood you live in.

So you've always dreamed of having an outdoor kitchen? Is nothing wrong with putting one in but if you don't see them in the price range in which your home is in there's a very good chance it will never see the money back out of it. It is one thing to purchase the materials and do all the labor yourself, but it's another thing to pay full contractor prices for an upgrade like this. There are many wonderful improvements to home that will not give you your value back. Another one would be an in-ground pool. If you decide to put in an in-ground pool know ahead of time that for every buyer that wants one another buyer will look at it as having no value. If your house is worth $250,000 and you put $100,000 worth of improvements into it, unless there are comparable sales to give you that extra hundred thousand dollars chances are that's about how much you're going to lose. This is where real estate agent can be very handy to discuss projects while you own your home. Calling up an agent and saying I'm thinking about adding this space or changing the kitchen can sometimes help to get that outsiders perspective.

 

2)Not fixing the small stuff When you live in a home for a number of years it's easy to start looking past minor problems and just live with them. You have to remember when it comes to selling a home; the buyers will notice those minor problems. These can include doors that don't shut right windows with broken latches, broken grout in between the tiles on the floor, broken light fixtures or any other minor repair you can think of. It's in your best interest to find a really good handyman that can come in and fix all of these items. Many of my clients can get these issues corrected and a half of the day. The money you spend to fix these minor things will far outweigh the cost of that handyman. When buyers are looking at homes they will at times nit-pick a home because there's more than one that they like and it's the only way they're able to choose one over the other. Plus when you have the minor issues fixed and they don't notice things that have a tendency not to look as hard. Do something that your competition is unwilling to do or has forgotten to do.

 

3)Be aware of items in your home that make it look dated Buyers in all price ranges want to feel like they're moving into a newer feeling home even when it has a classic look. Some of the simple things you can do in today's market to make that happen without spending a lot of money is to change a few basic items that can make a big impact. For starters, if you have gold or brass handles, doorknobs, hinges or light fixtures removed them. Go with a brushed nickel or oil rubbed bronze. You can find products made out of these finishes in all price ranges. When you look at your fireplace does it have a gold vent cover? If it does go out and buy yourself a four dollar can of high heat spray paint and paint that grill a flat black. You will be amazed at what these small changes will make when a buyer sees your home for the first time.

 

4)Stay off the “what's hot right now” bandwagon If you're considering doing upgrades in your home think about the longevity of that upgrade. Case in point off-white cabinets, trim work indoors have been in homes for hundreds of years. You still see that in new construction today. If you like this look changing cabinet and wood finishing is an upgrade. Just don't get stuck like so many people from the 50s did with a trendy blonde wood or that chocolate brown wood from the late 70s. If you're doing a backsplash in a kitchen think twice before you put a glass backsplash in over stone. I'm not saying that glasses bad I'm simply saying consider if it will be trendy and out in a couple of years? Think before you act consult with different people who work in the home improvement business. Many of them have a pretty good insight as to whether something is going to be trendy or not. You can never go wrong with natural stone and real wood. It's the man-made materials that can be suspect.

 

5)Remodeling the entire house and doing all of the work yourself Unless you're a contractor and you know what you're doing, higher out the bigger jobs. It's very important that the home is consistent in quality on all levels. When you're remodeling the kitchen, a bathroom or any other large project you have to get the job completely done. If you start to cut corners the quality of the work suffers and in the long run if you don't know what you're doing, it will cost you more money to have a professional come out and fix it. This goes back to fixing the minor issues. If you think the buyers won't see these things and point them out you're kidding yourself. Not to mention they have an inspector typically coming out who will certainly find the issues for the buyer.

 

6)Destroying the floor plan I'm guessing your first thought is how do you destroy the floor plan? Easy you do silly things like take a three-bedroom house and remove one of the bedrooms by turning it into a walk-in closet. Or you take a three car garage extend your family room and turn it into a 1 1/2 car garage. These types of changes to the floor plan can really hurt the value of your home by taking away some of the most basic must haves for most buyers. Before you make these types of changes, take a moment and call your real estate agent to discuss the possible implications.

 

7)Filling every room of your home with furniture When you're selling your home, as you present it you want give the feeling that all of the rooms are open and spacious. One of the first things that destroy this feeling for buyers is when there's too much furniture in the room. Staging can really help to correct a problem like this and is well worth the value that the service provides. Just because there's a wall doesn't mean it has to be filled with a bookshelf, desk or other piece of furniture. You want all of the entrances to every room including the bedrooms to feel open.





We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?