When you are buying or selling a home, and you’ve planned the big move, thoughts of a little remodeling may come to mind. This is standard, and if you have the budget for it, renovating before you move can increase the value of your home. Not only will you be able to sell your home faster, but you may also get more money for the home. Renovating before you sell your home is one of the best moving tips because it can also help you with your move. You will be able to declutter and clean up around the house and organize your move easier. Before you decide to sell your home, use these moving tips and renovation ideas to make the process go that much easier.
The Kitchen
Among the most common moving tips that there are is the great kitchen remodel. Any real estate agent will tell you that a kitchen renovation will increase the value of your home. That is the case regardless of the size of your remodel. If you paint the walls and add some new fixtures, or redo the entire room and add brand-new appliances, you will make new buyers happy.
New cupboards are an excellent way to give your kitchen a facelift. But if you can’t afford a new set of cabinets, talk to remodeling contractors about kitchen cabinet repainting. Depending on the cabinets, the cabinets may be too detailed for you to paint yourself. If you decide to paint the cabinets on your own, remove the fixtures and paint the cupboards to freshen up the space.
Replacing the countertops can be added to your list of moving tips. A set of new granite countertops will make any prospective home buyer ooh and ahh over the look of your kitchen. If you can put this into your renovation budget, add granite or quartz countertops to your old kitchen to make it new again. Anything that you can add to your kitchen that makes it more contemporary will add dollars to your offer before you move.
Most real estate experts will say that a new kitchen remodel can bring you a return on your investment of up to 72 percent. Your kitchen renovation can be as extensive or as affordable as you need it to be. Updating fixtures can be a nice touch to the kitchen, but if renovating the room is one of your moving tips, you may want to invest more. It’s important to create a room that buyers will notice, and new fixtures are a change that you may notice, but new buyers may not.
Replacing appliances is another smart move when you are establishing your moving tips list. When you are replacing your appliances, do not think about the appliances that you want to have. You can put those into the budget of your new home. Think about smart appliances that connect to Wifi and energy-efficient appliances. These are features that may not sell the home but will sell the kitchen to buyers who like to spend a lot of time in that room.
In the end, you want to create a dream kitchen without spending too much money. Create a room that you think anybody would want to be in. Keep it simple, and keep the colors neutral. Make all of your changes simple and easy to live in, and buyers won’t think of what they have to change when they are writing their offers.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is another room in the home that new buyers do not want to improve. That is because bathrooms are expensive remodels with high plumbing costs. Keep all types of buyers in mind on your bathroom moving tips, and the remodel will feel simpler. You want to create a bathroom that is easy to use by any age group.
You may want to hire bathroom remodelers for your bathroom remodel. Plumbing is the biggest issue when you are working on a bathroom renovation because you have major fixtures that need to be worked into the home’s plumbing lines. Every bathroom contractor has fixed bathrooms and remodeled them for a new home sale. They can tell you what new buyers are looking for and how to keep it simple and affordable.
If you don’t want to make too many changes to the bathroom, consider replacing outdated bathroom cabinetry when you are making this remodel. Add enough that will make good use of the space in the room, while also maximizing storage space. There is nothing that new home buyers like more in a new bathroom than a room that has a lot of space to store things in. People don’t like seeing everything that belongs in a bathroom, in the bathroom.
They like to have cubbies and bins or drawers and cupboards where they can put their most intimate things. Create storage that goes over the toilet and up the walls. You can also add cupboards to existing cupboard space, or even add a closet if your bathroom has enough square footage. An important place to add storage in your bath is in the bath itself, as this is a feature that makes the bathroom more convenient for everyone.
If you are going for a major renovation, you can add a sink to your bathroom or create a double vanity. This is a nice renovation in a master bathroom or even a children’s bathroom. Other major fixtures that you can change are the shower and tub combinations. Switch from a shower door to a shower curtain or vice versa, but add a more contemporary look to the bathroom.
The Basement
The basement is another room in the house that can easily be refinished and remodeled. Adding a finished basement to your new home listing can make an incredible difference to the final dollar value of your home. You will need a basement contractor and possibly a waterproofing contractor when you are thinking of making this renovation. Get some estimates from basement finishing companies before you start, and you will have an idea of what kind of basement you can create.
A finished basement adds more usable square footage to a new home for buyers. Buying a home with a finished basement is as much on their list of moving tips as it is on yours. Create a neutral-looking space with neutral colors that is comfortable, and doesn’t need a lot of work to make changes. Do not be shy when you are investing in the carpeting or flooring in your basement.
There are many different ways to go when it comes to the flooring of your basement. You may want to go with an easy-to-install laminate flooring solution. You may want to add incredible value by installing hardwood flooring to your basement renovation. At the same time, carpeting may be the way to go.
If you are adding carpeting, make sure that you invest in quality underpadding. The basement flooring is different than any other kind of floor in the home, with the exception of the garage. That is because the garage also has a concrete floor. When you spend a little extra on a good floor in your basement, new buyers will notice and that will be reflected in your offers.
Do your research and talk to contractors about their opinions before you invest in flooring. There are some buyers today who really can not tolerate carpeting, especially in the basement. The basement is a notoriously wetter area of the home, and carpeting can get damaged very easily. It will be more expensive to replace, and harder to maintain, than laminate, tile, or hardwood flooring.
Areas that you will want to spend money on in the basement are areas that contribute to its functionality. The basement is the home of the hot water heater, a sump pump if you need one, the furnace, and the drainage system. These are areas where you can get professionals in to assess what you need done, and how much it will be. Replacing the hot water heater or furnace before you sell will go over well with new home buyers.
The Living Room
The living room is not the most important in the home when it comes to home remodeling before a move, but it may serve you well to update yours. If it has been a while since your living room has seen some paint, you can start there and let your inspiration guide you. This is not the time to choose new furniture yet. Remember that you are renovating an area of your home that will look entirely different when the new buyers come in.
So here, you want to focus on flooring and walls. You may want to get estimates from window washing companies that can make sure that room looks spotless before your open houses. If you have a larger budget for renovations, you can go beyond the walls and floors and start thinking of ways to optimize space. There are many ways to change the look of your living room without only focusing on flooring and walls.
Two creative ways that you can optimize space are adding built-in shelving, and taking down walls. The living room is a room that feels like you can’t make too many changes. However, built-in shelving is a beautiful thing that many home buyers love. You can optimize space in the home by replacing the square footage that this change will take by taking out a wall.
Unless you are a home contractor, taking down a wall is going to be a very large and dangerous project. It can however create a very dramatic change to your space, and make your entire floor seem so much larger. This is not a remodeling job that will be on the cheap side though. Taking down a wall requires planning and professionals, framing, drywall, painting, and other elements of planning that get expensive.
If you have to add support beams when you are doing this, the project gets more expensive. Still, if this can add tens of thousands to your final offer, it is worth the investment. Do not perform this step without consulting a professional. Get estimates from several contractors, and opinions on spacing, before you do that.
New windows are another element that you can add to your home that new buyers will be grateful for. Window replacements are a very common renovation for every homeowner at some point in their life. New buyers want to have this chore handled for them before they have to think of this expense. If you perform only one renovation in your living room, this is a good one to make because it will likely pay off more than any other investment in this room.
The Entryway
The entryway to your home is an important thing to add to your ideas list of moving tips and remodeling. You will get a good ROI on a new front door. You may want to look at a custom iron door or other exterior doors that will change the face of your home. New buyers like a front door that makes them go wow because they know it will do the same for people that will come to visit their home.
Painting the front door is an easy fix if you need a more affordable idea. Consider the landscaping around the door as well, and keep it seasonal, but simple. Update the paint and flooring in the front hallway, but don’t add too much because this is an easy hallway to change. The front door is the piece in this section of the home that will get you a solid return.
When you are preparing to sell your home, you are thinking of how proud you are of this space your family has enjoyed for years. You want to update it in a way that will give you a return on your investment. Use these ideas as the starting points for your moving tips. Let inspiration take you where you need to go when selling this beloved space.
