We often say that the front door is your first chance to make a good impression. Therefore, a front porch refresh can be very beneficial if you are planning to put your home on the market. It is a small thing to increase home value.
Black Door, a small thing to increase home value.
Statistically speaking homes with a front door painted black sell for as much as $6,000 more than their similar counterparts. Painting the entire exterior of your home can be costly. However, painting your front door could easily be completed in a weekend on your own for about $100 dollars. If you are feeling adventurous you can even replace your door hardware to complete the fresh look. Workers at your local hardware store can even key the new hardware to match your old set at no charge.
Avoid Bold Exteriors
Let’s talk about exterior colors. Painting the body of your home’s exterior too bold of a color can be detrimental to your home’s value. A recent Zillow analysis showed that homes painted yellow sold for as much as $3,400 less than similar counterparts. While some people might appreciate it, the majority of home buyers prefer neutral homes in both decor and color. Buyers also want neutral interiors. Dark colors like browns and reds are difficult to paint over and tend to be viewed as out of style. These could cost you as much as 2,300 at time of sale vs. painting these rooms a lighter color.
Backyard Woes
Another detriment to your home’s value is having a backyard that is singularly children focused. Many people do not have children. Therefore, a built in sandbox or similar amenity simply will not appeal to their needs. In fact, it will likely cost them money to have to remove after closing. If they don’t remove it that unused sandbox typically turns into the neighborhood litter box. Homes with kid centric backyards appeal to a smaller pool of buyers. This means sellers will likely not recoup the cost of the installation of playground type infrastructure. Instead of having a kid friendly backyard makeover, invest the money elsewhere and have the kids go to the neighborhood park.
Consider the Neighbors
Finally, any substantial alteration to your home that is outside of the realm of comparable properties will not benefit your homes value. Installing big time amenities like a sauna or an elevator in homes that are in the middle of the market will not appeal to that type of buyer and simply not drive up your homes valuation. That type of buyer is interested in much larger more lavish homes and will pay the extra money to purchase that one, with a long list of amenities included. Middle of the market buyers are not willing to pay substantially more for your home because of a sauna when the one down the street is just as nice but lacking that amenity. Moral of the story, spend wisely based on your location in the local real estate market.
If you have any questions about small things to increase home value don’t hesitate to reach out to your top real estate expert in Fort Collins, Colorado, Lestel Meade.