There's a lot that goes into maintaining a home: between paying bills, fixing the necessities (plumbing, electricity, appliances) when something goes wrong, and updating things to your personal preference, its hard to know how to best invest your money. We see a lot of homes, and there are relatively easy updates you can do to increase curb appeal should you ever want to sell, or make sure your home can be compared in an appraisal to homes that are in great condition. Some of these things are a bigger investment, but some are pretty inexpensive updates that can bring significant return.
- Keep the carpet very clean, or consider replacing carpet with tile, wood, or laminate flooring.
Keep Carpets Clean! Flooring is a big factor when it comes to determining condition of a home. We inspected a home with carpet that looked less than a year old, only to find out that it was actually much older-- the owners got it cleaned 1-2 times a year, and shoes were strictly forbidden. While that might not be your style, routine maintenance goes a long way in keeping floors in great condition. Tile, wood, and laminate floors also look great and require even less maintenance than carpets. This is an item that brings a much greater return from the market value than the cost to maintain, or to replace it.
- Replace older windows with dual pane windows.
Dual pane windows make a huge difference in the exterior appeal of your home, and they also improve insulation, which makes your heating/air more efficient. This is a great update. - Keep the kitchen as up to date as possible.
The kitchen is a huge selling point for many buyers, and a big plus for condition in an appraisal. A full kitchen remodel all at once isn't necessary, there are many things you can do to update your kitchen: counters, cabinets, flooring, sink, and appliances are all options. - Upgrade the bathroom by replacing the toilet and vanities and flooring with new and/or custom items.
Custom does NOT automatically mean "expensive." Rather, custom just means "non-builder grade." In a tract home, custom can really imply something that is simplydifferent than what the builder used.
Simple Yet Effective Bathroom Remodel. A quick Google search revealed vanities from as low as $200 up to the thousands, but they all could be classified as "custom." This is an easy update that would improve your bathroom condition. In some bathrooms, replacing the flooring this would be simple and relatively inexpensive. It brings the bathroom up in condition, looks nicer, and lasts longer.
- Keep the landscaping neat and clean.
This does not mean that you need expensive trees, an extravagant flower bed, a built-in fire pit, pool, etc. Just keeping the grass alive (maybe with as minimal watering as possible, given the drought!) and trimmed, as well as keeping
Basic, Neat Landscaping any existing trees or plants trimmed, can do wonders for the appearance of a home.
- Regular cleaning is better than trying to do it all at once.
Maintenance cleaning keeps things in better condition, and saves money by extending the lifespan of short-lived items. Keeping your home maintained regularly is much easier, effective and less expensive than waiting and trying to do it all at once. Just a little regularly scheduled upkeep can go a long way in maintaining the overall condition of your home. - Keep the exterior paint in good condition.
A good paint job should last 5-10 years, depending on the quality of paint used and the weather (homes located where there is snow, high winds or extreme temperature fluctuations will need to be painted more frequently). Fortunately, in most parts of California, because of our moderate weather, exterior paint will last longer than average. A freshly painted home will drastically improve curb appeal. In between paint jobs, painting the trim, taking care of chipping or peeling paint and any stains that occur keeps the exterior looking taken care of and appealing; this will help your home to be at the top of the range of values for comparable homes.
As with any improvement, you probably won't get a dollar for dollar return. Sometimes improvements don't end up reflecting much in the value (i.e. an expensive patio cover), while some relatively minor improvements can make a huge difference (kitchen and bathroom improvements). That being said, it's always a good idea to keep your home in the best condition you can manage to maintain home value and get the best return on your investment!
Have you bought or sold a home recently? Do you think these items affect home value, or what are some that we missed?
