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Think like an Appraiser

Family painting a room together in their new home

When my wife and I bought our first house the first thing she began to do was make it a home. I wanted to relax and take a large exhale that we were finally at the finish line however, she quickly put me back to work. What I thought was a nearly perfect house suddenly required a weekly trip to home depot. What I didn’t realize was that she was not only making our house our home, she was giving it more value. Now that’s something to motivate me to do the chores!

Even the smallest upgrades make a big difference! Here are some tips on easy projects around the house that make a big impact to an appraiser.

  1. Add curb appeal. Flowers, mulch and a clean landscape are going to set the foundation (no pun intended) for the entire inspection. Keeping your property maintained is crucial to its condition and the condition of the home is essentially what the experts are looking at. Imagine you have a beautiful new roof but its covered in leaves. No one will be able to see that and give it the credit it deserves! Make your first impression a good one and keep your exterior maintained.
  2. Maximize the square footage. If your house is lacking in the square footage department, be cautious not to decorate with oversized furniture or dark colored walls which would close it in further. Use light colors to decorate and make any changes to allow plenty of natural light. Another sought after feature that adds value is storage space. If you have the ability, build a closet that adds function to the space.
  3. Upgrade Appliances. New and shiny appliances don’t just look super nice, they add some super value. Imagine you were reading a new listing in the paper – “New Stainless-Steel Appliances!” That screams updated and most of all, valuable!
  4. Energy Efficiency – New windows, LED lights, and upgraded insulation are some additional changes that make a significant impact to the ticket price on your home. Not only will these lower your home’s energy cost and save you money long term, it adds some major brownie points in the eyes of an appraiser. Today millennials seem to be more energy conscious now more than ever and something as simple as new windows can lower your homes energy bill by 7 to 15 percent. That’s an investment that you would be sure to recoup!