Vancouver Real Estate News Blog

The housing market has been rough in the past few years.  Trying to get full value for your home with record numbers of foreclosures can be challenging.  So, how do you improve your real estate property values without breaking the bank? 

There are some quick and inexpensive options to improve the value of your home.  Selling your house is all about focusing on the unique features and making the square footage as attractive as possible.  There are some real estate expert tricks that can make a big impact for little investment of money or time. 

All of these ideas are focused on improving the selling potential of your home when showing it to potential buyers.  The first is actually only a time cost.  It is the de-cluttering and neutralization of the house.  We spend a lifetime adding personal touches to our home, which make it uniquely ours.  But when you are selling your home; the objective is to make it appealing to the largest number of potential home buyers.  The secret to this is the de-cluttering and de-personalizing of the property.  It important to make the house free from your personal items, as it is important for the potential buyer to picture himself or herself in the house.  Since the objective of putting the house on the market it to move on, it is a perfect opportunity to box up family photos and fridge magnets, and personal collections, so the house has no clutter or excess distractions. 

The second tip is to make fast repairs.  This is the time to patch, paint and tidy up the repairs you have put off.  Replacing that switch plate, or tightening the closet doors can have a big impact on the potential buyer.  There is a tendency on the part of potential buyers to make generalizations.  The visible need for repairs can create doubts about repairs they aren’t seeing as clearly.  This can be just enough to move them on to the next property.  A coat of paint and a good patch job can make the difference between dated and contemporary in the eyes of the potential buyer.  Choose neutral colors that add to the square footage feeling rather than deeply personal choices such as that perfect shade of violet you love so much, the idea again is to improve appeal for the largest audience possible and to improve the appearance of the home’s potential including its square footage. 

Get cooking in the kitchen.  For many buyers, the kitchen is critical.  The out dated cabinet, lack of lighting or need for paint in this room can keep the sale from closing.  Changing the cabinets or resurfacing them can make a huge impact here.  Appliances should be uniform in style and color and in good repair.  Potential buyers will see this as an indicator of the overall repair of the house.  There are inexpensive solutions, such as dishwasher panels and skins for the refrigerator that can offset the high cost of replacing appliances.  The money spent in the kitchen usually comes back in the property value improvement at one of the highest rates of any room in the house. 

You don’t need to spend a fortune to improve one of the biggest investments you will make in your financial portfolio.  The investment of time, effort and focused planning can make a significant difference in the value you can realize in the property market.