Spring home improvement advice

Spring is here and this is traditionally the most active time for homeowners to sell their homes and for buyers to be actively looking to buy one. Even if you are not ready to sell your home, as the weather becomes nicer you may become inspired to do some home improvements. Before doing any large projects, evaluate any improvements realistically and economically that you should invest in your home.

So, how do you know what your home is worth and what is it’s potential top value? If you bought your home recently, hopefully you were being assisted by a realtor that was able to give you an opinion of the fair market value of what that home is worth and what it’s potential might be. If you have owned your home for awhile, you should find a trusted Realtor in your area an ask them to do a walk through of your home and give you an estimate of it’s value. That is done by finding comparable properties that have sold within the past 6 months to a year around the same size and features as the property you own. The agent will then average out the sales prices, dollar per square feet, etc and that will assist them on determining a price range based on it’s current condition. From the same information, the agent should be able to determine what your home’s market value will be with improvements. During the previously mentioned walk through, ask questions about what improvements you are considering and ask for suggestions of current trends buyers are seeking.

What do you learn from this? You should now have an idea of how much money to invest in improving or updating your home. If you bought a home for let’s say $180,000 and it’s current high end potential is $230,000, you know you shouldn’t be spending $60,000 on updating your kitchen if you plan on selling the home in the next couple of years. What is important to note is that every home has a top market value and it’s based on location size and amenities. As Real Estate trends change, so will the perceived market value of your home and it’s important to be up to date on this information.

It is also important to note based on improvement trends you follow, your kitchen and bath may appear “dated” in as little as 5 to 10 years.


Why is important to update my home? Some day you may want to sell it. Think about how much Real Estate and perceived value has changed in the last two years alone. HGTV is packed full of shows that educate and teach buyers what holds value in a home. From an expensive looking kitchen all the way down to the paint color on the walls, buyers have never been pickier.

Probably the most frustrating thing for me to see is when people live in their homes for years and never get to enjoy it’s potential, instead they wait and do improvements right before they sell their home.

I am not selling my home anytime soon, why would I contact a Realtor for this information? Because Realtors will do it and it’s free. Why will they do it? Because eventually you may need to sell your home and you will remember them. It’s also a lot easier to be proactive than reactive, if you can get advice before you start the improvements, it will save the agent time when you go to sell your home and in the end it may make you money.