New Years Resolution? Make a Home Resolution This Year and Every Year!
This past weekend, we updated our Seller’s Guide and it reminded us how vital it is to regularly update your home. Every year, you should make an update; a #HomeResolution.
This is not a repair, or maintenance! This is about keeping your home up-to-snuff. Time marches on, and if your home doesn’t keep up, it is actively losing potential value. Whether you bought your house new, or have already made some renovations, creating an annual update habit will REALLY pay off when it’s time to sell – whether that’s in 2 or 20 years.
It doesn’t need to be a new kitchen (and don’t replace a nice fixture with another nice fixture – that’s not what we’re talking about). Here are a couple ideas to get you going:
Single Family Home Resolution:
- Old windows? Pick a few of the worst! Highly recommend Anderson 400 Series from Home Depot, (It’s what Jess did and loves) installed by you or a builder using best practices (insulate any old weight pockets, be lead-safe, replace exterior trim with composite where necessary, replace interior trim were you can).
- New Bathroom Floor
- Update an aspect of your landscaping (your fall clean-up doesn’t count).
- Resurface a deck or porch
- Replace your front door (See Jess’s in the pic? That was $250 at Home Depot – and DEFINITELY update to a keypad entry).
Condo Home Resolution:
(You may not be able to update landscaping or windows easily, but here are some other ideas you can do)
- Great cabinets but formica or linoleum counter top? Replace it with neutral granite, marble or soapstone (and do a neutral tile backsplash while you’re at it – SKIP a granite backsplash).
- Update your bathroom fan/light: Your fan should be VERY quiet and should be on a separate switch from both your vanity and your overhead light.
- Replace carpet in one room with hardwood
Pick a Project Every Year
Your resolution should be durable, something that will outlive your anticipated ownership – changing from old carpet to new carpet is only valuable to a buyer if the carpet is still new when you go to sell.
To make sure that your #HomeResolution is a good investment, ASK US! It is possibly my favorite part of the job to advise clients how to best invest in their home! Call us for help with this any time! Really! It’s free, and it makes our day, and there’s no obligation at all!