When buyers want to know which areas to update in their home in order to sell it quickly and for the best price, I tell them it depends on the particular home, the neighborhood, the age of the house, and the taste of the people who built or last remodeled it.
Some houses might need some minor landscaping. If your front drive-up is drab then that is the place to start, especially in the luxury sector. Luxury buyers want the front of their home to reflect luxury. It’s possible to do that on a limited budget, if necessary. You can’t go wrong with colorful flowers in the beds, and you can get old pots at estate sales to put on the porch. Painting the front door, replacing light fixtures in the front, and replacing door mats are other simple things that can make a high impact on a budget.
If the home is older, then the kitchen and the master bath are good places to spend renovation money. Most buyers in this segment are looking for high-end appliances with gas cook-tops as well as large master baths with spacious walk-in showers with separate jetted tubs. When looking at the “bones” of the home, you might find that an adjacent bedroom could be converted to a master closet, for example, on a small budget.
If buyers think about what attracted them to the home and what they thought would make it better in the time that they have lived there, then they can make their renovation list based on those two questions. Chances are the buyers they want to attract will have similar ideas, and playing up the great features and renovating for the less-than-desirable aspects will be money well spent.
