As a home seller, you want the maximum value possible for your house. That few more thousand dollars can go a long way in helping you do those other things you plan for. Be it as moving to another home or starting up a side business. For your house to get this added value, there are certain things you should put in place.
Be warned that it is easier to spend more on renovating your house than recouping the money spent. However, you can’t just get acceptable bids on your home by sheer luck or coincidence. You have to, at least, meet the expectations of the average buyer. There is a shift in these expectations with millennials and baby boomers accounting for a significant portion of homebuyers.
It is important to note that only a small percentage of modern homebuyers will buy a home based on logical criteria. These individuals often have fixed standards for what they expect in a home and make a judgment based on whether the house meets these criteria—the remaining buy based on emotions. Many buyers will make their decision in the first 10 seconds of walking into a home. Therefore, having what appeals to the majority of buyers’ sentiments in your home will make them see your house as their “dream home.”
In this article, we will explain the six must-haves today’s buyers expect to see in your home before parting with their money.
What do modern homebuyers look for in a house?
1. Kitchen upgrades
Ask the average person where they spend most of their time in their home, and the kitchen will surely be among their top 3 places. The kitchen is the heart of the house. Owing to this, many homebuyers lookout for recent kitchen upgrades. For example, no one, not even you, loves using out of vogue kitchen equipment. Hence, you may start by buying a new set of matching appliances.
Next, you may add modern fixtures like a soap dispenser (near your faucet) to give your kitchen that sleekly expensive look. Also, modern homebuyers are drawn to cool colors, so you could add smart bulbs to complement these tweaks. Painting your kitchen cabinets a neutral color like white can also go a long way for your money and help brighten your home.
If your flooring needs to be replaced, we recommend using Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) for most cases except in bedrooms. It’s cost-effective, easy to clean, waterproof, durable, great for high-traffic areas, and looks great. Keep in mind that the quality of your upgrades should be appropriate for your neighborhood and home type.
Keep in mind that the quality of your upgrades should be appropriate for your neighborhood and home type. Bost Redevelopment can help you identify comparable homes in your market to understand the kinds of upgrades that are appropriate and what upgrades are unnecessary or wasteful.
2. Bathroom upgrades
As for the bathrooms, the trends have changed from old-fashion single bathrooms that serve the purpose of bathing only to large bathrooms that depict style and comfort. Look at it this way, if a buyer steps into your bathroom, will they see it as a place where they can picture themselves living their best life?
Remember that today’s buyers want their bathrooms to look like what they see at the hotel or the Airbnb apartments they rented. Therefore, features like tubs and showerhead are essential to them, whether or not the homebuyer needs them. Other modern features like fancy shower curtains and the likes can further convince buyers that your house is the one for them.
When assessing your property changes, be sure to consult with Bost Redevelopment to help you assess your area’s market expectations. For example, if similar homes in your neighborhood all have granite countertops, buyers will expect your home to have granite countertops. However, if the competing homes lack granite, you will likely not get your money back from the sale if you sink it into installing granite.
3. Low maintenance costs
Most homebuyers want a home that will allow them to have more time to enjoy family activities. A high maintenance home could eat into the time for activities like going on a picnic or “staycation” (doing fun activities at home). While many families spread cleaning out during the week to create space for family outings on Saturdays, a house with high maintenance needs reduces the time family can spend doing other things. For some households, hiring professionals to do these jobs is the best way to go, but then the charges can be overwhelming.
Modern homebuyers don’t want this stress for themselves, and they don’t want to have to pay a fortune to have it done either. Therefore, they are in search of houses with features that do not require too much maintenance. For example, carpets are cheap and comfortable, but they can be a pain to clean, especially if you have children or pets. Also, carpets need replacement every few years to avoid looking worn, especially in high traffic areas. Therefore, many homebuyers don’t want houses with carpets except in the bedrooms. They prefer places with alternatives like laminate floors, hardwood, or vinyl planks. These floors have better chances of attracting buyers as they give your home a more sophisticated look, are easy to clean, maintain, and last longer.
We recommend using Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) for most cases except in bedrooms (where people usually expect carpet.) For higher-end remodels, tile can be appropriate in bathrooms and kitchens. If you’re going through the expense of installing tile in the bathrooms, it may not hurt to add a “wow” factor by upgrading to a heated tile floor if you want to stand out from your competition, though it probably won’t improve your appraisal value much.
Another example of a low maintenance feature to attract home buyers include installing automatic irrigation for the front and back yard lawns. Or, if you’re in an area where desert landscapes are more common, transitioning to a xeriscaped yard, a yard that eliminates most or all of the need for irrigation. Be sure to check whether xeriscaped yards are common in your area first because if a xeriscaped yard isn’t the norm, you may lose value by xeriscaping your property. If you’re concerned about heavy traffic in the kitchen, installing tile flooring may be a worthwhile upgrade, especially if you can find a good deal on the tile. For doors, fiberglass insulates better than wood and metal and is easier to maintain than wood.
4. Home Office
One of the multiple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the increased shift to remote working conditions. This flexibility means an increasing number of young people are equipped to work from home. Even when they are required to go to offices, many people still want to have a place to come back and get some work done without distraction.
In fact, according to an NAHB consumer preference study, 65% of prospective home buyers want a home office.
Therefore, it would be wise to dedicate a section of your home to this feature to attract buyers. For instance, you could convert a spare room into a home office. If the house has no extra space, you can create a home office in a room section. Whatever you do, just ensure the room’s interiors are appealing and well ventilated as homebuyers want a replica of their offices in their homes’ comfort.
5. Energy efficiency
Buyers also appreciate Energy-efficient features because they decrease the rising costs of energy.
To make the home energy-efficient, here are a few things you can do:
- Solar panels: Installing solar-panels can create great value for you and your buyers, though if you’re reading this article at this time, you probably already missed out on most of the government and local financial incentives to add solar panels. With that said, electrical costs may continue to rise in Utah and in many other states, so installing solar panels can still add significant value to the home.
- Install better, larger windows: Windows are strategic places for ventilation in the home. Energy-star qualified windows limit undesired heat loss or gain in the house using panels that are filled with inert gases. Triple-insulated windows are more effective than double-insulated windows, and if you’re going to pay the cost to replace a window, it’s better to get the more insulated option. If you’re going to invest the money into replacing windows, it’s also best to look at ways to strategically increase the window size if you have a great view you can capitalize on. However, windows can be expensive to replace because they require work on the home’s exterior and interior. The best time to consider replacing windows is when the home’s siding is also due for replacing or the walls need to be opened up for another purpose.
- Deck the walls and foundations with thermal mass materials: Walls and floors with thermal mass materials slow down the house’s heat transfer rate. On summer days, walls and floors with thermal mass will absorb heat at their surface and store it until exposed to the cool air later.
- Natural lighting: In addition to increasing the size of windows, skylights are another great way to add light to common areas and decrease electricity costs. However, it may not be worth installing skylights unless you’re already performing other construction in that area, such as replacing a roof.
- Insulation: In many cases, you can upgrade your insulation for free based on local power companies’ incentives. A qualified insulation company should be able to inform you about all incentive programs that may allow you to upgrade your insulation for a free or reduced cost.
- Water conservation: In addition to xeriscaping your yard, you can also install low-flow toilets and other devices in your home to reduce water use and help your buyer save money.
- Smart thermostat: You can improve energy efficiency even further by using a smart thermostat that adjusts your home’s temperature based on the outside temperature.
As an added benefit, by improving the home’s energy efficiency, you’re making your home more attractive to buyers who are concerned with protecting the environment and reducing environmental impact.
6. Technology
The modern home buyer wants a house equipped with wireless services and the internet. They want to control home gadgets from their smartphones; they want good internet connectivity in the house. Buyers want to control heating and cooling in the house from their smartphones; they want to control the stereo speakers using their phones. The security cameras? The bulbs? Yes, they want to control them too without getting off the couch. They want all the technology that they can get.
Let Bost Redevelopment sell your house for you!
Selling your house should not be a difficult or stressful experience. This is why we are here to help you. At Bost Redevelopment, we are experts at handling every home selling problem you may be facing. We would use our marketing expertise to ensure you get the best buyer for your home at the maximum value possible. Want to talk more about your options? Please leave us a message below with your contact information and let us know how we can help you.
Orem Utah Home | Bost Redevelopment 