You sunk a down payment into your house and diligently made your mortgage payments throughout the years. You’ve maintained the property’s plumbing, electrical, and roof and maybe even made a few upgrades here and there. You’ve protected what may be your biggest investment so far.
And now, for whatever reason, it’s time to sell.
Naturally, after all of the money and sweat you’ve put into the property, you want to get the highest price possible for it.
Luckily it’s still a fairly hot market, with national median home prices at an all-time high. But there are still a few small things to consider before selling that could help you bump up your house’s value even further.
That’s according to Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s resident home-trends guru. In a recent episode of the “BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast,” she shared four free or cheap things that home sellers can do to raise the price they can command from buyers.
4 things to boost your home’s value
First, Pendleton says adding a fresh coat of interior paint can add value to your home. She says Zillow’s data shows that buyers prefer charcoal gray, especially in kitchens.
“Our most recent analysis finds that buyers are willing to pay about $2,500 more for a home that has a dark charcoal-gray kitchen. Dark gray outperformed white in every single room that we tested,” Pendleton said. “So it is a really good option, even in the bedroom and the bathroom, if you feel like, ‘Oh, dark gray is way too much for my kitchen.’ Maybe you don’t have enough natural light, you don’t think it’s going to look good there.”
She added: “I’m telling you, dark gray covers a lot of imperfections, and it feels modern. It feels contemporary.”
Dark navy blue is also popular, she says.
Second, Pendleton recommends doing some landscaping around the house. The key, she says, is to make it clear to the buyer that they can use and enjoy their outdoor space.
This can be done by adding flowers and hedges — and trimming up ones that already exist — as well as putting in simple things such as a fire pit and patio furniture.
“You can entertain around a fire pit, and you can install one yourself. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. You can pick one up at Home Depot or wherever, and it’s a really desirable feature,” Pendleton said.
She continued: “It could translate to a more than 1% increase in your sale price when it’s time to sell. And that’s something that you could use just to stage your home for sale, right? Even if you’re not putting it in for your own enjoyment, that’s something that’s going to be really appealing to buyers.”
Many fire pits can be found on online retailers such as Amazon for under $100. Patio dining sets can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
As for cost-free things you can do, Pendleton says that how the house looks online, or its “screen appeal,” is important. One thing that can ensure more interest in your house’s listing is to have good photos of it. This means letting good light into the house by having curtains open or installing brighter light bulbs, and of course, making sure the house looks clean.
This could also mean having an interactive tour of the house online, in which the potential buyer can click through room by room. Zillow has free software for this named 3D Home, Pendleton says, and real-estate agents may have access to software you can use.
“Listings that have a virtual tour and an interactive plan can get 69% more views and 80% more saves on Zillow than listings without one,” she said. “And you can make one for free. You can use your phone.”
Finally, Pendleton says emphasizing the right details about the house in the online listing is crucial. For example, outdoor showers boost sale prices by 2.6%, she said. Soapstone countertops may up prices by 3%. And beverage centers — essentially small refrigerators for drinks — increase home prices by up to 2.4%.
“I’m not saying run out, rip out that tile countertop, put in soapstone,” Pendleton said. “Instead, if you have these desirable features, you want to flaunt them in your listing description because it really is a signal about everything else you’ve got going on in your home.”
