Three Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value for $5000 or Less

Written By: Miller and Associates Realty On: 14th April 2014 Under: Uncategorized

If you have lived in your home for a long time without making any upgrades, there is a good chance the value of your property could be lagging behind other houses in your neighborhood.  Assuming you have maintained your home in the obvious ways, and haven’t let it deteriorate, you don’t have to break the bank on a complete renovation.  Here are three ways to make your house more appealing to buyers for around five thousand dollars or less.

1. Homes built before the 1980s, and even many newer homes, tend to suffer from a severe lack of storage space.  The solution can be as simple as installing an organizing system such as racks or stackable boxes in to an existing closet or pantry.  Even building an entirely new closet in to an existing room can be done by a professional for two to five thousand, depending.  Installing recessed shelving is another great way to use an existing wall.
2. Another space related issue is the tendency for older kitchens to be small and completely cut off from the dining and living areas.  This is a reflection of the fact that kitchens used to be thought of as a place for nothing other than cooking whereas a modern buyer will look at it as a potential area to entertain friends and family.  As long as you don’t have to alter any load bearing structures, you can create an opening in a wall or remove a wall entirely for three to five thousand dollars, linking the kitchen to adjacent rooms and creating a more open environment.
3. Lastly, many homes, especially in the north, have washers and dryers located in the depths of the home, in a basement or even in the garage.  A proper, indoor utility room near the bedrooms will add appeal and take some of the hassle out of doing laundry.  Even if you have to install a stacked washer, dryer combo, a dedicated indoor room with space to hang drying clothes is a big selling point relative to appliances sitting out in the open in an inconvenient recess of your home.

Obviously, if you have more than five thousand dollars to spend, your options are varied but try to be efficient.  If you are building a new bathroom, for example, go ahead and add the laundry room at the same time to get the most bang for your buck.  The point is that upgrading your home bit by bit, over time, will ensure that when you do decide to sell, you will not have fallen behind the times in terms of what buyers expect.