Thinking of selling your Atlanta home? You want to get the most for it to make the move to your next place easier financially. Here are four ways to maintain a high home value as you put your place on the market today－or simply maintain its optimal worth for when you sell it at some point in the future. Bonus point: At least one of our tips might reduce your Atlanta home insurance premiums.
1. Make a Good First Impression
We all know the wisdom of not judging a book by its cover but it’s the first thing we do when we step into a bookstore.
Remember this before putting your house on the market: It might take a while to get your prospective homebuyer to “yes,” but no time at all to get them to “no.” That’s the good or bad power of first impressions.
When people consider investing perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in a new (to them) home, it’s hard to get them back in your corner emotionally if you’ve lost them at first sight. But that’s the risk if you don’t attract them with their first impression, most likely of your home’s facade and front yard.
It might just take a few simple touches, such as making sure the lawn is freshly cut and the hedges clipped. If you have gardens or flower boxes in front, this can also increase the visual appeal. Pour mulch and add shrubbery where needed to fill gaps at the foundation.
Set pots of petunias on your porch or grow gardens of begonias, azaleas, or other Georgia-friendly plantings. The idea here is to introduce your home to visitors with a welcoming splash of color.
More involved efforts such as repainting or power washing your exterior will also help boost appeal from the curb.
That’s the magic phrase: curb appeal. Before you can draw buyers into your home and motivate them to sign contracts, you must do all you can to make sure you haven’t lost them before they’ve stepped out of their car. Easy touch-ups and landscaping for curb appeal can do the trick.
2. Stage Your Home
Homebuyers are irrational. That includes virtually all of us. We fall in (or out of) love with a living space based on factors that really shouldn’t matter at all. If the place is messy or the furniture worn, or if the interior looks gloomy or smells funny, that can be enough to turn us off.
There’s no logic to that, but it’s how we tend to react. We’re not buying the funny smells or the worn furniture, and we expect all of the clutter to be gone by the time the seller moves out. And the gloominess can disappear with new drapes and fresh coats of paint. Intellectually, we know all of that, but it still puts doubts in our minds if the interior disappoints upon first sight.
There are easy and inexpensive ways to stage your home to the best advantage before selling. Start by simply dusting, vacuuming and clearing the clutter. In addition to increasing the appeal of the rooms, the junk reduction will make the space seem larger.
Apply fresh coats of paint if necessary. Professional stagers even go so far as to bake cookies for the inviting aroma, play soothing music, and add vases of fresh-cut flowers.
All of these easy and inexpensive staging touches elevate the mood of buyers and their appreciation for your property.
3. Replace Buyer Turn-Offs If You Can
If you have a 20-year-old furnace, it could go on the fritz tomorrow. Your prospective buyers know that. The same is true if you have to admit that the shingle roof is 30 years old. The other party must add those high replacement costs into their mental calculations when determining whether or not they can afford to buy your home.
If you can afford to replace such high-ticket items before your place goes on the market, it can turn possible sales liabilities into assets. Just think of how the words “new roof and furnace” in your marketing materials will boost buyer interest and increase your home value.
4. Offer a State-of-the-Art Home Whenever Possible
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling a century home or one built three years ago; even buyers who love historical properties are impressed with modern conveniences that can make their lives easier.
Such modern, energy-efficient upgrades as Energy Star kitchen appliances and solar panels can attract today’s homebuyers. Smart-home technologies like fire alarms, security systems, and thermostats that can be controlled from off-premises are cheap, easy to install, and save the owners money in the long run.
Not only do they appeal to today’s homebuyers, but many of these new technologies can reduce your Atlanta home insurance rates. Just be sure to inform your homeowner’s insurance agent of the energy-efficient upgrades and smart technologies you installed. You might find that there’s some good news concerning your coverage premiums.