Avoid extreme makeover to your home for selling

When you have decided to sell your home, it's probably time to start thinking about how to make that home stand out from the rest.
But before planning a single project, beware: Homeowners aren't able to recoup as many improvement costs as they did in recent years, according to a recent study by Remodeling magazine. In fact, real-estate agents advise clients not to overdo it regardless of what the local market conditions are like.
The property should rather be neat, clean and look spacious rather than making it top of the line. The usual trend by the sellers is to add the cost of reno to the price of the home which a prudent buyer refuses to pay by looking at the prevalant market conditions.
Since the asking prices are based largely on comparisons with similar homes in the area, buyers have more negotiation power over the price of the home.
To keep costs down and spend remodeling dollars wisely, consider the following five tips:
- De-clutter your home. Go ahead if you have to rent a storage unit to hold open houses and plan showings. That will cost less and make more room for the prospective buyers to enjoy the property.
- It is always better to get a home inspection done before listing the home as it removes those issues which can hold a potential sale. It is normal for a buyer to seek discount of $ 2-3 for every $ 1 worth of defect. So move ahead, get that aspect taken care of.
- Replacing something as necessary as a furnace helps create a favorable perception of how well a seller took care of the home.
- Look outside!! Pay attention to exterior details such as the condition of siding and windows. According to Remodeling magazine's 2007 Cost vs. Value Report, a wood window replacement recovers an average 81.2% of its cost at resale and a siding replacement recovers an average 83.2% of its cost. The payoff for those projects is much better than for an upgrade that a buyer might not need; a home-office remodel, for example, recovers 57% of its cost. The estimates are national averages for midrange (not upscale) homes.
- Spend time in the bathroom!Freshening up the bathroom doesn't have to be expensive, but could be important. It's most important for the bathroom to be clean, but also consider replacing fixtures, the tub, the sink and the toilet -- if they need it. Replace cracked titles and curled linoleum. The replacements don't have to be expensive, Aldrich added. A toilet can cost less than $250, and she recommends taller, handicapped replacement toilets to appeal to an aging population.
- Keep it small in the kitchen. The other room that often sells a house is the kitchen. But it might be best to keep renovations modest. The Cost vs. Value Report found that homeowners could recover 83% of the cost of a minor kitchen remodel at resale compared with 78.1% of a major kitchen remodel.