When considering selling your home, you want to make the most significant profit. Should you stage your home or remodel it? What's the difference in the value of your home as-is vs. if you remodel it? Maybe you need an RVA to sell your home. What is an RVA, you ask? Let's take a look so you don't have to worry about selling your house for less than you expected.
Selling your home for top dollar is often dependent on how well you prepare your home before it hits the market. Decluttering, deep cleaning, applying tips from your Realtor, and getting an appraisal are essential steps when preparing to sell your home.
After taking all the necessary steps to prepare your home, you learn the appraisal value is $525,000. You're surprised because two houses in your neighborhood recently sold for nearly $600,000. What's the difference between your home and theirs? It could be the improvements made to the other homes.
Your home may be outdated or just a bit worn out. I'm not talking about just the carpeting or the wallpaper; the overall feel of the house may be tired. Remodeling a few rooms could be the difference between getting top dollar for your home or not. If you have a remodeling value analysis (RVA) done on your home, you may find that a few upgrades lead to a much higher sales price.
Your real estate agent will help you determine if remodeling your home will bring a higher sales price or not. Some agents are trained to provide professional remodeling suggestions to help you get more value out of the sale of your home. These agents have RRS (Residential Remodeling Specialist™) credentials or something similar. Your agent can create an RVA so you can see what it would cost to remodel parts of your home and the value it would add to the sales price of your home.
A recent Cost vs. Value report by Zonda illustrates which home improvement projects produce the greatest ROI (93%). The report shows that the top improvement project is replacing the garage door (who knew!). I've seen new garage doors on my neighbor's houses, and I must say, it makes an incredible difference in the home's perceived value.
For interior remodeling projects, the same report indicated that minor kitchen remodels produced the highest ROI (71%). A minor kitchen remodel might include painting, refacing cabinets, replacing the backsplash, new lighting, new sink and faucet, new flooring, and new appliances, and it costs around $20,000. A minor kitchen remodel impresses buyers without being too over the top and unique to your taste. Even if buyers wish to redo the kitchen in the future, they can comfortably live with it for a few years while saving money.
Talk to your real estate agent about an RVA (or value report) to determine which home improvement projects will help you generate more profit on your home's sale. It's essential to get estimates for your remodeling project, so ask your real estate agent for the names of local contractors. You can also talk to friends and neighbors to see who they used for their remodeling projects. We hope you can add value to your home with an RVA and boost your profit!
More information about selling your house is available in Reazo's comprehensive guide:
