Whether you’re looking to sell your home at a high value, flip an investment property, or just make cost-efficient improvements to your home, it can be difficult to manage without breaking the bank. Thankfully, we’ve done all the work for you by compiling a list of budget-friendly investments that you can make to shoot your home’s value through the roof.
1. Add-On a Fence
This is a great way for the do-it-yourselfer with some carpentry experience to make a big difference with a minimum cost. For many families, a home without a fence is a deal-breaker. They want to keep their children and pets safe, and they want to maintain an adequate level of privacy. Use high-quality materials like wood, vinyl, or aluminum to match the feel of your home.
2. Bring On the Paint
A fresh coat of paint is a renovator’s best friend. Not only is it a simple project that nearly anyone with a modicum of experience can complete, but the end result can restore the glory to a dull or down-trodden room. Make sure to use a neutral color like a room-refreshing white so that you don’t offend the tastes of any potential buyers.
3. Don’t Forget the Yard
You may break a sweat landscaping, but you won’t break your budget. The outside of your home is the first impression you provide investors, clients, friends, and family, so make sure you make it a great one by keeping the lawn and surrounding area well maintained. Most of us already have the tools lying around to complete a landscaping job, and if you need hedge trimmers, tillers, or augers, you can rent them from most hardware stores.
You can take it a step further by planting colorful flowers, installing walkways, enhancing lighting, and applying a fresh coat of paint to shutters, bird baths, lamp-posts, and mailboxes.
4. Bring Old Floors Back to Life
If you want an inexpensive job that can catch the eye of potential buyers, consider refinishing hardwood floors to their original luster. If you don’t have hardwood floors, consider replacing the carpet with a new, neutral color or even lifting it up to see if there is hardwood underneath.
5. Add-ons Add Value
Consider constructing a mudroom, deck, patio, or porch. These jobs can be daunting, but by adding storage space, home size, and aesthetic appeal, you’ll greatly increase your home’s value and provide must-haves for many buyers.
6. Renovate Your Kitchen
The changes don’t have to be drastic, but the results will be. By simply adding stainless steel appliances, you can increase your home’s value. To take it a step further, update your countertops with something more visually pleasing like granite. Finally, enhanced cabinetry can create a huge return on investment, even if you just decide to refinish what’s already in place and replace the hardware.
7. Replace Tired Building Materials
This is one many don’t think of or consider; but old, tired, rusted pipework in and outside of the home can ruin the “renovated” look. Usually, replacing these items is a job you can do yourself at home and on a strict budget. It’s a very cost effective way to improve the look of your home. For example, the solvent waste pipes in the bathroom can be replaced with a matching color. Along with the push fit soil pipes on the side of the house. Tired guttering? Why not replace with some high quality cast iron guttering, or if you’re on a budget you could install new plastic half round guttering. Moving further up, what about the fascias and soffits? Replacing timber with new plastic fascias can be a very cost effective way to really tidy up the look from the exterior of the property. These are also available in different colors and wood grain effects to give a realistic look.
