Spruce Up
for spring
Refresh your home with simple projects that might even help boost your property value!
S
pring has SPRUNG, baby, and hibernating San Diegans are crawling out of their cozy dens to see which way the wind’s blowing. What they’ll find is a blazing real estate market, convincing many to shake a tail, ditch their old digs, and carve out a new home that’s more to their liking. But many others are entrenched in the place they already love, digging in with fresh resolve to feather the nest anew for at least another season.
Either way, spring is a great time to blow out all the dust and cobwebs, revisit some resolutions, and catch up with all the good intentions. For homeowners weighing which projects to tackle, decisions can often hinge on which improvements promise the biggest bang for the buck, whether seeking a higher home sale price or better quality of life. Luckily, we’ve been around this block a few times, and we have plenty of practical advice on the topic — especially when we call up our esteemed colleague Amy Porter at Accent Staging & Renovation, a San Diego home retouching company specializing in
affordable ways to help homes sell for their top value. We asked her to suggest the top spring projects that would benefit most homeowners.
Align Your Goals Homeowners as a whole are interested in improving the value of their property, says Porter. “But the first question you should be asking is, ‘Value for whom?’ If you’re planning to sell soon, you probably want quick, high-style, low-cost projects with a solid return on investment. But if you’re attached to the home, the best investment of all is one that increases the enjoyment of living there.” Luckily, Porter says many homeowners can find a sweet spot that scratches both itches. “Many of the things you’d do to make a space more attractive to your lifestyle — say, yard enhancements, a new grill area, home repairs — will translate to improved property value. If you’re not moving soon, focus on those and don’t worry too much about the little things yet. But for now, let’s focus on projects that can help immediately boost a home’s sales value.”
Design for the Buyer Though it can be difficult, set aside your personal tastes and consider choices that will help a buyer imagine themselves in the home. In addition to tried-and-true general advice — avoiding brightly colored or highly contrasting paint, decluttering, and storing away personal effects — Porter suggests bringing in a designer and a home stager who understands the market for your home.
Show Your Place to Win If you’re racing to sell your home, in this current seller’s market you can get to the finish line by putting minimal effort into your home’s appearance. Even so, a tiny bit of extra time and attention can put your home ahead of the pack and sweeten the prize. “A seller who doesn’t invest just a little before listing is leaving money on the table. Don’t settle for a satisfactory sales price — make it as easy as possible for buyers to see the home’s full value, and they’ll reward you in turn with an offer that’s easy to accept. Fix what needs fixing, update the outdated, and pretty the place up.”
Get to Work So what are the most important things to work on before listing? “Sellers should commit to completing work that boosts buyer confidence in the property’s solidity,” says Porter. “Start by mitigating issues with high impact on property presentation, visual stuff like minor cracks in drywall or stucco, normal housesettling artifacts that don’t affect a property’s real value but might trouble an uneducated buyer. Powerwash the exterior before deciding whether it needs new paint or other work. “Other key things to eye for a successful sale include interior paint, floors, light fixtures, cabinet hardware, and landscaping — outdoor gathering space is high on buyers’ hot lists right now. Nearly all homes want a combination from among these updates, and most could use all of them. “If you’re not sure what could use work, or what improvements will pay for themselves, ask your agent for an objective assessment. Some of the most effective projects are things that many homeowners overlook or, worse, will try to gloss over in a way that can make the home look less inviting than before — touching up with paint that never quite matches, painting a single wall that makes the rest shabby by comparison, and so on.”
“A designer might suggest adding an accent wall, addressing wasted space or other quirks by creating utility or beauty, or doing minor surgery on an obvious departure from the home’s style or quality. For instance, at Accent, we find ourselves undoing a lot of old DIY ‘improvements,’ work done by well-meaning homeowners who didn’t exactly have an eye for matching their house’s Craftsman or modern style, say, or for meeting the quality of the original construction. If left unaddressed, these obvious scars can be a red flag.” The final touch is staging, choosing the right furniture and accents to help accentuate the value of your home’s space. “I can’t stress enough the value of effective staging,” says Porter, “both for getting buyers in the door and for accenting the home’s value. However, for most homeowners, this doesn’t qualify as a DIY spring project. When you’re ready to sell, get an expert stager to eye your home and its contents critically and objectively. You’ll probably be putting your favorite La-Z-Boy in storage, but it’s a small price to pay for a big aesthetic boost.” In closing, Porter suggests picking and choosing the projects you want to do for yourself. “The number of things you could do yourself is infinite, but don’t get overwhelmed to the point that you forget why you’re doing it. Hire out the dirtiest work, saving for yourself the projects you enjoy, or even the ones you can do easily that save you the most money. Your home should be the source of happiness, not stress — do whatever you know will make you happy without keeping you from reaching your goal.”
Thinking about migrating?
Ask your REALTOR® for tips on showing your old nest at its best!
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