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.”