Not enough homeowners are fully aware of the importance of property maintenance and home renovation. Whether you’re breaking into the housing market for the first time or have been a property owner for decades, you should constantly be focusing on ways to increase your home’s resale value just in case you ever decide to sell.
Installing new asphalt shingles on your roof, for example, can yield a return on investment (ROI) of nearly 62%. Even doing some simple landscaping projects can increase your resale value up to 14%. In addition to staying on top of your home’s maintenance and welcoming new home and landscaping additions, it’s essential to monitor the housing market as a whole, as well.
USA Today states that U.S. home construction has jumped 9.7% during the first month of 2018. Despite a shortage of homes listed for sale, the Commerce Department announced that new housing starts came in at an annual pace of 1.33 million in January, up from 1.21 million in December and 1.24 million in January of last year. Home construction in the Northeast sourced the most at 45.5% (10.7% in the West, 9.3% in the South, and a negative 10.2% in the Midwest).
According to CNN Money, home sellers profited, on average, about $54,000 at the end of last year, which is a 10-year high, and also brought in an average ROI of nearly 30%. But, despite all the high profits and lucrative ROIs, not even homeowners are currently selling.
“It is fun and exciting to see a huge appreciation in your home,” said Allie Howard a real estate agent in Seattle, Washington. “But what scares [sellers] is not wanting to be stuck in a rental scenario when homes continue to appreciate and they get concerned they will be priced out.”
West Coast home sellers have seen the largest profits, with sellers in San Jose, California yielding a significant 91% ROI at the end of 2017 and San Francisco sellers earning a 73% return.
“It is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If builders built more homes, homeowners might move up, but because homeowners aren’t moving up, the builders aren’t seeing as much demand for new homes,” added Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of communications at Attom.
In addition to a quickly listing in a struggling buyers market, here are some other common mistakes that homeowners make pertaining to their property sales:
- Not investing before listing — If homeowners aren’t looking to roofing, landscaping, and interior design projects before they list their homes on the market, they will likely not get nearly as high of an offer as they want.
- Letting feelings of nostalgia get in the way of a sale — A home is an important part of a person’s life — sometimes the most important. So it can be extremely difficult to treat it like a simple transaction. As long as a seller can limit his or her emotions, the process shouldn’t be as trying.
- Thinking it can be done alone — Even a successful seller who has experience selling multiple homes needs to rely on some professionals for assistance and not rely on diy home renovation. Without working with trusted real estate agents, home renovation contractors, and other professionals, the selling process will be much more difficult.
