How To Increase Your Home’s Value Without Breaking The Bank

We spent plenty of late nights, countless trips to Lowes, and more arguments than we’d care to admit working on our first home in Sulphur Springs. But now, we laugh about those times during the remodel we tackled where our son was born. When it came time for our 2nd home, we built west of town while being the General Contractor. We enjoyed working with our local contractors and living in a home we dreamed up from start to finish. After selling it in 2019, we moved back to town but hope to build again soon. 

Since our mid 20’s, we’ve had a hand in real estate in one form or another. And we’ve learned many lessons from buying, renovating, and selling homes or land—we could write a book on the Dos and Don’ts.

Based on our experiences in Hopkins County, most changes can be performed with little to no money involved. It just takes a little bit of know-how and sweat equity. And any money spent can increase your home’s value and appeal to prospective buyers moving to Sulphur Springs, making it  worth the investment. However, before starting a project, we recommend you consult with a local Realtor. They can offer free advice on the current market trends and where you should focus your attention for the best results. We’ve highlighted 4 areas to help get you started: 

Curb Appeal

First impressions are critical, particularly in real estate. Most people start to form an opinion of your home as soon as they arrive. To command the highest price for your property, consider the following:

Add value through landscaping. Numerous surveys online suggest money spent in this area tends to have a positive Return on Investment (ROI) for the Homeowner. Keeping your lawn manicured, maintaining fresh mulch in your flowerbeds along with adding pops of color through flower groupings allow your home to shine. Or consider the addition of potted plants to your porch or deck. Plus, a little elbow grease in keeping a clean and tidy space goes a long way. 

Maintenance

You may have become accustomed to some of your home’s imperfections. And those familiar problems can have adverse effects on your home’s value. Buyers could walk away with a negative impression.

Minor Repairs can lead to major impact. Small issues tend to be compounded in a buyer’s mind, especially when there are additional problem areas. Caulking around the doors and window trim, as well as the baseboards, creates a tight seal and protects your home. Repairing

leaky faucets or touching-up paint or painting all the walls are other examples of minor repairs having a major impact. You would be surprised by the impact that color choices have. Neutral colors appeal to more people. Another simple repair includes making sure light fixtures work and adding matching bulbs which gives the interior lighting functionality and uniformity. Keep grout lines between tiles cleaned and in good repair.  Finally, check to confirm all doors open and close properly and that kitchen cabinet doors are correctly aligned. 

Cost Effective Upgrades

A full-blown remodel of your kitchen or bathrooms may not be financially possible. But there are a few upgrades you can implement at a fraction of the cost.

Kitchen and bathrooms are prominent selling features of your home. If your cabinets have seen better days, there’s a good chance it’s time for a facelift. Painting your cabinets and updating the hardware (pulls) makes a big difference. You might even want to replace cabinet doors when possible. If in doubt, we recommend consulting with a trusted advisor and especially before  beginning any major home improvement. Again, you  can talk to a local Realtor® about your specific objectives. They understand the local market and can  guide and  assist you with pricing your house. This helps to know if adding big money projects like granite countertops will be worth it. 

Another kitchen change that might help, is matching appliances. However, like the granite countertops, they can cost more money than a simple minor repair. So, be aware if that change or upgrade is worth the investment.  The risk depends on your local real estate market and the price point of your home. You might be better off investing those dollars elsewhere and benefit from a higher return. Lastly, if your ceiling fans or light fixtures are dated, you may be better suited to spend money in those areas. Overall, be careful when upgrading because it is possible to over-improve.

Cleaned & Decluttered & Staging

After you’ve landscaped, cleaned, repaired, decluttered, made improvements, and cleaned some more, you are ready to reap the rewards of your hard work!

Getting your house pic-ready creates lots of appeal. Staging accentuates your home’s positive features and allows buyers to imagine themselves living in it. It also helps them see how they might use each space within the house. People tend to be visual and often associate some degree of value with cleanliness and organized spaces! We’ve seen how a staged and tidy home almost always brings a higher price than a cluttered, dirty one. 

Final Thoughts

Applying these improvements to your property are some of the best ways to increase value. Most of these are universal and timeless ideas no matter where your property is located in Hopkins County.  A little elbow grease can put money in your pocket so that you can take a mini vacation, sip tea on the beach, and celebrate your hard work and the equity you earned from the sale.

About the Contributors: Ryan & Sunni Chester have established themselves as self-starting entrepreneurs with 19 years in the Oil & Gas Business, seven of those operating a lease in west Texas. They spent the last 15 years, owning and operating their own Oil & Gas Company.

Ryan & Sunni also know about buying, renovating, and selling homes with a profit margin. Their personal experience of being on both sides of a transaction as a buyer or seller, multiple times, means that they intimately understand their client’s position. It is this empathy and knowledge that will work well for their clients during a sometimes stressful but exciting process. For anyone considering what the first step might be, Ryan & Sunni are your go-to team.