When you are about to market your product, begin by taking time out to carry out a home audit. Would you find like your flat is cluttered? Does it need a paint job? Need to have more storage? If this wasn’t your own home, would the bathroom feel grungy? Will your kitchen appliances look like they were pulled out on the side of the highway from a used appliance store? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your prospective buyers will probably be well aware of those shortcomings as well. Luckily both of these defects can be repaired. The easiest cost of repairs will cost only a few hundred dollars and add significant value to your house.
Rent a Storage Unit
Unless you're already living in a house that's clutter-free enough to be featured on a Maria Kondo book cover, you'll probably need to declutter and store many of your belongings before you put your unit onto the market. While you may not want your collection of salt and pepper shakers, family photographs, or heirloom throwing pillows to stash away, bear in mind that most buyers will not share your fondness for these items. Indeed, your beloved tchotchkes probably drag your unit's value down more than you realized. After all, if your unit ultimately has good bones — such as nice light, decent hardwood floors, and a desirable layout — excessive clutter just distracts prospective buyers from features.
Literally fire all your clutter into usable cupboards and closets, too. When buyers view their home, all your wardrobes and cupboards will be opened to evaluate storage, and the emptier and organized these spaces look, the more storage your unit will appear to be offering.
Paint Your Proper
Another low-cost for sale by owner way to add value to your unit is to give your apartment a fresh coat of paint. Although much more expensive than tossing most of your things into boxes and renting a storage facility, the few thousand dollars that you spend giving your facility a fresh coat of paint will add significant value to your home.
If you've gone crazy with colours anywhere in the past, hiring a professional to repaint your unit in a neutral colour (any white shade) may yield a particularly strong return. After all, though most buyers would want to perform at least some renovations before moving in, buying a blank slate is much more attractive than buying a busy canvas. So far as costs are concerned, that would depend on several things, from the size of your unit to the consistency of the paint you want to have painted (e.g., just walls or walls, ceilings, and baseboards).
As with all the rest, interior painters in New York generally charge more per square foot than painters outside the city — estimates that putting a fresh coat of paint on a two-bedroom unit can range from $3,000 to $25,000. As the paint is not for you but merely part of the apartment staging process, as a rule, the best bet is to get a recommendation for a professional painter (start by asking your building staff's neighbourhoods) who has a reputation for fast and fair work at a reasonable price.
Build Your Own Storage Inside
While decluttering and painting can be very affordable ways of adding value to your unit before it goes on the market, there are also several pricier fixes that can yield a high return. In New York City, adding storage is almost always a strategic way to add value to your apartment, particularly if you can find ways to add storage without sacrificing the square footage of the apartment (e.g. by installing built-in floats).
Adding storage is not a cheap fix — most companies charge a linear square foot with entry-level estimates of $800-$1,200 per linear square foot and extra door charges — but the impact on your home's value can be significant.
Remove Old Carpets
Although most units have undergone this update by the 1990s, it is still not uncommon for older sellers to have wall-to-wall carpeting in one or all of their rooms. The bad news is that if your aim is to attract contemporary buyers, there's nothing worse than wall-to-wall carpeting. The good news is that if you're unit still has its original hardwood hiding under these carpets somewhere, it might be an excellent condition and simply ripping out the carpets will add considerable value to your unit. Even though the hardwood beneath the carpets has seen better days, sellers are advised to do away with any remaining floor coverings.
Renovate The Bathroom Or Kitchen
If your bathroom or kitchen evokes any decade other than the current decade right away, you might want to consider remodeling. However, the decision to remodel can be tough. Many homeowners prefer to pick tiles, faucets, and appliances of their own. However, if the most noticeable features of your bathroom are broken tiles or mould, a moderately priced renovation is probably well recommended. After all, while many for sale by owner buyers can live with a collection of tiles that don't suit their aesthetics, any indication that the apartment is in poor repair or a possible health hazard can seriously affect the resale price.