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Home Flaws Hurting Your Resale Value

Home Flaws Hurting Your Resale Value

Home Flaws Hurting Your Resale Value

Curious why I’m rambling on about resale value again? In my last post, we covered the elements that added resale value to your home, but are you familiar with what could be killing it? What works for you might not work for others, so when it comes to upgrading your home or looking for location, be cognizant of what will attract future buyers.

1. Pointless Renovations

Yes, that extra bedroom may be a nuisance to someone who would like a built-in office, but for potential buyers, it’s extra space that they just might need. Avoid slashing your resale value with renovations that uniquely work for you and your lifestyle (unless this is your forever home). This means not letting your daughter paint her room hot pink unless you plan on repainting before selling again. You may think that something as simple as paint color won’t drive away buyers, but people often buy on emotion; and the emotion of fluorescent walls won’t speak to say an older, working couple.

2. Ignoring Maintenance

If you want to put your money into upgrades that matter, do so in maintaining your house. Nothing will kill resale value more than a home inspector announcing your home is in unfit living conditions. The older the property, the higher chance of electrical hazards, plumbing complications, and sneaky mould infestations. Fix up anything that could be detrimental to selling your home. Remember, it’s easier for a buyer to swallow 30K extra in price than is it for them to fork up 30K extra in added home improvement costs.

3. Neighbourhood Value

This point has two components to it.

i. The first component is location. Remember what I said about location, location, location in my last article? The Same reasoning applies here. Many cities, especially Vancouver, have their trendy, safe areas to live and then they have their run down, sketchy neighbourhoods. Buyers will research an area to make sure it’s suitable for their lifestyle and well being, so if your home is located in a rough part of town, it will affect the resale value no matter what you do.

ii. The second point is character comparison. What does this mean? Look around at the other houses in your neighbourhood, are their exterior and interior appearances relatively comparable? What kind of personality do these houses attract? By assessing the character of houses in your neighbourhood and the type of people that live there, you will get an idea of the sort of person that will be looking to buy. This matters upon choosing to renovate or upgrade; creating a trendy and modern interior in an older area will cause confusion in buyer markets. A young couple will love the feel of your space, but not feel connected to the area (and vice versa).

4. Thinking you can DIY everything

Some things should just be left up to the professionals, and there is an obvious reason… they know what they are doing. Thinking of tackling a cabinetry upgrade? You better have been good at wood shop in high school for it to turn out spot on. With a growing DIY trend in homes, realtors are coming across more and more amateur jobs that won’t be appreciated by potential home buyers. I understand that it’s appealing when trying to stay within budget, but if your DIY backsplash ends up crooked, you might not hear back from prospective buyers.

5. Overwhelming Smells

Have you ever walked into a home and been greeted by a strong smell of mildew or smoke? If you have, you’ll know what I’m hinting at here. Strong stenches send future buyers running! Sure, that smell might not be there forever, but they don’t know that. All the buyer knows is it’s either irritating or yucky to their nose, and they don’t want to spend the next 5-10 years breathing in that door every day. An uncommon secret to remedy this problem is an ozone generator. These generators eliminate overpowering smells with ozone and hydroxyl. They may be a little pricey to rent, but what’s spending $120/day for a few days compared to losing a home sale?

Thankfully, most problems that are detrimental to resale value have an easy fix (or could be something to avoid altogether), but as you can see… some issues are unavoidable. However, there are some actions you can take to bring your home up to market value again. For example, why not implement some of my advice on adding resale value to your home? Or call a realtor and use their knowledge of real estate to your advantage!

I’m an expert in marketing your home to potential buyers at the sale price you want to see it sell for. Contact me today on my website or on my cell at 604.729.5203 for a complimentary consultation.

For more information on real estate market in Vancouver, current trends, buying a home or selling a home, contact Leo Wilk – Your Top Vancouver Realtor.

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