Which Home Updates Are 2018 Buyers Looking for?

Northeast Florida Real Estate Tips for Buyers and Sellers by Chris Snow

If you are going to sell your home in 2018, there are three home updates that will get you the best return on investment and help sell your home for top dollar.
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What home upgrades will buyers pay top dollar for in 2018?

I’ve been speaking with sellers on a regular basis about the buyer trends we’ve seen over the last six months and what those buyer trends will look like in 2018 when it comes to upgrades on a resale home.

Of course, some sellers have no additional funds that they can put into upgrading the home before it goes on the market. If that’s the case, then I recommend that you declutter and stage the home as best as possible. That can be done for just a couple hundred dollars.

If you do have money that you’ve allotted for upgrades before you put your house on the market, these are the areas that buyers are responding favorably to:

1. Interior paint. Buyers respond very favorably to recently painted houses. The colors that seem to resonate the most with buyers right now are grays, blues, and whites that give the home a coastal look and feel.

You can use granite remnants to save money when upgrading your kitchen and bathrooms.

2. Updated kitchens and bathrooms. Most of these updates center around cabinetry and countertops. If you have the budget, change out your cabinets for white or white shaker cabinets. Granite countertops are very important to homebuyers. If you go to a local granite place and look for remnants, you can save a lot of money. Not all of the granite in your house has to match; it’s fine if the kitchen and bathrooms have different granite. You can create a nice look and save quite a bit of money by using the available remnants.

3. Update your flooring. If you have it in your budget, change out the flooring. Based on buyer feedback, I recommend installing hardwood floors everywhere that you can. You can also use laminate tile or new vinyls that look like hardwood to save money. It’s also important that you have one flooring surface throughout an entire living area. For example, if you are walking around barefoot downstairs, how many different flooring surfaces will you cross? If there is only one flooring surface before you open a door, buyers will respond positively to that.

It’s important to spend your money wisely. Make sure that your home is staged properly and decluttered first. Then, if you have the budget, go ahead and paint, make kitchen and bathroom upgrades, or update your flooring. Those three updates will get you a higher return than any other updates you could make.

If you have any other questions about preparing your home for the market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!