Avoid These 2 Remodeling Mistakes Before Listing Your Home

What are the two biggest remodeling mistakes you can make to your house before selling it?

The mantra you want to remember when selling your house is that nobody wants to buy your home—they want to buy their home. If your home looks like your home, it will be less valuable to someone than if it looked like a blank canvass.

“Buyers don’t want to buy your home; they want to buy their home.”

The first mistake to avoid is remodeling in a way that’s specific to your tastes. For example, let’s say you wanted to add new carpeting or new paint. If you repaint, the color had better be white, cream, or something similarly neutral.

Unless your carpeting is horrible, don’t replace it. You’re better off giving the seller a carpet credit and letting them pick out whatever carpet they want. Why? The chances that your tastes align with the tastes of everyone else who might want to buy your house are infinitesimal.

The second mistake is upgrading your house over the value of the neighborhood. Suppose every property in your neighborhood or area is worth up to $500,000 and you make a bunch of luxurious additions that increase the value of your home to $900,000. Your house might look nicer, but you’ve also outpriced yourself because now nothing in the neighborhood is close to that value. If you make high-priced upgrades just to enjoy them, then that’s fine, but don’t expect to get your money back.

If you have questions about how to sell your house or how much it’s worth, please feel free to get a hold of me in any way that’s convenient for you. I look forward to helping you!