Real Estate Information |
The Costs of Transforming Your Home into a Buyers Dream House
Turning your house into the home of a buyer's dreams doesn't have to cost a great deal of money. In fact, armed with some paint and the determination to work hard, most home sellers usually need to invest only about $500 to spruce up their homes for a quick sale. A little paint, inside and out, and some good, old-fashioned "sweat equity" will go a long way toward transforming the look and feel of your home. If you have a Restore outlet (the thrift store for Habitat for Humanity) near you, you'll also be able to save considerably on lighting fixtures, "oops" paint, and other building materials. If you shop carefully, you can also find great sales at the various home building supply stores that are springing up around the country. They carry just about anything you'll need, and their prices are generally quite good, compared to department and retails stores. So how much should you spend on transforming your house? As I mentioned earlier, if your home needs only paint, you can spend $500 or less to get it looking great. But if you have to upgrade fixtures or carpeting, the cost of completely going through your home may run up to $8,000. When you begin to approach that upper figure, it's worthwhile to do a cost vs. benefit analysis to see how much added value your home will gain, and how much quicker it will sell once the work is done and the fixtures upgraded. If your home sits on the market for several months, those added mortgage payments may end up costing you more than a new built-in range or new carpet. So weigh each upgrade to see if it will help sell your home quicker, and for more money. Most of the time, it's not necessary to replace every appliance and carpet in your home to get a quick sale. Elbow grease can replace cash outlay in most cases, and will help transform your house into a home that a potential buyer won't be able to live without. (c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
What Can I Realistically Earn In A Lease Purchase Business? If you're looking at Lease Purchasing as a business, you'll obviously want to earn much more than the $20,000 per year in our "How To Give Yourself A $20,000/Year Raise Without Asking Your Boss" article. Let's review the numbers from that article: For every 100 calls Sue makes on For Sale By Owner property, she either speaks with or leaves messages for about 60%. Lake Havasu Real Estate Lake Havasu real estate is a hot commodity. With surrounding attractions such as the London Bridge, English Village, Mohave Desert, and Lake Havasu, it's no wonder that the place has become a popular place to live. Rapid City Real Estate Agents Take me Back to the Black HillsLocated in Western South Dakota, Rapid City is a thriving community with many amenities to offers its residents. This city is nestled among the beautiful Black Hills, offering endless recreational activities for the outdoor enthusiast in the Black Hills National Forest. Dead Deals and Recycled Reports Everyone knows that at the end of a home inspection, a report is generated that outlines the findings of the home inspector. But did you know that this is not intended to be a "hit list" of negatives? Us home inspectors do what we do in order to objectively describe the home. Expense List for Buying a Home There are many expenses that come with buying a home. The following list is a good example of what to expect:Down payment - A minimum of 20% of the home's purchase price is usually required for the best loan terms and to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (see below), but it's entirely possible to buy a house with a smaller down payment. Are Condo Hotels What the Orlando Real Estate Investor Has Been Looking For? Earlier this year the Hawthorn suites in Lake Buena Vista quietly sold out all of their units in less than a month. These 540 sq. Building Your Dream Home - Part 1 For most of my adult life I had thought about someday building my Dream Home. Several years ago I finally got the chance. Real Estate Investing Produces Extraordinary Profits Imagine making $5000 a year from real estate investing without recognizing you are real estate investing!Real estate values are so dynamic. The marketplace is always fluid and changing. Maximizing Curb Appeal and First Impressions to Sell your Home We all know that a home or property of any kind, in order to sell faster and at a higher price, should have what is known as curb appeal. Frequently, it is not the expensive things that make a difference. Selling Property - Valuing Your Property Selling property privately has many advantages over using an estate agent. However estate agents can provide useful local information not available from the internet. Buy or Sell First? When it comes to home buying, the ideal situation would be to find a new home, just as you receive an offer on your existing home. You would then be able to close concurrently and move into your new home a few days prior to closing on your previous home. Writing on the Wall - Are REITs a Better Investment for You? When I was a young child I had many annoying tendencies. My mother explained to me that the most annoying was my need to write on the walls of every room. Buy FHA HUD Homes FHA HUD homes are those dwellings that have been acquired by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD oversees the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which offers federal insurance on home mortgages. 10 "No Money Down" Ways to Buy Real Estate Turn the Television on any Sunday morning and you'll find yourself in the middle of a "how to buy real estate" infomercial. Can you really buy a house with no down payment? Can you really make thousands or millions of dollars buying real estate. Understanding Title Insurance Title to a property is a record detailing the owners of the property and rights associated with the ownership. Title typically shows a progression of ownership from the first owner to the current one. Kings Bay Georgia Real Estate - An Amusing Tale About a Real Estate Agent This story is true and not meant to hurt anyone, but the more that I think about what happened, the more it makes me laugh. I hope that you not only get a chuckle from it as I did, but take your time and look for a professional real estate agent. Pricing Your Property A house properly priced is half sold. But there are plenty of ways to price it improperly. 5 Things to Look for in a Property Appraiser Homeowners who are seeking a property appraiser often ask "How should I choose which real estate appraiser to use?" When selecting a property appraiser, keep the following in mind:Always make sure a property appraiser is licensed or certified by the state to perform real estate appraisals. While state licensing and/or certification isn't always an indication of quality, it ensures that an individual is has met certain standards and been authorized to perform property appraisals. Investment Concerns for Selling Your Home Besides the emotional upheaval of uprooting from your home, your property is most likely the biggest investment you have ever made, and its sale causes financial stress as well. You must protect your investment nest egg and secure your future. Las Vegas Real Estate - Luxury Properties Las Vegas is known for it's over the top hotels and casinos, larger than life celebrities and jaw dropping shows.Over the past couple of years the Real Estate Market has taken center stage breaking national sales records in 2003 and 2004 with record appreciation rates as high as 52%. |
home | site map | contact us |