15 Mistakes that Can Decrease Your  Home’s Value

 Selling your home or investment property at a specific price may be the only  way you are able to make money on the property. Naturally you want to make  sure you have everything working in your favour.

 Too many times there are one or 2 things “wrong” which gives potential buyers  a reason to make offers below what you had in mind as the selling price.

 Here are 15 areas to make sure are correct before putting up a for sale sign.

 1. Choosing a crazy exterior colour
Curb appeal is huge, don’t pick a paint colour that isn’t common in your neighbourhood or doesn’t fit the style of your home.

2. Landscaping without a plan
Planting trees too close to the house or driveway – without considering how big they’re going to get – creates major problems later. Roots can cause breaks in the pavement that might raise your homeowners insurance or make it hard for you get a policy until the problem is fixed. Before you plant anything, think about how it will look in twenty years.

3. Ignoring your entryway
Having a front door lock that doesn’t work properly or hardware that looks old and pitted makes buyers uneasy and puts them on high alert for what else has been let go in the house.

4. Assuming you’ll recoup every investment
People spend a lot of money putting in a pool and want to recoup the value when they go to sell their home. Unfortunately, putting in a pool never gets you back the value or cost of the pool.

5. Fussing with the fireplace
“Be cautious if you’re thinking about updating the fireplace, especially if you want to paint over exposed brick. Depending on what the trend is at the time it could lower the value. People tend to like the aesthetic of exposed brick”” -Chris Winn

6. Skimping on an HVAC system
Always pay for the next system up for your home’s size. Paying more initially will bring down your power bill while you live there and will up the value when you sell.

7. Getting too complicated with paint
It might be trendy to paint the trim a contrasting color, but it distracts the eye. Keep it the same color as the wall to maximize the space.

8. Keeping old appliances
Pay attention to the brand and quality of your major kitchen appliances. If something is classic and well maintained that’s always a positive. But if you can’t get something clean it needs to be replaced. People don’t want to move in and have to replace all of the appliances.

9. Neglecting the small stuff
Buyers have their eye on details you might forget. Keep up with cleaning and maintaining windows, making sure light switches work, or making sure the garbage disposal runs properly – it all shows that the house has been cared for.

10. Not doing a deep clean
Even the tiniest details matter when it comes to cleaning. The tracks of windows, sinks, grout, ovens, and appliances are all looked at by buyers.

11. Being too trend obsessed
Buyers aren’t attracted to trendy – they are looking for kitchens or bathrooms in classic, neutral colours. If you want to add color and personality to your home use bright accessories (that are easy to change) to bring in fun details.

12. Choosing hard to clean surfaces
Make sure you spend money on the correct cleaners for your counter-tops. Permanent stains on kitchen and bathroom counters mean that the whole piece will need to be replaced.

13. Thinking too small in small spaces
Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes. That being said, you always want to make a small space feel as big as possible. Don’t re-tile a small bathroom with small tiles; they only make the space feel smaller. Use bigger tiles; they’ll open the space up

14. Neglecting your wood floors
Do not refinish or clean the floors with water and vinegar because it dulls them over time. Also, instead of a complete overhaul you can have your floors buffed every few years.

15. Leaving old carpet

Giving the carpets a professional cleaning may be what is needed, but in many cases there can still remain signs of wear. Many people prefer tile or hardwood for health reasons and personal preference.

If you’d like more info, to find out about training/coaching or to learn about how you can participate in cash flow real estate which provide above average returns, schedule a free 15 minute call by filling out the form below. And we assure you, no pressure or sales will accompany the call.    Look forward to speaking with you!