Maybe you have newly purchased a home that does not have all the features or aesthetics that you need or prefer, or maybe you have been living in your home for a period and have decided that it is time to upgrade.
Either way, home renovation projects that are DIY in nature will impact your budget, timeline, and sanity during the overall process.
And if you are adding these updates with the sale of your home in mind you will want to make sure to keep overhead low, and projects more on the general side as opposed to the specific.
Buyers want to view your home as space they can see themselves living not as a space that is clearly specific to the current owners’ tastes.
Understanding how to fund home projects of any size and the pros and cons associated with taking on the tasks yourself is a great jumping off point for you as you create your overall plan.
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Financing Home Updates
Frequently the phrase DIY is associated with being budget friendly, and typically that is the case.
However, not all homeowners want to or are able to pay cash for these projects upfront regardless of who is completing the work.
You can explore your options with personal loans and find the right option for you if you have decided that borrowing money is how you are going to approach this plan.
Ensuring that your ROI potential is high is essential since you are tackling these projects and taking out this loan as a steppingstone to finance your next big move.
Lenders and financial advisors are the obvious choices for who to consult when determining a sensible budget for fixing up a home for the market.
Consider including your realtor in the conversation as well.
These professionals are up to date and knowledgeable on market trends and what buyers are looking for so they can provide input on how to best allocate your money.
Additionally, realtors may have contacts that they can share with you for when it comes time to acquire materials, draw up plans, and execute the actual work.
Create an Inviting Ambiance
There’s no doubt that the fastest way to sell a house is to create a welcoming ambiance that’ll help prospective buyers to imagine themselves living in the house.
Once they see that the place is well taken care of and everything’s prepared for them, they’ll instantly think that your house is the best option because they can use things as-is. That said, make sure that you:
1. Provide Enough Lighting
There’s nothing more unwelcoming than viewing a house that lacks enough lighting.
Well-lit spaces don’t just create a cheery atmosphere, but they also give the illusion of bigger spaces.
Therefore, make sure that you allow as much light as possible by taking down the drapes and cleaning the windows to allow natural light inside.
Also, adding more light fixtures and bulbs can help.
2. Add Special Touches
Although most people tend to disregard this idea, a simple gesture of placing a new doormat tagged ‘welcome’ can make buyers feel welcomed and loved.
You may also place fresh and colorful flowers, accent pillows, and lush green plants to make it feel more like home.
Just make sure that you don’t overdecorate; else, they may think that you’re incorporating your preferences, and that would make them feel unwelcomed.
3. Ensure Good Indoor Air Quality and Pleasant Odor
Even if you have a well-lit and well-decorated space, unpleasant scents and strong odors will surely turn your buyers off.
After all, who wants to be welcomed with nasty smells, right?
To avoid this problem, you can simply boil vinegar with water and pour it down the drain, light fresh-smelling candles, or allow fresh air to enter by opening the windows.
DIY vs Hired Help
The scope of your project and your personal abilities will help you to decide how much you should handle yourself and where it makes sense to outsource the work.
Jobs like painting walls and cabinets, switching out light fixtures, and even adding a backsplash are all relatively simple and even the most inexperienced DIY’er could find success with a few simple video tutorials.
However larger undertakings where demolition is required, or attention to plumbing and electrical is necessary might require the support of a professional.
Even if you decide to use paid professionals you can keep your budget under control by figuring out how you can assist them to keep costs low.
For example, if you are planning a bathroom remodel and all the cabinets and flooring need to come out, perhaps this is something that you can handle yourself, that way you can allocate more of your budget towards materials and labor on the back end of that project where there are pieces of the project you are not able to help with.
Your timeline should also be considered during this stage, what are your goals? Do you need to sell your current home to get into your next one?
Do you want to make sure that your home is on the market during a specific season? Will the climate of your location delay or potentially halt any portion of your remodel?
If time is not on your side and you are not experienced enough or free enough to do the work yourself and still meet your goals, that may be a good indication of needing to outsource the work.
Depersonalize Your Home
While it may trigger some emotions to take yourself and your possessions out of your home, it is one of the most surefire ways to get your house ready for market.
As mentioned above when discussing what updates to select, you will want to also make sure that all that is out for the show in the home is also general and appeals to the masses.
Decluttering is another important step in home sale prep. Buyers will not want to see anything that can be correlated to the house size being inefficient or having an overall lack of storage.
Giving buyers a chance to focus on the actual home instead of all the knick knacks inside of it decreases distractions during showings.
Organizing your space will also be helpful to you when it comes time to pack up and move.
Going through belongings now and deciding what is worth bringing to your next space and what is not will cut down on packing and unpacking.
When You Can’t Afford Repairs and Renovations
Not everyone will have the time and budget it takes to repair their homes before selling them.
Sometimes, owners are rushing to close the sale, which can be attributed to many reasons—from a sudden move or emergency cases where fast cash is needed, to divorce cases and other personal issues.
If your case is like any of them, selling your house as-is can be your best option.
There are many cash home buying companies like Ocean City Development that’ll handle the as-is home selling transactions professionally from start to finish.
You won’t need to fix your house, do staging, or hire agents. As-is cash home buyers will just assess your house, and once you complete the documents required, you can get an offer and close the sale in just a week or two.
