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Increase the Value of Your Home Before You List

Increase the Value of Your Home Before You List: Elevate Your Home’s Curb Appeal

We know that selling your home can be an exhilarating yet daunting process. And as you prepare to list your property, it’s essential to maximize its appeal to potential buyers. The key lies in making strategic improvements that not only enhance the overall aesthetics but also increase its value. Whether you’re aiming to attract more offers or get a higher selling price, there are many ways to elevate your home’s appeal without breaking the bank.

This can be achieved by some minor touch-ups to transformative enhancements. These steps are designed to make a significant impact on prospective buyers. Because we know that by investing time and effort into these improvements, your home can be a desirable property in the competitive real estate market. In this blog, we’ll discuss some of the steps you can take to improve your home before you list, so you can increase the value of your home.

Ten Simple Steps to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

When it comes to your home’s curb appeal you should make sure that you’ve at the very least made some minor adjustments. This can be as simple as cleaning up your garden or front yard during the warmer months, you don’t always have to break the bank to help improve your curb appeal. In the detailed list below we have ten simple steps you can take to help with this task before you list your home.

Enhance Curb Appeal: First impressions matter, and the exterior of your home sets the stage for what’s inside. Invest in landscaping, repaint the front door, and consider adding outdoor lighting to create an inviting entryway.
Declutter and Depersonalize: Clear out unnecessary items and personal belongings to allow potential buyers to envision themselves living in the space. Keep decor minimal and neutral to appeal to a broader audience.
Fresh Coat of Paint: A simple fresh coat of paint can work wonders in revitalizing the look of your home. Focus on high-traffic areas, such as the living room and kitchen, and stick with neutral colours that appeal to a wide range of tastes.
Update Light Fixtures: Replace outdated light fixtures with modern, energy-efficient alternatives to brighten up your space. Choose fixtures that complement the style of your home and provide adequate lighting in each room.
Upgrade Kitchen Appliances: If your kitchen appliances are outdated or showing signs of wear, consider investing in newer models. Stainless steel appliances are popular among buyers and can instantly modernize the look of your kitchen.
Revamp Bathroom Fixtures: Replace old faucets, showerheads, and cabinet hardware in the bathrooms to give them a fresh, updated look. Consider installing a new vanity or mirror to enhance the overall aesthetic.
Flooring Refresh: If your flooring is worn or outdated, consider refreshing it with new carpet, hardwood, or laminate. Clean or refinish existing hardwood floors to restore their natural beauty and appeal.
Address Minor Repairs: Take care of any minor repairs, such as leaky faucets, squeaky doors, or chipped paint. These small fixes may seem insignificant but can make a big difference in the overall impression of your home.
Maximize Natural Light: Remove heavy drapes or blinds and let natural light flood into your home. Clean windows inside and out to ensure maximum brightness and openness, creating an inviting atmosphere.
Add Finishing Touches: Finally, add finishing touches such as fresh flowers, decorative accents, and strategically placed mirrors to elevate the ambiance of your home. Pay attention to details that create a cohesive and welcoming environment for potential buyers.

There are ten potential steps that you can take to improve your home’s appeall. Whether you do all of them or just a few, we recommend making sure your home is ready when you choose to list. This means you can increase your chances of how fast your home might sell. When a buyer can see themselves living in your home, the chances of them wanting to purchase go up. Another tip might be to have your home staged or virtually staged.

Contact The VanDinther Team

We can’t wait to see what you choose to do with your home to get it ready to list. Making these changes can elevate your home’s appeal and ability to sell. Whether you do something simple such as a fresh coat of paint or minor renovations, we know that your home will look fantastic.

For personalized guidance and expert assistance throughout the selling process, consider reaching out to the VanDinther Team at RE/MAX. With their extensive experience and dedication to client satisfaction, they can help you navigate the complexities of selling your home with confidence and ease. To contact the VanDinther Team directly by phone please call 905-330-2002 or email at info@loriv.com.

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Is Home Staging Worth It?

Is Home Staging Worth It?

Is it worth it to have your home staged? This is a great question and I’m happy to answer it. In this blog we’ll discuss some of the reasons why you would want to use a stager. When you decide to sell your home that’s really the first step in the whole process, then comes the question of whether or not to stage it. Does it need to be? Your REALTOR should be able to help you answer this question.

If your home needs some improvements to help potential buyers imagine themselves living in your home, then I say why not do it! But what is home staging anyway? It’s a way to present your home, as I mentioned above, to prospective buyers in order to sell it. REMAX Canada recommends three steps that include; depersonalizing, decluttering and redecorating.

Depersonalize Your Home

Let’s start organizing and putting things away, less is more! Pack away your personal items from around your home. These items can be pictures, awards, etc. Most likely you’ll have a professional stager come and help you determine what to pack away and what to keep!

Decluttering Your Space

When you’ve lived in the same home for a few decades things can pile up. That’s why we need to remember that less is more in this case. We want to make sure buyers can see themselves living there and loving it. You’ll want to pack away items that you don’t need and make space. Now your space is looking clean, organized and looking fresh. You might even want to paint a room or two, that’s where redecorating comes in.

Redecorate The Room

The time has come, time to redecorate and make your home shine. Literally, we want to make it shine and look like the perfect home for the prospective buyer. There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint, it can change everything. Your stager might even want to rent some new furniture to help get things even more modern and stylish. According to REMAX Canada, hiring a professional stager is the right move and I agree!

Who’s Paying For This?

Typically the seller is going to pay for this service, but it’s understood that they’ll make the money back on the sale of the home. According to the National Association of REALTORs, homes that are staged sell up to 30 percent more than those that aren’t.

The cost of having your home staged is determined by a few different factors. These can be the overall state of the home and how much staging is actually required. The home might only really need some paint and cleaning, while another home might be more work.

Depending on the amount of staging needed will determine the cost, that’s something you’ll discuss with your REALTOR and stager. That’s the fun part, we want to make your home so beautiful that buyers are knocking down the door to buy it!

The VanDinther Team

If you have any questions about home staging and how we can help you, let us know! The VanDinther Team is made up of experience real estate professionals that are ready to help you with all of your home buying and selling needs.

Have you been wondering what your home might be worth? Give our “What’s My Home Worth” calculator a try and find out! Please feel free to contact me or my team at anytime either by phone at 905-330-2002 or by email at info@loriv.com.

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Canadian’s are Adopting the Greener Homes Grant

Home Improvement, Maintaning Your Home / Erin / July 20, 2021

The Federal Government’s Greener Homes Grant

Have you been thinking about making improvements to your home? Right now might be the best time to do it. The Greener Homes Grant has been introduced recently and is becoming very popular amongst Canadians and for a good reason. “The federal government’s Canada Greener Homes Grant is proving wildly popular after coming online less than a month ago.” The grant has $2.6 million to work with and is targeting 700,000 homes across the country over the next 7 years.

It will provide Canadians with up to $5,000 in order to help make energy-efficient retrofits. The retrofits will need to follow the EnerGuide standards. Jordan MacDonald, who is the president of a building performance consulting company in Atlantic Canada, stated “We’ve had a huge uptake since the program started. We have a team of energy advisors in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We were providing a similar service before the Greener Homes program, but we’ve seen a tenfold increase since the government launched it and we’re in the midst of increasing our staffing.”

Upgrades That are Covered

When it comes to what’s covered in the upgrades, they are included in a building envelope. This building envelope includes; installation, air sealing, replacing windows and doors with energy-efficient units, and air or ground source hear pumps. This will not only reduce costs but also helps to contribute to combating climate change.

The grant will also cover renewable energy such as photovoltaic panelling, which will regenerate electricity. In some cases this will even be feb back into the grid. These incentives are put in places to encourage us all to help make our planet a better place and why not start with your home. Making upgrades to your home also helps to add value when you’re ready to sell.

The Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan said in a recent interview that “we worked with Statistics Canada on the model of the program—we think it’s about 110,000 direct and indirect local jobs in their communities. We’re also taking into account the recruitment, training and mentoring of up 2,000 EnerGuide energy advisors.”

Improve Your Home and Increase the Value

It’s true that making improvements to your home can increase the value. You’re helping to improve the value and in this case also the environment. When we talk about what we can do to help the planet we sometimes wonder how we can do more, this is a great place to start.

O’Regan also said that “any time you improve your home, one would think it increases the value, but you’re also going to see an increase in the literacy of this. People want to be able to do something to combat climate change, which seems so insurmountable that there is an appetite out there amongst Canadians to do their part. The only way this will work, aside from the fact that we’re talking about 1.5 megatons of greenhouse gas reductions beginning in 2027—that is sizeable—but in order for change to be expandable, I think people need to benefit from it and save money. This is not just about lowering emissions and creating good jobs, it’s also about lowering Canadians’ energy bills and that’s how it will be sustainable.”

There’s never been a better time than right now to make these improvements and then when you’re ready to list. I’m always here if you ever have questions about when it’s a good time to list and how we can work together to get the process started.

Contact Lori and Team Today

Have questions? You can contact Lori VanDinther and her team today if you’re interested in buying or selling your home. If you’re interested in learning what your home is worth, try our free home evaluation.

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