Best House Upgrades For Resale Value

The best house resale upgrades for your NOT forever house are the ones that bring in the most increase in house value. The more you can increase the price of your house by doing these upgrades the better you have a chance of making money when you sell it.

Continuing the series of articles about when to buy a house and steps on How to buy a house , This article will focus on what upgrades to do in your new house that will raise the resale value of the house. 

One of the main pitfalls in buying a house is the hidden costs that you incur when you buy it. Not only do you have to pay more in taxes, but also when you decide to upgrade small but many things that don’t increase the value of the house, you end up just wasting money.

Before you know it you end up spending tens of thousands of dollars and when it comes to selling the house you only get a quarter of that back.

To reiterate this is not a forever house; meaning you know that you will eventually sell this house in hopes of becoming better financially and upgrading your lifestyle when you have and make more money.

The whole goal is to spend an amount of money that would give you the same return if not two times the investment and you need to do this as soon as you can when you buy your house so that you can actually enjoy these upgrades while you live in it.

If you try to do these upgrades right before you sell you’ll find yourself not wanting to spend the money for upgrades and leaving it to the next person and hurting your chances of selling in a hot market.

Keep in mind that we are trying to focus on how you can live a good life and also make money in the long run.

When I was buying my house I consulted a real estate investor , real estate agent, and contractor to find out what the best improvements I could do to make my house better.

The house resale upgrades we made transformed our house for our enjoyment and currently has made it $60,000 higher all for the cost of $12,700 including labor . 

My expectations based on our current market is that this house will be worth at least $100,000 more than what I paid for it within 5 years. Hence, i’ll have gotten back at least 5 times my initial investment in upgrades and hopefully will be quick to sell within the price range we choose.

The most important aspect of upgrading your house is the “wow” factor. That is the feeling you first enter a house and it makes your heart skip a beat , and slowly you discover more things you like about it as you inspect it more . That has to be the first impression of your spouses !

Kitchen

Pretty much the most important house resale upgrade you can do. it is also the most time consuming, and potentially expensive, but there are also some very easy ways to cut costs and still make it classy.

The Best kitchen is an open kitchen , the more space and open the kitchen is to the dining room the better . Gives a very spacious feeling and whomever works in that kitchen will appreciate the open space greatly .

Next is flooring. You want to go with a more vinyl laminate flooring doesn’t matter which color you choose but the laminate flooring is cheaper than actual wood. Scratch resistant and water resistant is a must especially if you have kids ! The cost of flooring comes in the labor , so make sure your contractor gives you a great deal , or if you can install it yourself. 

The cabinets; the more beautiful houses have a white cabinets. This unfortunately is the most annoying thing for contractors so make sure your contractor is on board. Also for the handles you might want to go with a brushed nickel finish.

The back splash and granite counter tops; preferably you can get them for a decent price. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different colors, the common Decor for upgrades to houses we saw were mainly black counter tops. However we ended up finding a white granite counter top that Transition perfectly between the back splash and the manufactured hardwood floors.

Marble counter tops is probably the worst to spend on. More expensive and might need sealing often before you get to sell the house.

Lastly, the appliances. Preferably a microwave, refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher that are stainless steel. Lowe’s has excellent deals on appliance packages where you could get all four for near $2500.

Bathrooms

Typically for bathrooms you want to have a great amount of light with a cool colored wall paint. Most importantly for us was the daylight color in all LED lights , that made the color of the walls and pictures in the bathrooms POP .

There are very inexpensive vanities sold on Amazon which have a very stylish and very modern design. If you prefer Double Vanities in other bathrooms those options are available too . These are DIY friendly and easily assembled with little help.

Typically when choosing between Shower Vs Bathtub , Showers are more aesthetically pleasing and in more higher end homes. The improved guest bathrooms with Showers were the more modern choice. 

For the Master Bathroom ; A bathtub is preferable . Lucky for us the bathroom was in good condition and so i cannot link to any specific one . That being said , a glossy white freestanding curved edge seemed to be the most stylish. 

For flooring in the Bathrooms you want to continue using the laminate instead of tiles. I know that goes against all we picture in Bathrooms , but again were going for the durable and less expensive . You’d be surprised how nice it looks with the correct colors .

Interior and exterior 

Probably the most common paint base we saw was any variation of Grey Paint . These types of grey could range depending on the light projected on it from light green , blue,and purple. Very refreshing and relaxing color that amused me personally of how it switched depending on the time of day .  

But this color worked well in all rooms , in the kitchen it gave a background base to the white cabinets and stainless steel appliances that made the color contrast more opulent. In the Bathrooms , that same color gave a nice soothing sea color and feeling with baby blue. And in the guestroom a grand purplish color at night , made it feel more intimate .

For the exterior , I would recommend sticking to the general feel of the neighborhood . Plenty houses with the same colors is not a bad thing . Where you can get creative is the Window shutters ! A stark contrast between the house paint and window shutter colors make the house exterior stand out from the rest . 

Also important for Exterior ; Landscaping ! Maintaining your lawn and beds with trims done every year and normal wood chip mulch. Some additional gravel beds might be something to think about if you have small bushes and in the right place can be very appealing.

Basement

Finished Basements , though not included in some property square footage , and hence , the ultimate price of the house , can be the deciding factor for some home buyers . 

To have this part of the house finished can be a huge load off of homeowners back , because doing this project is somewhat costly and a lot of work . Again, it should be done before you move into the house .

Having a simple Finished basement with cheap carpet and walls is all that is needed . But some people have already built some washer , dryer rooms or storage areas to compliment that and that is just icing on the cake. 

Our Home was even better ! we had a full Bathroom and bedroom and very open space for an entertainment room . We chose to make this open space and office/ living room where we both work and play . 

Notably for the basement  , if it is possible to make an exit outside that would be considered a huge plus and a worthwhile investment . This potentially Moves your house from Liability to Asset and can even bring in some income if it is rented out long term or short term via airbnb. 

There is one drawback to having a finished basement though,  Everyone envisions the basement in their own way . While we chose to make it office and living space , others may choose a studio or game room . That might be the reason for some potential buyers to drop out from the bid on the house because they don’t want to spend much money remaking it into what they like , so be cautious when choosing the floor plan. 

Final Thoughts

There are plenty other upgrades that can be done in a house e.g fireplace , pools , adding another room etc.  But none compare to the house resale upgrade value per dollar spent . 

There are people who prefer making the house fully ready to rent out as soon as they move by taking out most carpets , and installing those same flooring i mentioned earlier in the whole house . 

This makes sure that carpet replacement costs are no longer an issue , especially if you get a tenant with a pet . But I have refrained from mentioning rental property upgrades in this article though many of the previous still apply. 

A lot of the Links in this article are direct to items i used in our home and would recommend them to our readers with confidence. Between Amazon.com , Home Depot  , and Lowe’s you can find everything you’ll need . 

A little Tip ; To save some money and build a line of credit in the process ,  Apply for the lowe’s contractor credit card to receive 3% discount off everything. Also , if you applied to a credit card that requires a minimum amount spent in a certain duration , these repairs are perfect to immediately qualify for the credit card rewards . 

This is called Credit card churning , and I will write about it in the near future ! 

Thanks for reading the article !