Put down the construction helmet! Here are five ways to increase your home’s value without a kitchen remodeling

Contrary to popular belief, complete kitchen makeovers aren’t as helpful as you think when it comes to getting a higher price for your property.

When it comes to putting your house on the market, there are a lot of tricky decisions to make. Should you redecorate, buy new kitchen appliances, or perhaps even hire a home stager? Let’s take a look at the best way to increase home value before selling and why kitchen remodeling isn’t usually the best choice.

First things first...

Don’t make any huge investments. While you might think that renovating a kitchen into a modern delight will help you get higher offers when you put your property on the market, most homeowners don’t see any return on massive investments made just before selling. 

This is because buyers might already have an image in their head of how they want to redo your kitchen, so making any drastic changes is rarely useful. The fact is that any renovation decisions will be made according to your tastes, which may not coincide with those of the buyer.

Generally speaking, people are looking to purchase a home which can act as a canvas for their personality, a blank page. This means that realistically, they don’t want to see your past, present, or personality quirks. This is one reason why professional ‘home stagers’ remove family photos from the wall.

Here's what to do instead

The good news is that they are plenty of easier ways to increase the value of your property, ones which really work. So, apart from removing the portraits and hiding the dirty laundry, here are five ways to improve your resale value.

Step One: Make it neutral

When it comes to selling your home, your vibrant personality does not work in your favor. Buyers want creative freedom, which means your tangerine-orange kitchen and polka dot bathroom are out, and gray, taupe, beige or cream walls are in.

Step two: Improve your curb appeal

First impressions might often be wrong, but don’t underestimate their importance. A lick of paint on your exterior walls and an afternoon spent weeding the lawn will have a much higher impact than any expensive change to your interiors. 

Step three: Declutter your furniture

This falls under making it neutral, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t realize that their heavy antiques or leather sofas aren’t to everyone’s taste. Get your furniture down to a minimum, putting the rest in storage until the sale is closed. This helps the viewers picture the space with their own furniture and see their families there.

Step four: Invest in new countertops

If your kitchen does need an update, investing in new countertops is a solid choice when it comes to affordable kitchen remodeling. If you have the money to spare, granite, marble or quartz countertops go a long way towards improving the resale value of your home.

Step five: Update your old appliances

When you refit a kitchen with designer kitchen appliances or scratch and dent merchandise, you add substantial value to your home. Especially when you install fitted and smart kitchen appliances that will save the buyer from needing to reinstall their old machines, saving them valuable time and money during the move. 

And here, the same rules apply. You want to go neutral rather than eclectic; minimalist rather than cluttered. Think sleek lines, stainless steel, and no frills.

The takeaway

So, while you might be hearing rumors of how profitable it is to renovate a kitchen before a sale, the fact is, it’s an unnecessary expense that probably won’t do you any favors in the long run. 

Fortunately for you, it’s easy to increase the value of your home without investing thousands into kitchen remodeling. Instead, those cream walls, scratch and dent refrigerator and improved curb appeal could be all you need to fetch a higher price.