The spring season is upon us, and that means warmer weather for many regions. In some places, flowers are starting to poke their heads out as temperatures warm up. That’s a happy sign for those people who feel down during the bleak winter months.
This is the time of year when you'll often see more houses go on the market. Some families or individuals don’t like to house hunt during the winter. They’d rather wait till nicer weather when the properties for sale tend to look their best.
If you’re a homeowner, you might not plan to sell your home right now, but you may at some point in the future. If that’s true, there are some home improvements that you can consider that should make it more attractive to buyers. You can do some of them yourself, but you may need to call in the pros if a project is too big or complicated.
Do a Total Tear-Off or Roof Repairs
This has been a brutal winter for storms across much of the country. Even regions that don’t usually see much snow have had a rough go of it. The much-publicized Texas calamity led to more than 20,000 winter storm claims, with probably more to come.
Whether you’re in Texas or elsewhere, a time is probably going to come when you’ll need to do some roof repairs. The roof and the foundation are two of the most critical parts of a house that people look at when they’re home shopping.
You can call up a roofing company and get them to send a representative to check out your roof's condition. If they spot only a couple of shingles that are missing, that’s a job that a single roofer can probably handle in one day.
If the roof is in truly bad shape, you might need to replace it entirely. In the industry, they call that a total tear-off. This can cost you anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 or more. However, you can often make that back during the sale if you advertise that you recently got a brand-new roof.
Take Care of Any Drainage Issues
You might decide to focus on the basement and the lawn. When you do, drainage issues might be the first thing that comes into your mind, and rightly so.
It’s challenging to sell a home if there are drainage issues, such as if the basement floods every time there is a decent rainstorm. If you conceal that there are drainage issues and try to sell the home without warning the new buyer, they can sue you for disclosure failure.
You can deal with drainage issues in different ways, depending on what exactly is going on. For instance, you might call a plumber and get them to install a sump pump in your basement. That can be an expensive job, but if you add a watercourse from the basement to the backyard and dig a dry well for the runoff to go into, that can solve the problem wonderfully. You might also have a rain barrel in the backyard into which the runoff can flow. That’s an elegant solution because you can then use the rainwater and basement runoff to water your yard, and flowerbeds, if you have any.
Update the Bathroom
Aside from the roof and foundation, most home buyers will next look at bathrooms and the kitchen. They know that people congregate in kitchens, so they’ll want a nice big one where they can cook lavish dinners.
If you have that already, taking a hard look at your bathrooms should be your next step. You might consider converting your half-bath to a full if you have the money and space for it. If you feel like you don’t want to dump that much money into the project, you might add a new backsplash instead. Some bathrooms look drab and out-of-date. A bright, colorful backsplash can correct that. You can add some subway-style tiles or an eye-catching sunburst effect.
Talk to an interior decorator to choose the option you want, and then look around in your area for someone to install it. Some general contractors might do it, or you may have some luck with a landscape and patio person. Look carefully on their websites and see if they mention backsplash, and if you’re not sure, call and ask them.
These improvements should add to your home’s value quite a bit when you decide that it’s time to sell.
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