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Strategic Investments to Increase Home Value and Market Appeal
When it’s time to sell your home, one of the biggest questions is how to make it as appealing as possible to today’s buyers. While market conditions, location, and timing all play a role, the updates you choose before listing can make a meaningful difference in both your selling price and how quickly your home goes under contract. The key is knowing where to invest your time and money. Not every project pays off, but some smart upgrades can give your home a competitive edge, help it stand out in online listings, and create the kind of first impression that gets buyers excited.
Here are some of the most impactful ways to invest in your home before putting it on the market.
Fresh Paint and a Neutral Palette
Few improvements have a more substantial return on investment than paint. A fresh coat instantly refreshes a space, making it feel clean, updated, and well-maintained. Neutral tones for interiors, such as soft grays, light beige, and crisp whites, appeal to the broadest audience and allows buyers to envision their own style in the home. It’s crucial not to overlook trim, doors, and even ceilings, as these small details help create a polished, move-in-ready feel. And if your front door could use a pop of personality, consider a bold, welcoming color that complements the rest of the exterior.
Curb Appeal That Counts
Buyers often form an impression before they even step inside. Landscaping, exterior lighting, and simple maintenance go a long way toward making your home inviting. Think trimmed hedges, fresh mulch, pressure-washed walkways, and a tidy lawn. It’s also smart to ensure outdoor areas are safe, from repairing uneven paths to addressing any obvious hazards.
Adding planters with seasonal flowers, updating house numbers, or swapping out an old mailbox can elevate your home’s appearance without requiring a significant investment. For buyers scrolling through listings, that curbside charm can be a deciding factor that gets them to schedule a showing.
Kitchen and Bathroom Touch-Ups
Kitchens and bathrooms continue to be high priorities for buyers, but you don’t need to take on a full remodel to make an impact. Small upgrades like replacing outdated cabinet hardware, installing new light fixtures, or swapping in modern faucets can transform the look of these spaces.
In the kitchen, consider updating your backsplash with a clean, timeless tile or refreshing worn countertops with a durable surface. In bathrooms, regrouting tile, caulking any cracks, replacing mirrors, or updating vanities are simple ways to modernize without overspending.
Flooring Matters
Floors are often one of the first things buyers notice when touring a home. If your carpets are worn or stained, professional cleaning or even replacement can make a big difference. Hardwood floors are especially appealing and refinishing them is often more cost-effective than replacing them.
For areas where replacement makes the most sense, consider durable and stylish options like engineered wood or luxury vinyl plank. Consistent flooring throughout the main living areas can also help a home feel more spacious and cohesive.
Energy-Efficient Features
Today’s buyers are increasingly focused on efficiency and sustainability. Investments like LED lighting, programmable thermostats, and updated appliances not only lower utility bills but also signal to buyers that the home is modern and thoughtfully maintained.
If your budget allows, new windows or improved insulation can add value while appealing to environmentally conscious buyers. Highlighting these upgrades in your listing helps showcase both comfort and cost savings.
Decluttering and Staging
Sometimes the most impactful upgrade isn’t about new finishes, it’s about presentation. Decluttering each room, minimizing personal items, and rearranging furniture to optimize space can dramatically change how buyers perceive your home. And the best part? It’s completely free.
Professional staging takes this one step further, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere that helps buyers envision living in the space. Even small touches, like fresh flowers, cozy throws, and well-placed artwork, can make your home feel more stylish, comfortable, and truly move-in ready.
Making Smart Choices
The goal of any pre-sale investment is to spend strategically, choosing projects that increase appeal without overextending your budget.
At Windermere, our agents are experts at helping sellers decide which upgrades matter most. From recommending paint colors to connecting you with trusted contractors, we’re here to make sure you get the best return on your investment. Through our Windermere Ready program, we can even front the cost of improvements like painting, landscaping, cleaning, and staging so your home shines its brightest when it hits the market. With concierge-level service and no payments due until closing, it’s a simple way to maximize your home’s value and sell faster.
Connect with an experienced Windermere agent today to learn more about how we can help you prepare your home for the market with confidence:
Choosing the Right Fence and Gate for Your Home
Whether you are looking to improve your curb appeal, create more security or privacy, or cordon off a side garden, a fence or gate can be a practical and creative solution. With so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which material is best for your home. By focusing on your budget and which materials best complement your home, you’ll eventually find your answer. Here are some options to get you started in your search.
Different Types of Fencing
Consider your priorities before choosing materials. Perhaps your fencing will serve the exclusive purpose of providing a designated area for pets and/or children to play, or you’re more focused on matching the wood grain with that of your home, or maybe you’ve simply always dreamed of having a white picket fence. When compiling your budget, account for materials and labor if paying a professional. If you plan to install on your own, know that a fence installation can be a physically demanding project. If your fencing is going into soft soil, you’ll have an easier time with installation. But for those who will be post-hole digging into rocky dirt or gravel, you can expect a challenge.
Natural Fences
Consider using a natural fence such as shrubbery, hedges, or trees to create a perimeter around your property. Natural fences create a barrier while bolstering your landscaping design and help to create a flow between your garden beds, yard, and the house itself. In comparison to other fencing solutions, natural fences may be a more affordable option, especially if you can plant them on your own. However, unless you’re buying full-grown shrubbery, natural fencing will take time to grow, whereas other types of hard-material fencing are functional as soon as they are constructed.
White Picket Fence
White picket fences, though traditional and simple in design, are effective. They are easy to maintain while complementing various home styles. Due to their sturdiness, they do well to keep pets in your yard and provide a safe designated area for them to roam. White picket fences reflect light and can make the colors in the shrubbery/plant life surrounding them pop. For the green thumbs that aspire to grow a flourishing garden, a white picket fence may be the perfect solution for magazine-quality grounds. However, with white picket fences, their strength is also their weakness. White is more prone to noticeable stains, meaning you can expect to set aside time for touch up painting at least once a year if you want to keep your fence purely white.
Wood Fences
There are many types of wood to pick from when choosing fencing. Local climate looms large in the decision-making process. It’s important to understand how the wood will hold up throughout the seasons and what kinds of treatments and/or stains are required to keep it from weathering. Wood fences work with many home styles. You’ll often see natural wood-colored fences used to reflect the aesthetic of Craftsman homes, while different paint colors and stains may be used to complement a more modern home style.
Different Types of Gates
Garden Gates
- Ivy or Flower Archway: Use a simple wooden arch gate to allow flowers, ivy, or grape vines to grow along the gate creating a framed, lush entryway.
- Vintage Gate: Use an old, wired gate to create a rustic vintage feel that leads to your personal garden.
- Driftwood: Create your own gate by collecting wood or driftwood. You can then use twine, wire, or rope to create your own design.
Driveway Gates
- Security Gates: Using a security gate is one of the easiest ways to make your home safer and more secure. There are many types of security gates, but steel provides protection without the need for much maintenance.
- Side Yard Gates: If you don’t have a driveway gate, consider getting a side yard gate for added security and privacy.
- Ornate Gates: Ornate gates don’t always create privacy but can create a beautiful entryway while also offering more control over who has access to the property.
For more on home improvement, read our guide to home lighting: How to Find the Right Lighting for Your Home
Landscaping Tips That Can Increase Your Home’s Value
When you own a home, there’s a natural desire to invest in landscaping projects that help beautify your yard. But for those who are preparing to sell, the emphasis should be on specific projects that boost your home’s curb appeal and add to its value. The following landscaping tips can help you position your home to sell at the best price. We also recommend talking with your agent about the best landscaping ideas for your home that buyers in your area are looking for.
Landscaping Tips That Can Increase Your Home’s Value
Flower Beds
Beautifying your flower beds is a matter of making improvements in two areas: the flower beds themselves and the border surrounding them. Flower-lined pathways leading toward your home’s front door help guide buyers’ eyes and create a natural aesthetic order to your front yard. Plant colorfully to inspire a vibrant look or choose fewer flowers for a more uniform consistency. Add fresh mulch or beauty bark to your flower beds to make them pop. Creating a border with stone, brick, clay, or another similar material will help delineate flower beds from grass while delivering a clean, refined aesthetic to your property.
If you’re designing new borders to your flower beds, think about the traffic patterns, the orientation of the house in relation to the rest of your neighborhood, and your front yard’s location to ultimately settle on the best sight lines. Spend time weeding the area where your border will go. To dissuade future weed growth, consider adding a thin layer of sand or gravel between the dirt and your border pavers. Finally, clean your hardscaping with an outdoor cleaner or pressure washer to get rid of built-up dirt and moss.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Elenathewise
Lawn Care
A fresh lawn will make a solid first impression on prospective buyers. Here are a few basic lawn care tips:
- Fertilize at the appropriate time of year for your local climate
- Set your lawn mower blades at the proper height to ensure you’re not cutting your grass too short
- Water regularly to keep your lawn healthy
If you live in an arid climate, grass alternatives may be a more popular local choice. No matter where you live, once you’ve decided to sell, you can rest assured that spending time and energy on caring for your lawn will pay dividends once you’ve staked your “for sale” sign.
Landscaping Lighting
Once you’ve fixed up your garden beds and tended to your lawn, you’ve done well to ensure that your home’s landscaping will look its best—during the daylight, that is. To ensure that buyers feel the work you’ve put into your home around the clock, consider installing landscape lighting. This will help to put your home’s qualities on full display during the nighttime, while also adding a welcoming touch for potential buyers and passersby.
Front Porch
Add planters to your front porch to create flow from your front yard to your entrance. For the ultimate front porch aesthetic, think of ways that you can create symmetry with your planter boxes. Nest them along the borders of windows, select planter boxes with dimensions that compliment a seated bench, or place identical boxes on either side of your front door. This will direct attention to your home’s front entry and helps to instill that all-important first impression in buyers’ minds.
To learn more about quality landscaping projects, read our blog post on 5 Design Projects to Improve Your Backyard.
Open Your Home With the Right Tone and a Welcome Mat
Right before the guests ring the doorbell or give the front door an old-fashioned knock, they step on your welcome mat. This mat serves two purposes: catching debris and adding style. Here are some ideas for how to give this entry detail a refresh.
5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Home’s Resale Value
Did you know that most buyers form their first impression of your home within minutes of first seeing it? Years ago sellers would list their homes for sale in “as is” condition. In today’s market, that no longer works. Today you need to make the best possible first impression to get the sale you want – and you only get one chance to make a great first impression.
