You’ve bought your residential rehab property. You’ve done a lot of work on it. With the help of an equity-based hard money loan, you’ve managed to put in new flooring, fix the windows, replace HVAC units, install a master bathroom, and all the other major projects. The house you are ready to put on the market barely looks like the one you bought. You’ve fixed it, and now want to flip it. But there are still a few nagging questions, and you aren’t sure if there is anything else that can be done to make the house even more spectacular and more appealing to buyers. Here’s a rule of thumb: if you can still ask yourself if more can be done, then more can be done.
These don’t have to be big projects. No one is saying that you should put on an addition. There are little inexpensive home improvement upgrades, though, that make the house look better and put the potential buyer in a more positive frame of mind. You don’t have to break the bank to turn a maybe to a yes. You just have to understand how little touches make a big deal. Here are a couple of ideas.
Four Inexpensive Home Improvement Upgrades
Crown Molding
Everyone likes knowing that the house they are buying has modern amenities and is well-built, but most people want to feel like they are in an old, sturdy house. This is where crown molding can come in. Crown molding is a great way to add to instant architectural texture and old-school class to any room. Crown molding isn’t particularly easy to install, and can be expensive, but there are ways to do it on the cheap. Installing normal molding and using a mitre saw to make it fancy is one option, as is using faux crown molding (like out of styrofoam) to augment normal, inexpensive molding. Crown molding may just be in on thin strip of the room, but it changes the entire look and feel in a way that is inherently pleasing to potential buyers.
Water Fountain
What is it that we desire in our home? It is different for everyone, but most people want a sense of peace and calmness, a way to get away from the world. The home should be a refuge, and even if the normal emotional toil of being human makes that difficult, there are ways to make the home more relaxing. One of these is a water fountain. Fountains have a certain healing power that maximize your well-being. Installing an artistic waterfall, with its soothing and meditative sounds, either inside or outside, lets a buyer know that this house can be more than just wood and drywall and mortgage payments- it can be their shelter.
Vintage Lanterns
Another way to add a sense of timelessness to a house is with a vintage hanging lantern. These lanterns, which can cost as low as $40 or $50, create character, and are story pieces. Whether they are in the entranceway or over the breakfast nook, they bring a different feel to the area, and the best part is that many vintage-looking lanterns can use eco-friendly bulbs. A quick look at Etsy reveals the huge variety in vintage lamps, including:
- Space-age retro-futurism
- Edison industrial
- Colonial
- Victorian
- Gothic
And many more. You don’t want to assume the taste of potential buyers, but there are few people who aren’t attracted to an art deco lamp hanging in the hallway. It tinges every banal walk with nostalgia.
There are a lot of ways to add value to your house without spending money, and to make it more likely to be bought quickly. Buyers want to feel right about a place, they want to immediately feel like it is home. They want a house to have weight. Adding items that make them picture themselves in the house, telling friends about the cool lamp or how after a long day they love just sitting by the fountain, can increase your chance at a sale.
Inexpensive home improvement upgrades are a great way to augment the projects you completed with your hard money loan from Socotra, California’s leading equity-based lender. Contact us today to find out how we can help you complete your residential rehab.
