5 Renovation Mistakes Homeowners Make When Selling Their Homes
- No.1 -- Total transformation of the interior design
- No.2 -- Renovating the ceiling
- No.3 -- Bathroom makeovers
- No.4 -- Feature walls
- No.5 -- Changing the exterior
Selling your home is just as big a step as buying a home. Not only are you putting a lifetime’s worth of memories up for sale, but you are also selling an investment that has worked for you over a long period of time.
There are many things that you can do to boost the value of your house, but there are also a lot of easy mistakes that can be made, especially when it comes to renovating!
Here are 5 renovation mistakes homeowners tend to make when selling their homes:
No.1 — Total transformation of the interior design
Many homeowners decide to remodel the interior of their house which is fine, but it should always be done in moderation.
Too many home sellers tend to totally transform the way the house looks on the inside.
Why is this a mistake?
Ultimately, the inside has to match the outside of the house and most of the time, a modern décor just doesn’t seem to match the traditional look of the exterior.
Home buyers want to envision the house as a single unit and certain styles might not fit, hereby making the buyers lose interest in your property.
And unnecessarily costing you money by having to market your property even longer!
No.2 — Renovating the ceiling
A lot of people think that the ceiling needs to be redone when in actual fact, it is the least of your worries when selling your house.
If the ceiling shows signs of wear and tear or if water has leaked through the roof, then yes, you should renovate it completely. If the roof has caved in due to a weak structure or heavy rains, then it should be replaced entirely!
But if a ceiling is fine the way it is, then it is best to leave it.
Remember the saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
No.3 — Bathroom makeovers
The bathroom is usually the smallest area of the house, but renovating a bathroom can cost the largest amount of money!
If there is nothing wrong with the bathroom, it is best to leave it as it is. Sure, you can consider sprucing it up a bit by maybe repainting the walls or replacing the shower door, but if it isn’t necessary to put in a new toilet or bath, then don’t do it.
The chances are good that the new homeowners might not even like the way you renovated the bathroom and will decide to redo the entire thing themselves anyway, hereby offsetting all the time and money you’ve spent on getting it renovated.
Why create all that unnecessary stress by renovating your bathroom?
No.4 — Feature walls
One of the common mistakes that many home sellers make is to paint feature walls in a room.
Does this come as a surprise?
Not only is this trend of painting feature walls way out of fashion, but it is also an unnecessary expense!
Again, it all comes down to taste: the new owners will probably want to put an accent color on one of the walls in a completely different color than you would.
If you want to brighten up a room or make it look larger, rather decorate it with end pieces, furniture or colorful cushions.
No.5 — Changing the exterior
Changing the exterior will cost you a lot of money and again, is rather unnecessary for you to do so. Many people choose to render brick exteriors for no reason at all.
However, if your house genuinely needs some TLC on the outside, by all means, give it a good wash or a fresh coat of paint.
And you’ll have achieved your goal without having to go the expensive route of changing the entire exterior!
In the end, avoiding these renovation mistakes can save you a lot of time and a lot of money.
Wouldn’t you rather focus your energies on looking forward to your new house instead of having to worry about the old one?
