Understanding what factors are taken into consideration when determining your home appraisal value will help you get the most value and avoid overpricing your for sale home.

Location:  First, your home appraisal value is based on the location of the home. Different neighborhoods will increase the value of your home. Where your home is positioned in the neighborhood will also hold some weight. For example if you have a large lot in the back of the neighborhood it will be worth more than the corner lot parallel to the main road. The neighborhood’s value is based on multiple factors including its crime rate, how close it is to schools and hospitals, the neighboring school system’s rating and other surrounding amenities like beaches and parks.

Structural Construction Materials and Updates:  Another factor that determines your home appraisal value is the construction materials used to build the foundation of your home. A house built more recently with modern materials, or updated to use modern materials will hold a higher value than a home that hasn’t been updated since it was originally built decades ago. Updating other materials like the roof, siding or windows will also add to your home appraisal value because they improve the overall efficiency and safety of the structure of the home.

Age of the Home:  The age of your home will also be a factor in your home appraisal value. A newer home won’t necessarily always be appraised higher than an older home. There are advantages to having a new and old home. New homes that were built within the last 10 to 20 years are less likely to have major issues, so are lower risk to buy and this will therefore increase the home appraisal value. Older homes that are located in historic districts or have been maintained fabulously for decades will also have a high appraisal.

Design Style of the Home:  Another area that will be evaluated to determine your home appraisal value is the overall design of the home. There are certain timeless home designs that will not affect the long term value of your home. However if you opt for trendy decor and overall finishes in your home it could be appraised at a lower value when it’s no longer in style. For example if your home was last updated in the 70s, and the finishes in the home reflect that, it may be appraised at a lower value because it does not appeal to all buyers.

Curb Appeal:  The curb appeal and general landscaping of the home also impacts the home appraisal value. If your home lacks curb appeal it could lower the value of the home. On the other hand if your yard is filled with hard to care for plants and a hazardous dead tree this could also negatively affect your home appraisal value. It’s best to go with an easy to care for and clean landscape design to appeal to most buyers and increase your appraisal value.

Number of Bedrooms:  The number of bedrooms your home has will also increase your home appraisal value. The home appraiser will compare your home to other homes in the area with the same number of bedrooms to make a value comparison.

Number of Bathrooms:  The number of bathrooms in your home will also increase your home appraisal value. If you have 3 full bathrooms in your home for example, your home will be appraised higher than a home that has 1 and a half bathrooms.

Square Footage:  Another area that’s evaluated to determine your home appraisal value is the overall square footage of the home. Once that number is determined, the appraiser will look at how that space is distributed throughout the home. How much of your square footage is usable and livable space? How many stories does your home have? These are all areas that will be taken into consideration when evaluating the square footage of your home.

Heat and Air:  The type of heat and air your home has will also be a factor in your home appraisal value. Homes that have central air for example will be appraised higher than homes that require room by room air conditioning units. In addition, how your heat is fueled, whether by electric, gas or oil will also be taken into consideration. Any outdated systems will lower the appraisal value of your home.

Storage Space:  Another area that’s considered is storage space. A home that has an ample amount of large closets, a useable basement and a large attic for storage will be appraised at a higher value. Many home buyers who are looking to upsize their home take into consideration how much storage space a home has, so this is also something that an appraiser will look at to determine value.

Garage Space: The size of the garage, or if the home has a garage at all, will also contribute to the home appraisal value. A home with a 3 car garage will be appraised higher than a home with a 1 car garage with comparable features. In general where a home buyer is able to park their cars will influence the appraisal value.

Recent Home Renovations:  If the home has undergone large home renovations since the last time it was appraised, this will also contribute to the home appraisal value. Newly updated kitchens and bathrooms hold a lot of value in today’s market, so an appraiser will take these renovations into consideration when determining the value of your home. Before putting your home on the market, choosing high impact areas of your home to renovate could have large returns on the appraisal value of your home.

The Current Real Estate Market:  Finally, the current real estate market has a large influence on how your home is appraised. Homes appraised during a “seller’s-market”, or a market that’s saturated with a ton of buyers and not enough inventory to accommodate all of them, will be appraised higher. On the other hand your home appraisal value during a “buyer’s-market”, or a market that’s saturated with a ton of homes and little buyers, will be appraised lower.

You don’t have to undergo major home renovations to add value to your home before putting it on the market. Sometimes minor updates around the house can have a huge impact on how quickly your home sells and at what price. Homebuyers want to know they are getting their money’s worth when searching for their new home. These inexpensive DIY projects could be just the updates your home needs to sell.

Paint DIY Projects:

Update bedrooms & main areas with neutral paint

Appeal to a larger range of home buyers by updating the rooms in your home with neutral paint colors. Although painting can be time consuming it can have a huge return when selling your home. Pick neutral colors that are trending right now, like light grays, to give your home an updated and current feel. Home buyers will be thrown off by bright paint colors and outdated wallpaper, so this DIY project is one of the most important to complete prior to putting your home on the market.

Decor DIY Projects:

Upcycle furniture pieces

Make a statement in your home with upcycled furniture. For example, you could buy an old dresser and paint it with a bright paint color to add to your front entry way. This is a great way to bring a pop of color to an impactful area of your home. Home buyers want to see updated decor, so this type of trendy statement piece could make a great first impression on potential buyers.

Update hardware around the home

One minor, inexpensive DIY project is to update all of the hardware around your home. First you should get new and modern drawer pulls for the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Next you should remove brass and other outdated door handles and hardware and replace them with new modern handles. This DIY project can give the appearance of an updated, cohesive space, and completely transform the look of a room in your for-sale home.

Update throw pillows with new fabric

No-sew pillows are the latest way to update throw pillows without having to spend money on completely replacing the pillows you already have. There are two ways to update your throw pillows with new fabric. One way is to tie fabric around the pillow creating a decorative knot in the front. The second way is to buy fabric glue and create a pillow cover by simply gluing cut fabric together and turning the fabric inside out. These DIY pillows will help you tie a room together for half the price of completely replacing all of your throw pillows.

Cleaning DIY Projects:

Clean out showers, bathtubs and sinks

Clean the surface of your bathtubs and sinks with a powerful solution made of ingredients you have around the house. A magic cleaning recipe has circulated around Pinterest and simply uses a vinegar and dawn solution to blast through surface stains. How do you create this magic concoction? It’s simple! First heat up 12 oz. of Vinegar in the microwave until hot. Once heated, add to a squirt bottle to make it easier to apply. Next, add 12 oz. of Dawn to the squirt bottle and shake to mix the two ingredients together. Once combined, spray it on to the stained surface, and depending on the severity of the stain, let it sit for up to 24 hours. After the solution has sat for your desired amount of time, simply scrub it off with a sponge and rinse. You will have surfaces that look brand new.

Organize storage spaces

Last but not least, a DIY project you can do to help sell your home is to update storage spaces. First start by de-cluttering your current spaces. Closets that are half full give an illusion of larger, more ample space. You can also add inexpensive organization shelving to basement storage spaces to get your belongings off the floor. Finally, you should add baskets to closets to hide small objects, like bathroom supplies, and make the storage area seem even more de-cluttered.

These DIY projects will help you update your home in a way that appeals to more buyers. Simple and inexpensive design and cleaning projects can have a huge impact on how fast your home sells and the perceived value of your home. Putting in the time to get your home ready for the market is well worth the reward.

Selling your home can be a long, drawn out process if it isn’t up to snuff or is unfairly priced. Remodeling your home can be a great way to increase value and your overall return on investment when it comes time to sell. But not every project affects the price tag. Here are seven remodeling projects that will help to increase the overall value of your home.

1. Steel Entry Door Replacement
It’s a classic case of out with the old, in with the new. According to National Association or Realtors 2015 Cost vs. Value Report, replacing any type of entry door with a 20-gauge steel unit will produce a 117.7% recoup on the initial investment. Steel doors come in many different styles and colors to fit the color scheme of your exterior and majorly increase your curb appeal.

2. Replace Your Garage Door
Even if you currently only use your garage as extended storage space, making sure the garage door looks nice will add bonus points to your house’s curb appeal. When replacing your garage door, it is recommended that you keep the existing motor and replace the door and steel tracks. The best part about replacing the door is that you don’t have to be too fancy — a simple 4-section door will do the trick!

3. Luxury Vinyl Tiles
Luxury Vinyl tiling upholds all of the glitz and glamor as a ceramic tiling without hurting the wallet as much. Vinyl tiling is easy to install yourself, and you have the freedom to orient the tiles in any way to produce the best look for your bathroom or kitchen. Vinyl tiling is an excellent choice for high-traffic rooms because they can easily withstand shoe scuffs, spills and dents.

4. Attic bedrooms
Utilizing as much space as possible is a great way to maximize your home’s value, which is why turning your attic into a bedroom is one of the top remodeling trends of 2015. Adding a bathroom to the attic would be an additional perk, but not necessary.

5. Improve Your Landscape
Curb appeal, curb appeal, curb appeal! There is no such thing as “too much landscape” for a front yard. Start by adding some eye-catching flowers along the foundation, then step it up a notch by adding small shrubbery or even trees.

6. Deck Addition
Building a wooden deck for your backyard invites potential buyers to look at not only your interior space as valuable, but your yard as well. A deck adds points to the “lifestyle” category of your home by providing relaxation and entertainment to your backyard. Families can utilize deck space with a grill, patio furniture or even a hot tub.

7. Sunroom Addition
Again, adding as much space as possible to your home is a sure-fire way to increase the property value. One way to do this is to build a small sunroom addition to your home. Potential buyers will look at this as a “bonus” and will rank your house higher on their list of choices. Sunrooms can be used for family space, a playroom, a breakfast nook, or an entertainment room. The potential buyer will see this room as a blank canvas to make it anything they want it to be.

There are hundreds of ways that you could update your home, but there are a distinct few that actually influence the overall value of your home. Sticking with these seven updates are sure to help you increase the sale price and marketability of your home.

The buyer activity in the greater Lansing market is head-spinning. Add a shortage of good marketable listings and you’ve got a situation that results in listings selling very quickly with multiple offers being common. One implication of this situation is the affect on contingent offers.

Sellers today who have decided to move up or downsize find not only a more limited selection of properties for sale but are also discovering that an offer contingent on the sale of a property is not likely to get any consideration at all. As hard as it is to say, an offer contingent on a sale is not a real offer in most sellers’ minds.

So what does this mean? Buyers already owning a property must sell before they buy. Now that’s a scary situation for most. Scary yes, but also a market reality. There are ways to mitigate the issue with extended occupancy or temporary housing but the pressure is still there.

Seek out the counsel of an experienced Realtor and put a plan together that will meet your needs but be aware of the challenges this market is presenting.

If you’ve ever considered selling your home in the Greater Lansing area, there is no better time than the present. Buyers heavily outweigh the amount of properties for up for sale, which gives sellers a lot more leverage in the negotiating process. However, before you can make an informed decision there are some questions you should answer first to determine if now is a good time for you to sell:

• Do I know what my home is currently worth? I’m not referring to a Zestimate or some automated evaluation tool, rather a true market analysis done by a professional Realtor. It doesn’t cost you a thing, and you’ll be much better informed.

• Do I have a price at which I would be willing to sell? Be informed about your current mortgage debt as well as any ongoing carrying costs to help you determine whether you truly want to sell at this time. An unrealistically high listing price will not get you the result you want no matter how much you want it to happen, so it’s better to decide upfront if you are a true seller or not.

• Do I understand what’s happening with sales and pricing in my neighborhood and what is likely to happen in the near future? Are there market dynamics that will affect my decision to sell? A quick conversation with a Realtor active in your market should get you the answers you need.

By answering these questions you will be able to make an informed decision on whether or not you are ready to become a seller. If you are, a professional Realtor can help to put together a plan to market your home and get the highest possible price with the least inconvenience to you.

It’s not a secret that a couple months after we ring in the New Year every year, we see a “Spring Rush” in the real estate market. As home sellers come out of hibernation, home buyers also seem to come out of the woodwork. This ebb and flow has many people thinking that they need to hold off on selling their home until Spring, which is the furthest thing from the truth. There are many advantages to selling your home in the wintertime that can give you a leg up on selling your home quickly and at the right price.

Here are some reasons why wintertime are perfect times to sell your home:

• The inventory of homes for sale now is down and consequently buyers who need to buy are less likely to negotiate aggressively for desirable properties. Waiting until spring will mean a seller will have more competition. In addition to the seasonal increase, new home construction is increasing and more home owners who are moving out of negative equity situations will be putting their homes on the market.
• With less overall transactions occurring, mortgage lenders, appraisers, and inspectors are less overwhelmed and the selling process is likely to be smoother and faster.
• If you are moving up to the house of your dreams, it is unlikely it will ever be cheaper. Prices are projected to appreciate and you can lock in your costs of housing for years to come at historically low interest rates.
• You can remove the uncertainty and stress of waiting by taking control. Instead of a home sale keeping you from moving on with your life, you and your family can start living the way you want. If a home sale is affecting your health, your financial well-being, or time with family, it could be time to take stake of what’s really important.

If you’re ready to move before Spring, putting your home on the market during the colder seasons can create the perfect combination of factors to sell your home as quickly and easily as possible.