HOME TRENDS TO CONSIDER WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME

Often times we are asked by prospective home sellers how you can best prepare your home for market. Perhaps you may be considering significant modifications in order to get the highest return on your investment. Be cautious when taking this approach. Sometimes just a few tweaks are all that is needed. Consulting with our real estate team early on, can help prepare you accordingly.

 

Our team of REALTORS are regularly out showing homes to buyers. We understand their wish lists, deal-breakers, and nice-to-haves. We have a whole host of feedback from them on the homes we are showing. Additionally, our team’s expertise in new home construction and design, allows us to best advise on what improvements may or may not pay off when you go to sell.

 

Here is a list of the top home trends we are currently seeing, that are most appealing to today’s home buyers:

 

 

In the world of home design, minimalism has become a huge trend. It’s all about decorating only with what you need and leaving the rest. With many people now understanding the environmental impacts of consumerism, society is beginning to turn back to a less-is-more mentality with a focus on quality. Neutral paints throughout are key in minimalist design. Think warm/off-whites. We can make suggestions here for you based on the natural lighting in your home.

 

We suggest completely de-personalizing first. This means removing personal collections and photographs and replacing with neutral items and artwork. If you have bright furniture or accent walls we suggest making them neutral with paint and/or furniture slip covers.

 

Secondly, your goal is to have just the right amount of furniture. Too much and your space may feel cramped, blocking the ability to freely flow throughout your home. We can assist you with this by coordinating home staging, storage, marketplace/estate sales, or moving companies if needed. 

 

 

And lastly, you want to focus on organizing what is left in your home. Buyers love to walk through and see a well-organized home. If it’s organized now, they can envision themselves being well organized in this space in the future. Today’s home buyers are living busier, noisier lives than ever before. There is constant communication between phone, email, text, and social media. They are looking for calm, highly functional spaces where everything has a purpose and a place. This means organizing everything from kids’ toys, to closets, drawers, and storage.

 

 

Many of us embraced our outdoor space with new interest after being isolated at home during the pandemic, when public spaces were closed. Outdoor design elements of higher importance post-pandemic are: outdoor kitchens, fire pits, swimming pools, and pool houses. This doesn’t have to be extravagant. Even if a completely built-in fire pit isn’t in the plans for example, a portable fire pit like the solo stove with some outdoor chairs in a dedicated space, is all it takes to create a fun outdoor space.

 

 

We are seeing homes with in-ground swimming pools and outdoor spaces selling more quickly and for more money than those without. I personally added a pool and pool house to my home this year, because I had to put swimming lessons for my 3 and 5-year-olds on hold at the height of Covid. Now we have a space where they can swim when we want. Our friends and family can come and enjoy each other in our natural surroundings. I have also seen first-hand home buyers get excited about homes with in-ground trampolines, converted barns, green houses, and things as fun and simple as outdoor bulb string lighting.

 

 

With companies offering more flexibility, a dedicated home office (or two) has become more important than every before. Most companies now offer 2-3 days in the office with 2-3 work from home days for employees. Some are even offering full-time work from home arrangements. Buyers are looking for a home office and if there are partners, they usually request one office each, rather than a shared office. A higher bedroom count or bonus room can aid in this request. Buyers are ok with using one of the additional bedrooms as their office. If there are children in the home, office privacy holds more importance. Buyers are willing to get creative and add doors to an open space, use barns, detached garages and pool houses as their private offices too.

 

 

Now that time at home has increased, so has the desire to maximize every square inch of the home to get the most use out of it. We have seen clients turn their basement areas into play rooms, home offices, gyms, and crafting areas. Even if you don’t intend to use this space yourself, if you’re thinking of selling, we might suggest getting these spaces “finish ready”. What we mean by this if you don’t intend on finishing your basement, we might suggest using Drylok or Kilz paint in this area to freshen up the space and allow buyers to visualize the future potential.

 

 

Besides the overall beauty and character greenery adds to indoor spaces, plants are natural air purifiers. Adding plants to your home will create an overall healthier space. If you don’t have a green thumb there are many artificial options that will work well but we do prefer the real thing over the alternative. The goal is to have your home look as appealing as possible, from when we have it professionally photographed, to when home buyers come walking through your front door.