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REAL ESTATE

Best Strategies to Modernize Your Home for the Best ROI

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Updating your home is excellent for personal comfort, but it’s also a smart financial move if you want to sell in the future. 

Strategic and modern updates can significantly enhance your home’s curb appeal and value. Ensure a lucrative return on investment with these ideas for modernizing your home!

Focus on Curb Appeal

First impressions matter, which is why you want to prioritize curb appeal. Try to look at your home from the outside through the eyes of passersby. What can you modernize to make it more attractive? Could you repaint the front door an elegant color like black? Add modern outdoor lighting fixtures? Put some plants in sleek, black pots on your front porch?

The exterior sets the tone for what potential buyers can expect. If the outside of your home isn’t well-kept, it’s unlikely potential buyers will want to venture inside. 

Upgrade the Kitchen

People often consider the kitchen the heart of the home, and it’s a focal point for many buyers. You can modernize your kitchen with updated appliances, new countertops and sleek cabinets. When renovating, opt for lighter colors that make your kitchen look bigger and more modern than traditional dark wood. Consider open shelving for a more contemporary look, and remember to add energy-efficient appliances that appeal to eco-conscious buyers. 

Renovate the Bathroom

Bathrooms play a significant role in the decision-making process for potential buyers. Upgrading fixtures, replacing old tiles, adding a fresh coat of paint and incorporating modern touches like a rain showerhead or smart mirror can elevate the overall feel of your bathroom. 

Redesign Your Roof

Beyond its functional role, the roof is a crucial aesthetic component that influences curb appeal. Opting for modern roofing materials, colors and designs can instantly elevate the look of your property, leaving a positive and lasting impression on potential buyers. If you want a cleaner, minimalistic look, an international-style roof is the way to go. However, if you want to add a contemporary touch to a more traditional roof, a prairie roof will do just that. 

Make Energy-Efficient Improvements

Energy-efficient upgrades appeal to environmentally conscious buyers and can lead to long-term cost savings, and 90% of buyers prefer homes with energy-efficient features.

Modern upgrades like energy-efficient windows, smart thermostats, LED lighting and a solar-powered geyser make your home more attractive to potential buyers and demonstrate a commitment to reduced energy consumption. 

Add Smart Home Technology

Embrace the future by incorporating smart home technology into your living spaces. From programmable thermostats to smart lighting and security systems, these modern amenities can significantly increase your home’s appeal. Potential buyers often appreciate the convenience and efficiency that comes with a technologically advanced home.

Enhance Outdoor Living Spaces

Modern living extends beyond the four walls of a house. Creating inviting and relaxing outdoor spaces can drastically increase the perceived value of your home. Invest in modern-style patio furniture like long couches with taupe cushions, incorporate elegant lighting fixtures and let your backyard turn into an oasis. 

Add Fresh Paint and New Flooring

A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a home’s appearance. Most modern homes use neutral shades like white, gray and tan while adding pops of bold colors like black. 

Flooring can also contribute to a modern home’s appearance. Opt for durable materials like hardwood for a timeless look that boosts the sale price of your home. Quality flooring and a clean, neutral palate create a blank canvas for potential buyers to envision their own style. 

Consider Open-Plan Living

Modern home buyers are usually drawn to open, spacious floor plans. If your home allows, consider removing non-load-bearing walls to create a more open and flexible layout. This plan improves the overall flow of the space and provides a modern feel that resonates with today’s home buyers. 

Increase Your Home’s Value

By strategically modernizing your home, you increase its market value and make it more appealing to buyers. These thoughtful upgrades will enhance your living experience and position your property as a desirable investment in the eyes of buyers. 

Evelyn Long is a home living writer with specialties in real estate and home design. She is the

editor-in-chief of Renovated and has written for many different sites like National Association of

Realtors, Eppraisal, and Build.

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REAL ESTATE

Top 5 maintenance tips for your roof

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Buying a home for the first time can be a very stressful and time-consuming experience. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage loan and finding the right home is difficult. But what many don’t realize is that once you a home that you actually want to purchase, the real work will begin.

Without the right amount of maintenance, a home is bound to fall apart. For this reason, new homeowners need to focus on maintaining vital parts of their residence such as the roof. The following are some of the tasks a homeowner should undertake to keep their roof in good shape.

1. Keeping Tree Branches Trimmed is Important

Maintaining a high level of curb appeal is something most homeowners view as a priority. Having trees is pretty normal for homeowners in the United States. However, if these trees are not properly trimmed, they can do a lot of damage to a home’s roof.

The average homeowner will spend around $9,000 a year on maintenance and repairs. Using some of this maintenance budget to pay a professional tree service to trim the trees around a home is crucial. Allowing large and heavy branches to grow over the roof of the home is a recipe for disaster.

2. The Gutters Need to be Cleaned Regularly

A home’s roof has a number of important components. Perhaps the most important part of a roof is the gutter system attached to it. These gutters are designed to remove rainwater from both the roof and the home’s foundation.

As time goes by, these gutters will start to fill with leaves and small branches. If the gutters are full, they will be unable to do the job for which they were intended. This is why a homeowner needs to have their gutters cleaned two to four times a year. Be sure to check out https://www.erieconstruction.com/blog to find out more about the importance of gutter maintenance.

3. Inspect the Flashing on the Roof

Most homeowners have chimneys and HVAC vents coming out of the roof. In most cases, metal flashing is installed around these areas to reduce the chance of leaks occurring. The longer this flashing is in place, the higher the chance becomes of it rusting and malfunctioning.

This is why a homeowner needs to work with a roofing professional to get their flashing inspected. If this part of the roof needs to be replaced, professionals will have no problem getting this work done. Ignoring the need for new flashing will lead to leaks and mold issues, which is why getting it replaced is so important.

4. Pay Attention to the Roof Shingles

Another important part of a home’s roof are the asphalt shingles it has. These shingles are exposed to direct sunlight for multiple hours each day. As time goes by, this exposure will start to dry out the shingles and make them brittle.

A homeowner will need to inspect their shingles regularly to see if any of them are missing. If there are shingle pieces laying in the yard after a bad storm, contacting a roofing professional to come take a look is crucial.

5. Take a Look in the Attic

The attic in a home is where unused possessions are put. This means that most homeowners don’t go in their attic very often. Taking the time to inspect an attic can help a homeowner discover roofing leaks early on. As soon as signs of leaks surface, a homeowner needs to take swift action to fix them.

Roof Maintenance is Important

Maintaining a home’s roof may be time-consuming and expensive, but it is worth the investment. With the help of a knowledgeable professional, getting a roof repaired will be easy.


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HOME STAGING, INTERIOR DECORATING TIPS

5 Things that instantly date your home

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No one wants a dated home, but unfortunately, we sometimes get so stuck on the same décor that we don’t even realize what other people might perceive when they take a look around. Luckily, some of the things that most obviously and instantly date a home are also in many cases easy to remedy.

The following are some of those elements that can make people feel that your home is outdated at first glance and a few things you can do to alleviate the problem.

1. Window Coverings

Window coverings are one of the most obvious factors that date a room or an entire home. If you have very heavy, ornate panels or valances, or old miniblinds, it can ruin the look of the rest of the room.

If you want to focus on updating one area of your home, start with those window coverings. Choose modern window coverings that are streamlined and chic, and if possible opt for custom blinds because they create a very high-end look.

Choosing the right custom window coverings can even improve the resale value of your home.

2. Overwhelming Prints

Prints in your home décor aren’t inherently bad, and you’ll often see designers integrating prints. However, you might want to take stock of the prints you’re using in your home design elements. If they’re, as an example, large floral prints in shades of pink and green, it might be time for a change.

If you want a timeless, enduring home design style, it’s better to keep things a bit simpler. It not only stands the test of time, but it also feels sleek and luxe.

Rather than going with extreme prints and patterns, you might think about bringing in texture, richness, and depth through the use of different types of materials—such as natural and woven materials.

3. Light Fixtures

Replacing light fixtures can breathe new life into any space. People often think it’s difficult or expensive to replace light fixtures, and in reality, it doesn’t have to be either of those things.

You can choose inexpensive light fixtures in modern finishes, and it can be a DIY project.

4. Carpet

Carpet is a rarity in modern home design. If anywhere you might find some in bedrooms, but beyond that, you’re probably not going to see much of it.

If you have carpet in places like the dining room and living room, you might want to become a weekend warrior and take it out.

You could have some beautiful wood floors hiding under there, and even if you don’t, there are relatively inexpensive laminate options you can install.

Removing old carpet isn’t just good from an aesthetic perspective. It can also make your house cleaner and less prone to trapping allergens.

5. Cabinet Color

Finally, the color of your kitchen and even bathroom cabinets can make your house seem old—maybe even older than it really is. If you have something like cabinets in a golden wood color, you might want to think about taking on a refinishing or repainting project. You don’t have to get all new cabinets because that can be extremely expensive, but a paint job might do a world of good.

If you are considering resale in the near or even distant future, consider these 5 things and create a to-do list to keep your home current and not dated. You will enjoy the space and the future buyers will, too!

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