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A Home Made for Hosting

5 Tips to Consider for Resale

A Home Made for Hosting

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When you’re buying a home, the last thing you’re thinking about it selling it! But the irony is that you SHOULD be thinking about selling it when you’re buying it! Michael and I have owned two homes since being married and in both cases, we received REALLY great resale advice. It’s funny, when you’re a newlywed, people will offer you TONS of advice about EVERYTHING. Some of it goes in one ear and out the other and some sticks with you!! During our home build two years ago, we received some awesome advice about making decisions with resale in mind and I’m sharing a few of them today! 

When Michael and I started our home building process, we were told that this would be one of the greatest strains on our marriage. That was definitely not true.  We LOVED this process and looking back, it was one of my favorite adventures with Michael. Every day we would drive out to see what was new. This was and still is the biggest project we have ever done together and it was actually GREAT for our marriage. We enjoy making decisions together….even though Michael would agree that when it’s a design decision, he usually defaults to me since I love that stuff!!

We are so thankful that we had several experienced home builders give us advice during our home building process because it really helped us make some smart decisions!  My favorite advice was about resale. We learned so much about what to look for and how to think ahead instead of just in the excitement of the present!

Here are 5 tips for Making Smart Decisions for Resale! 

 

  1. Splurge on the Master Bath!  

    This is the one room in the house that you can guarantee is going to be USED! We don’t use our kitchen as much as some families do. We don’t use our loft area as much as some other people do. There are always going to be areas of homes that appeal more to different people but the master bath is ALWAYS going to be high on a home buyer’s priority list! When we built our home, we opted for the master bath upgrade and we’re still so thankful that we invested in that! …. Not only for us but for whoever owns our home down the road! They’re going to love that space!

  2. Go BASIC upstairs!

    We saved a lot of money by keeping our upstairs plain. It’s nothing fancy. No tile, no granite, no crown molding. There isn’t really any need for it! Our master is downstairs and so our upstairs is for guests and future kiddos. Someone told us to use that upgrade money for other things…. like upgrading the master bath! :) We’re so thankful that we listened to that advice!

  3. Invest in Awesome Floors in the main area of the home!

    We invested in hardwoods in our most highly trafficked areas and then chose cheaper carpet for the other areas.  Carpet is cheaper to replace and has to be replaced more often than hard flooring. We saved money by choosing cheaper carpet and then we allocating those savings towards beautiful floors in the main portion of the house. Floors matter to home buyers… big time!

  4. Pre-Wire for Ceiling Fans!

    I honestly NEVER thought of this. Ceiling fans seem ugly to me… but tons of people want the ability to have them in their bedrooms, offices, etc.  I didn’t realize the need for this pre-wiring until we decided after we moved in that we needed a fan to move air around in the living room.  If we hadn’t pre-wired for the fan, this would have been nearly impossible to do. We have 18foot ceilings in our living room… adding additional wiring after the drywall went up would not have been ideal for anyone!! We prewired fans and lighting in our bedroom, morning room and on the front porch! After we moved in, we found really cheap outdoor, rubbed bronze fans to add to the porch and me LOVE them! I just love that they remind me of Charleston! :)

  5. Double Sinks!

    You wouldn’t think that this would be a game changer but it really does make a huge difference in the look and functionality of a bathroom. If I was looking for a new home and we knew that we wanted kids one day, I would be pleased to find a double sink for the kid’s bathroom!! This is a relatively cheap upgrade that can make a huge impact!! :)

Ohh there are so many more things I could share!! But I’ll have to save that for another time because I’m visiting my sister and her husband up in PA and I don’t want to be a party pooper that’s on my laptop any longer than I have to be!!! If you’re in the market for a new home, look out for these things and SO many others. This was just the tip of the ice berg!!! I hope this was helpful! Enjoy your Wednesday andddd…..

Ps. We’re putting our house on the market soon! Any takers?!! :)

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Thanks for reading!

— Katelyn

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