4 hacks to boost your home’s value for under $100

Kitchen renovations, extensions, new bathrooms – the list could go on. These are the types of projects that most of us think about when it comes to increasing the value of our home.

Firstly, let’s not dismiss the above. All of these steps can add significant sums onto a house price tag, as the following shows:

• New kitchen – Adds up to 7% to house price
• A new garden – Adds up to 5%
• An open plan living space – Adds up to 6%
• Energy efficient alterations – Adds up to 3%

(Source: https://www.consumerreports.org/home-improvement/8-ways-to-boost-your-home-value/)

When we are talking about the concept of hundreds of thousands of dollars, these small percentages equate to huge sums of money.

The hefty house price tags also mean that some smaller alterations can reap the rewards as well. As the title may have suggested, this is what today is all about, as we investigate some of the methods to boost your house price for less than $100.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

In the world of property, size matters. The bigger the house, the bigger the price (at least, as a general rule).

Unfortunately, an extension typically costs a whole lot more than $100. This is where you need to get shrewd.

There are all sorts of tips and tricks you can implement with mirrors. It is all about manipulating natural light and rebounding it around a room so a space at least “seems” larger than it is. The effects can be incredible, and it can cost significantly less than $100 depending on what type of mirror you buy!

An essay on curb appeal

We might not have time to piece together an essay that this topic deserves, but there’s no doubt that curb appeal can help endlessly when it comes to increasing the value of a house.

Sure, you can spend a small fortune on perfecting this new, unwritten rule of real estate, but on the flip side you can make plenty of impact with smaller changes. So, what constitutes a smaller change?

• A lick of paint to the front door
• A weed-free garden
• A new window dressing in your main, front-facing window
• A vase of fresh flowers to sit in the same window
• The list could go on

In relation to the penultimate point, this perhaps just highlights how easy, and cheap, it is to perfect curb appeal. We recently came across a home that had been on the market for a matter of weeks. The owner bought bouquets from Avas Flowers and put them in his three main windows in the home. It sold within that same month, for 8% more than the asking price. Whether you check out Avas Flowers for inspiration or look directly at the Avas Flowers site, this anecdote highlighted how cost-effective some tips are when it comes to a quick sale.

It can all come down to doorknobs

We all know the ridiculous cost of a kitchen, but sometimes you don’t have to go the whole way.

This could not be truer when it comes to doorknobs. Granted, you might not have the budget to spend on brand new cabinets, but new cabinet knobs are just a few dollars and can transform a room. An old kitchen can be transformed into a contemporary space, and all it takes are a few new fittings and a screwdriver.

Use light to your advantage

We have spoken about the wonders of natural daylight, but another quick and sometimes cheap method is to use synthetic lights to your advantage.

While some of these can cost the earth to buy, on other occasions it might just be about changing the position of them. Placing more attention on a different area of a room can transform a space and make it into something that it has never been in the past.