The price of your home isn’t set in stone. You can improve its value—and expedite the sale—by increasing demand, which requires focusing on the buyer’s perspective. The more buyers you appeal to, the more competition you build around your home, which is something you can do regardless of what the real estate market is experiencing.

But how can you make your home more appealing? We answer this question by covering the five areas that have been proven to increase perceived value and skyrocket demand.

Spruce Up Existing Amenities

Not everything you do to improve the sale price of your home requires extensive renovations, repairs or remodeling. Instead, you can breathe new life into existing amenities that you may have neglected because they haven’t added value to your living experience. A fireplace, wood

floors or even a deck may be hiding substantial value. After undergoing minor repairs or updates and a little TLC, these features could add thousands more to your home’s value instantly.

Enhance the Space with
Neutrals and Expert Decluttering

Enhancing the space goes beyond beautifying the property for professional photos, an open house and marketing material; it also means drawing attention to your property’s square footage.

Square footage sells properties. Although many listings mention the square footage of the home, if buyers can’t see that square footage when viewing the home, the property begins to feel smaller, and feelings win over logic.

Therefore, one way to highlight the size of your home is to be methodical about the placement of your furniture and how much “stuff” you have in a room.

To draw attention to the size of the space, you should focus on decluttering and neutralizing the home. Neutral colors—for furniture, paint and decor—open the space, while decluttering exhibits the size of your home.

Even if you don’t appreciate the feel of an empty home, removing excess furniture from living spaces and bedrooms enables prospective buyers to acknowledge the size of each of these rooms, enabling them to visually “move in” to the space.

Furthermore, this decluttering should extend to closets and storage. The fewer items you have in your closets and storage, the more spacious these features appear.

Besides, you’d be amazed at how many buyers are swayed by larger closets and storage facilities.

Invest in Ambient Lighting

Lighting is the secret to elevating your property. Beyond being functional, lighting works superbly for amazing exterior shots and, if you’re selling in colder temperatures, has an amazing effect on improving the home’s ambiance.

When you’re investing in lighting, remember to focus on the garage and exterior, lighting up walkways and the garden, as these areas are often overlooked but do add worth to the prospective buyer’s experience.

Consider Investing in Stand-Out Features

If you are completing renovations or remodeling before listing, investing in stand-out features can add a world of difference to your listing and the number of buyers you appeal to. That said, in-ground pools are often thought to be one of the most investment-worthy features for family homes. While pools can attract some buyers, many buyers may see the feature as a nuisance more than a value-add. So if you don’t have an in-ground pool, you don’t need to invest in one just to attract more buyers. Instead, you could consider other exclusive features that elevate your home and appeal to just as many buyers as an inground pool, if not more, since some of these amenities can be used year-round.

Perfect examples of these features are a home theater, basketball court, pergola or home gym. All these features add value and prestige to your property that make it more appealing to discerning buyers.

Expose Your Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors have become extremely popular in recent years, making them one of the most sought-after features on this list. Even laminate floors—which have less upkeep and are nearly identical—aren’t as appealing as hardwood floors.

They also don’t require much investment to instantly add value to your home. The key is to ensure the floors are exposed, so while an area rug or two is fine, covering up your beautiful hardwood floors is generally frowned on by buyers. If you have hardwood floors, do everything to restore them to their former glory (you can even choose any new color when re-staining them) and see the offers roll in!

Most sizable properties are sitting on tons of unrealized value, requiring a keen eye to develop and an expert strategy to maximize. Thankfully, you don’t have to wonder if this is the case with your home. With the help of the Tewel Team, even the minor changes we suggest will make a world of difference in your overall sales price and days on the market.

Levy Tewel is an associate real estate broker and team leader of the Tewel Team at Compass, helping sellers and buyers in Bergen County and New York City, with nearly a decade in the business and over 1,000 closed transactions. Levy can be reached at 201.477.0117, [email protected], TewelTeam.com.