How To Extract The Most Home Equity From Your House Sale

Every homeowner aims to extract the most home equity from their house sale. And the opportunity to increase your equity while you live in your home is one of many benefits of homeownership. Home equity is determined by the dollar value of the portion of your home that you own. Having equity in your home begins when you make a down payment and builds each time you make a mortgage payment. Equity does not include the portion of your mortgage that pays interest on your loan; it only correlates with the principal balance on your mortgage. The lower your principal becomes the more your home equity increases. Home equity also increases as your home’s value increases. You can calculate your home equity by subtracting the principal balance of your mortgage loan from your property’s market value.

Maximizing home equity from your house sale

Homeownership is worthwhile for many reasons, including the opportunity to increase your home equity. If you sell your home and its market value has increased since you purchased it, you will earn sizable profits from your house sale. The caveat: for your home to reach maximum market value, you will need to make strategic home improvements. Which home improvements best extract the most home equity from your house sale? And how do you afford the cost of those improvements? Read on to find out!

Increase your home’s market value with pre-listing home improvements

Make your home’s value increase by giving buyers what they want. The Curbio team has helped over 85,000 real estate agents across the country to make homes highly desirable in their local markets. We partner with agents to make strategic pre-listing updates on homes. Our plans always focus on the repairs and improvements that yield the best returns in local markets. Because of the breadth of our work, we’ve gleaned insights about the upgrades that increase home values the most.

Top home repairs and improvements

Deferred maintenance and issues

Ensure your home’s structures, systems, and features are in excellent condition. If your home has major issues and you’re not confident that it could pass a home inspection, make a plan to address your concerns. It’s important to deal with problems now before you list your home. If you wait for buyers to discover problems during a home inspection, your home won’t be as valuable.

We often recommend that homeowners order a pre-listing home inspection to understand the scope of problems that may exist. Once you know the issues, you can work with Curbio to address them. We finance the completion of our turnkey home improvement services. Homeowners pay for the work after their homes sell (and they’ve extracted maximum equity from the improvements).

Overall curb appeal

Once you’ve made a plan to address severe or underlying issues, give your home a vibe check. Take an evening stroll and notice your home as you approach it from the curb. Does it look attractive and inviting? Is it tidy? How does it look next time the houses surrounding it? If your home feels more “shabby” than “chic,” it’s time to invest in your home’s curb appeal if you’d like to maximize equity from your future house sale.

How can homeowners increase curb appeal? Ensure all exterior features are clean, maintained, and attractive. The doors, entryways, paths, porches, trim, shutters, and exterior walls should be pressure washed and freshly painted. Clean or revamp your garage doors, sheds, and other features. And give your landscaping some love! If that seems like a hefty task, Curbio is happy to help.

Refreshed walls

Besides the floors, the walls are the most noticeable features in homes. They also happen to be easy and cost-effective to repair and refresh. Before repainting your interior walls, trim, and doors, mend holes, knicks, and other signs of wear and tear. Then, choose a color that is light and neutral. Bold, rich colors make homes appear less spacious and don’t illuminate rooms well. This bedroom transformed when it was repainted a more flattering color.

Flooring upgrades

The most desirable homes are clean and move-in-ready. Flooring can make a home seem pristine or dirty, depending on its condition. Homebuyers scrutinize flooring for stains, tears, and overall condition. Carpet stains deter potential buyers, as do tears in vinyl, old tile grout, and hardwood floors in disrepair.

An easy way to increase your home’s market value (and in turn, your home equity), is to refresh your floors. If your home already boasts hardwood, invest in its maintenance and repairs. If you don’t have hardwood, consider installing it since it offers one of the highest returns on investment. That said, replacing any kind of flooring is a sure way to boost the final selling price of any home.

Kitchen improvements

You’re losing home equity if you sell your home without modernizing your kitchen. The kitchen is a golden opportunity to add significant value to your home. Aside from its floors and walls, make plans to repair and update your home’s cabinets, hardware, countertops, sink, plumbing, and appliances. Those features matter a lot to homebuyers since we spend a lot of time in this room. Make this room more enjoyable and easier to use to increase the market value and desirability of your home!

Bathroom upgrades

Don’t overlook the bathroom’s ability to sway a potential homebuyer. Bathroom design improvements contribute to home value increases. This little private room should make potential homebuyers feel comfortable and safe. How enjoyable is your shower? Ensure its water pressure, temperature, drainage, and basic structure are on point. The toilet, vanities, mirrors, lights, floors, and other features should be up-to-date, pristine, and inviting.

The best way to get the most home equity from your house sale? Work with us.

We have all the services to make your home have all the features buyers want. We’re experts in helping homeowners and real estate agents extract maximum equity from home sales.  Not only that, but we work seamlessly and quickly and offer a “pay-at-closing” model that enables every homeowner to invest in pre-listing upgrades.