Virginia’s housing market remains strong, with plenty of competition among sellers. When preparing your home for a future sale, it’s important to focus on the areas that will actually sell your home. These crucial spaces include kitchens and bathrooms. When it comes to winning or losing a sale on your home, these areas will often be the deciding factor.
Don’t Get Personal
Renovating your bathroom for the express purpose of selling your home is a bit different from redesigning a bathroom in a home you have no plans of leaving. When you renovate a bathroom in your home for the purpose of making it more suited to your individual tastes and preference, the sky really is the limit. Experimenting with colors and design trends can be great fun, and are effective ways of making a space feel intimate and uniquely “you.” Personal touches make those bathrooms more inviting to both you and your guests, as they reflect your style. Renovating a room for the purpose of boosting a home’s selling power, however, means that you need to aim for a scheme with broad appeal. You may love the idea of candy-apple-red glass tiles and blue accents, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who looks at your home will.
A bathroom that’s designed to sell may not offer much in the way of personality, but it does give prospective buyers the ability to imagine putting their own spin on this integral part of the home. Instead of splashing the walls with your favorite bright hue, keep the palette neutral so that potential buyers can envision themselves in the space. Most people can live with a neutral bathroom that’s thoughtfully designed, but will shy away from a home that needs immediate changes in order to correct eccentric style choices.
Maximize Square Footage
Even a small powder room needs to feel as spacious as possible. Cramped, crowded spaces can give buyers second thoughts, especially in master bathrooms. Remodeling your bathroom with the intent to sell should focus on maximizing the spacious feel of the room. Replace large vanities with drawers and cabinets for pedestal sinks to show more floor space. Instead of large and somewhat dated whirlpool tubs with lots of space-wasting decking, opt for sleek bathtubs that don’t eat up all of the available room. Frameless shower doors, which are an on-trend design element anyway, feel less clunky than traditional doors with aluminum frames and frosted glass. Even fittings that lend the illusion of space are a better choice than fixtures that make the room feel crowded. When you’re remodeling a bathroom before listing your home, sleek and minimalist is often the way to go.
Cut the Clutter
Removing a vanity in favor of a pedestal sink means that you’ll need to find a new home for all the odds and ends that fill those drawers and cabinets. Crowding every available surface with bits of clutter sends the message to prospective buyers that there is a lack of storage space in your bathroom, even if that’s not quite the case. Think vertically by integrating shelving and cubbies into the walls of your new bathroom. Boost the sparkle factor of your bathroom by investing in spot-resistant fixtures that radiate a feeling of cleanliness. Choose tile or stone flooring that’s clean and modern, rather than a dated vinyl or laminate.
With a bit of effort and forethought, you can turn even the most problematic bathroom into one that makes prospective buyers eager to submit their offer.
