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For some homeowners, it is when they put their house on the market that they start to see the neighboring homes through a new lens.
Some wonder what brings a home’s value to new heights, while others seek to find the features in their homes that might hurt their negotiation. However, before seeking answers to the most burning questions about what makes or breaks a home’s sale, it’s paramount to look at one of the most important rooms in your house – the kitchen.
Needless to say, the heart of your home is the one that supports the most traffic and where the main activities unfold day by day. Whether you use it as a social space, invite guests over or organize family gatherings, or it is limited to several cooking activities, it remains one of the rooms of the utmost interest for potential buyers, alongside the bathroom.
As such, when seeking ways to improve the marketability of your home to receive potential purchasers in a welcoming space that meets their needs and is of great functionality, the whole journey should start with handling the outdated features that can hurt your home’s resale value.
Cabinetry in a poor state
Cabinetry is the heart of your kitchen. It is the place that stores a broad array of items, from pots and pans to ingredients, to cookbooks and many other things.
Due to the high pressure faced, the plenty of uses it serves, and the exposure to damaging conditions like humidity, heat, steam, and burns, it’s no wonder it quickly deteriorates in time. It loses its shine faster than other less-utilized pieces of home furniture, requiring additional efforts to preserve and keep it in check.
However, regardless of how much you take care of it, spillages, cuts, and other kitchen hazards can deteriorate it ahead of its time and take a toll on its kitchen doors and countertops.
For this reason, using reliable kitchen units made with quality materials and sophisticated construction techniques is essential to ensuring the purchase’s longevity and good maintenance.
Installing a completely new kitchen is expensive and challenging when preparing your home for sale. However, opting for replacement cabinetry doors will save valuable time, effort, and money and add a touch of value that will weigh when buyers come to discover your home.
Lack of storage space
The kitchen is designed with functionality in mind, so it has to be well organized, decluttered, and provide numerous storage options to make it easier to do everyday tasks.
Regardless of how spacious your kitchen is or how many opportunities it offers to create spots designed for every item, the truth is that an organizational sense comes with something other than the extra free room. You can have a huge kitchen with plenty of space to deposit your belongings but find it hard to arrange them conveniently and always feel like your kitchen is an unsolvable mess.
At the same time, you can manage a tiny cooking room that serves numerous purposes other than cooking and yet have everything in order and findable when needed. This means you’ve mastered the art of staying organized both in and out of the kitchen.
Some prospective purchasers like to project where they store their utensils, install their appliances, and place their vessels. Others may go as far as opening the kitchen drawers, being likely put off if they see them bursting at the seams.
To be one step ahead of the game, prepare by taking care of these aspects. Storage space can take different forms, depending on the layout of your kitchen, the functionality desired, your budget, as well as your sense of style.
Some of the best ways to organize stuff in the kitchen are with hooks installed at key points, freestanding shelves, and drawer dividers. This makes it easier to find things when you need them and keep them organized, whether you label them or not.
Outdated or broken appliances
It’s no secret that new appliances can increase the value of a home, just as it shouldn’t come as a surprise that unfunctional, dated ones will make potential buyers reconsider investing in your house, regardless of how fashionably the kitchen looks.
As reports show, the rising appliance prices don’t stop this year, meaning that buying new ones will create additional costs for potential buyers, which may translate into their desire to pay a lower price or refrain from buying them.
Purchasers steer clear of homes where appliances have been in use for several years, whether the fridge or the washing machine.
However, while investing in new ones comes down to a homeowner’s preferences, priorities, and budget, it’s safe to say that cleaning and fixing damaged ones can reduce a little the first impact of seeing outdated appliances lying dormant on cluttered countertops.
Inadequate lighting arrangement
Maybe the last thing a prospective home purchaser will overlook are rooms with inadequate lighting fixtures and arrangements. No one wants to prepare meals in a shady spot, just like no one likes entering a room where too-powerful light hurts their eyes.
Another issue that may not pass under the radar is putting aesthetics over functionality in your lighting. Pendants, sconces, and baubles may look nice, but they’re simply deal breakers if they provide obscure light instead of practicality.
The first impression can make or break an impression, and it couldn’t be more accurate in the case of home sales, so pay attention to this aspect before welcoming potential buyers.
Final take
The kitchen has become the most important room in a home given the increased purposes it has served over time, turning from a simple cooking room to a space where you relax, welcome friends, and sometimes work on your projects.
To maximize the likelihood of getting the best deal, you need to ensure it doesn’t house outdated features like the ones enumerated above, which can be instant turn-offs for buyers potentially interested in living in your house.
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