If you’re anything like the majority of American homeowners, you’ll want more than one house in your lifetime. Meaning, you’ll want to either upgrade to a larger home, downgrade to a smaller home, or just live in a different area with a different styled home.

To get that next home, though, you’ll want to give yourself at least a starter’s advantage. You’ll want some kind of money to use to purchase your next house – and you won’t want to dive into your savings account all that much throughout the process.

That’s where selling your current home comes into play. But, how do you get more money than what you paid for it? How do you have a return investment on the house that you’re currently living in? You don’t want to end up where you started, with the same amount of money for a down payment on your next house as you had on your current house.

The answer to those two questions is improvement upgrades – you choose the right ones and you make them! Increasing your home value before selling is actually really easy, as long as you make the right choices.

Increase square footage.

Home buyers want as much space as they can get for their buck. Most will look for more than one bathroom, an area for a kitchen to be a dining room and vice versa, extra bedrooms for kids, and additional closet space to keep the house necessities in.

That’s why if you’re looking to add home value to your home, the first home improvement to look at is increasing the square footage.

What will help you get to that goal? Refinishing your basement so that it’s more functional for the next homeowner. Opening up the living room and dining room area floor plan. Expanding the deck and transitioning it into an indoor and outdoor livable area. Things like that.

Think about your curb appeal.

Curb appeal is the very first thing that any home buyer will see. In fact, home buyers have oftentimes turned their vehicle around if they aren’t fascinated with the curb appeal, or if it’s not up to par with their standards.

What can you do to make sure your curb appeal is right on point? Replace and renew your front door entrance area. Purchase and install a brand new garage door. Touch up any exterior paint that’s chipped or give the shingles a good pressure wash. Think outside the box.

Are there any foreseeable maintenance issues?

How long have you owned the house and when was the last time maintenance upkeep was looked at? Chances are, the new home buyers are going to look at that record, so it’s best to get ahead of the game before it catches up to you.

Do you think certain areas of the home need to be fixed? Perhaps, upgraded? Check in on the HVAC; we know central air is a big seller in warm cities and towns that experience humid temperatures throughout the year. Get the records on the roof; when was the last time it was replaced? Do you think it might be time to do an upgrade there?

See what your current home buyer demographic looks like.

Oftentimes, young home buyers are looking for their next purchase because their starting a life together or settling down and having children. Whatever the case may be, it’s pretty common that a lot of your clientele will be on the young to middle-aged side.

Use that to your advantage. What do you think they’ll like in their new home? How do you think you could convince them to purchase such a lovely house? For starters, at home theaters in the basement with the perfect laser projector might get some buyers reeled in. Adding a smart security system and smart thermostat will definitely make it easier to watch and regulate the home, even when no one’s there. Walk-in showers might be so aesthetically pleasing that it becomes a shame to turn the house away.

Credit to Karl Kennedy @Projectortop.com