Add outdoor spaces
When an appraiser arrives to appraise a home, he takes a lot of information into consideration before coming up with that magic number. Any type of home improvement that adds livable space will increase the value of your home. Outdoor areas give you more living space and expand your entertaining capacity without the cost and time involved in an expensive addition. That means you’ll have more to spend on other features like outdoor kitchens, television and audio systems, outdoor fireplaces and fire pits. And when homeowners are ready to sell, they are finding that these new spaces attract buyers. However, creating an outdoor living space will only add real value to your home if it is done correctly. As a real estate professional in the South Florida market for more than 13 years and an associate at ONE Sotheby’s International Realty in Weston, a city that enjoys indoor-outdoor living year-round, I have represented several homes whose outdoor spaces have weighed heavily on the sale or purchase of the property.