One of the biggest considerations when shopping for a new place to live is whether to buy a new-build home or an older home. Surprisingly, only about 25% of home buyers are looking for new-build homes, and more than half of Generation Z-age homebuyers are more than willing to buy a fixer-upper home.
It almost goes without saying: The most obvious move is to paint. Paint everything, every room, the exterior, the front door—a fresh coat of paint inside and out will make the place feel brand new and give you the opportunity to put your stamp on it and make it feel like yours. The average cost to paint the exterior of your home is just $500-$600, and the interior will run you just over $1,000 on average, so there’s no reason not to start with a blank slate.
Upgrade the cabinets
Paint or wrap the cabinets. A fresh coat of paint or a layer of high-quality vinyl wrap can turn tired, old, builder-basic cabinets into real showstoppers for very little money. Painting your cabinets yourself can cost less than $300, and vinyl wrapping the cabinets yourself can be done for about $100.
New hardware. Changing the pulls on your cabinets will transform their look. If you don’t want to splash out for new hardware, you could just paint them. That would take about an hour and would cost just a can of spray paint.
If the bathroom you just bought has an open shower with curtain rod, swap out the old-style straight curtain with a curved model. It’s a small, inexpensive upgrade that will immediately make your shower feel larger and stop the curtain from wrapping around you like a shawl every time you take a shower.
Upgrade your lighting
Light has a huge impact on your mood and physical health. While sunlight might be the best, having a bright, well-lit home is a safer and more welcoming space. Swapping in new light fixtures is an easy way to give the place a new look while getting your taste into the picture, but if that adds up to a budget-buster, you can transform the existing features in a variety of easy ways.
Speaking of light—one way a house can feel cold and uncomfortable is with harsh, single-intensity light. Adding dimmer switches will cost you about $20 to $30 per switch, and should take less than 10 minutes each. The result is a home where you can set the ambiance for each room depending on your mood, the time of day, or your activities, and that sense of control will definitely help you feel more at home in your new house.
Get a smart thermostat
If the house has old, faded thermostats that don’t do much aside from trigger the furnace, for less than $400 you can install a smart thermostat that will let you tailor your climate experience while making your HVAC system a lot more efficient. Plus, a new smart thermostat will look nicer than that old hunk of plastic, and give the house a modern touch even if it hasn’t been properly remodeled in decades.
Upgrade the toilet
Want to feel like you’re living in a swanky hotel? Install a soft-close toilet seat. For about $30-$50, you will never have to hear the sound of a toilet seat slamming onto porcelain ever again. If you’ve never had a soft-close lid before you might not realize just how much difference this sort of peace and quiet can make.
You might not think about the vents in your floor, but you should, because they’re an easy way to bring a modern, clean look to your home even if you can’t redo the flooring right away. New decorative vent covers usually cost less than $20 each and install very easily (usually without any tools). If you don’t want to bother swapping them out, there are a lot of creative ways to upgrade the ones you have to make the place feel more “yours.”
Refresh carpets
Deep clean. You can clean and disinfect your carpets easily and cheaply (and you should—carpets are gross, especially when it’s someone else’s grossness trapped in there). You can use a technique known as Dry Steam Cleaning, which combines powdered cleaning agents, high heat, and low moisture to get your carpets super clean. And you can always rent carpet cleaning machines from a variety of places (my local supermarket rents them) for a classic clean.
Dress the outdoors
If your new home has an outdoor space that isn’t very fancy, you don’t have to spend a lot of time and money on landscaping and other projects to make a comfy spot for grilling, outdoor gatherings, or warm-weather napping. Adding some simple solar lights, inexpensive outdoor seating options, and a fire pit can turn even the saddest concrete slab into a chill place for outdoor enjoyment.
Don’t even have a patio? You can make one for less than $300. And if your outdoor area is an overgrown mess but you don’t have the time or budget for a landscaping project, don’t forget that cutting everything back is free.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 11 Low-Cost, High-Impact Upgrades You Should Do Immediately After Buying a Home )
Also on site :