As a homeowner, it’s important to keep your property’s value in the market up; you should see your home as an asset that can depreciate over time. As time passes, and the house gets older and more used; its value and therefore, the value of the land can also fall.

When you eventually get ready to sell, you may not get a good price for the house if it hasn’t been regularly upgraded over time. So, to make sure that the investment you’re making is worth something when you’re selling, it’s essential that you make smart upgrades to your home as you go. 

Whether it’s something as minor as a fresh coat or paint or as major as replacing all the doors with brand new wrought iron or black steel doors; these are the most essential steps to upgrading your home.

Understanding the Real Estate Market

If you’re making upgrades just before you sell, it’s important to understand the market and do some cost-benefit analysis before you make any decisions about what to change. Unlike big metropolitan cities, Albuquerque is a smaller city with more of a seller’s market than a buyer’s market. 

This means that both the rent and the home prices are lower than the national average, with three-bedroom home prices falling up to 37% below. This means that you shouldn’t be investing in frivolous aesthetic details, as your ROI on them isn’t going to be all that great.

Instead, what’s going to get you a better sale will be robust grounded features that combine appearance and function. 

Getting Energy Efficient

Most people shy away from making energy efficient changes, but the fact is that this is a future-oriented decision and can have long-term benefits. The best part is that the city of Albuquerque has even partnered with Prosperity Works and PNM to provide energy efficiency upgrades at low or no cost.

Depending on your income, you can apply to this program and get the upgrades you need, which may further get you PNM and NMGC savings and rebates. This kind of upgrade is an asset to your house and will greatly increase its value. 

Upgrades you can make for this are getting energy-efficient appliances, smart thermostats, and even getting insulated black steel doors to prevent cooling loss. 

Checking for Structural Problems

No buyer wants to invest in a home that has a faulty foundation, flooded basement, clunky plumbing or weak wiring. These are the basic elements of a home that you must assess, repair and upgrade as need be. 

In essence, some of these may even relate to the other. For example, damaged foundation can be a reason why your plumbing is faulty, and your basement is flooded. Perhaps one way to address this is to get a third-party real estate appraiser to conduct a thorough valuation of your home’s structure.

This will give you a clear idea on everything that you need to accomplish for sure, in order to make a sale that isn’t too much below your asking price. 

 

Squaring Away Bathrooms and the Kitchen

The two kinds of rooms used most in any home are the bathrooms and kitchen. There’s always value in getting these redone and upgraded. Even making aesthetic changes is a great idea where these two parts of a house are concerned.

Starting with the kitchen; make sure all your cabinets are looking good and freshly polished. Test their closing mechanism and ensure they don’t wobble. If you have an island or counters that are scratched and stained you definitely want to change it up, since this will look sloppy and old for any potential buyers.

Last, but certainly not least; the sink, garbage disposal and dishwasher need to be functioning properly. If possible and necessary, you should even replace the sink altogether. 

With the bathrooms, all you have to do is check on the cabinets (if any) like the kitchen’s and ensure all the plumbing works fine. For a stylish upgrade you could redo the shower area and add a black steel door to the space.

Get Some Patio Work Done

Nothing says New Mexico like sitting on a patio and enjoying a refreshing Margarita! That’s why a patio is perhaps the one aesthetic change that can really up the value of your property. With some expert landscaping and stone flooring, your patio can be transformed into a private relaxation space any buyer will love.

Patios are also beloved for any parties that owners may want to throw, which is why if you have a pool, make sure to get a maintenance job done. Replace broken or discolored tiles, get a thorough cleaning done and refinish the poolside area.

In addition, adding some wrought iron doors to your patio can help open the space up and make the house ready for entertaining. We recommend getting iron French doors or Bi-fold doors for a stunning patio entrance that functions perfectly. 

 

Add Sturdy Wrought Iron and Steel Doors

The finishing touch you need is to add some modern, minimal black steel doors for your interior and a sturdy wrought iron door for your entrance. Black steel doors and wrought iron doors in an Albuquerque home will help keep the sunlight out when customized with Low-E glass.

Ordering your iron and steel doors from Pinky’s Iron Doors will also get you complete packages that have dual weather stripping with polyurethane doors which will enhance your home’s energy efficiency, as well as aesthetic appeal. 

So now that you have a list of tasks to accomplish, get going on upgrading your Albuquerque home for the best possible market value!

About the Author

The Author is a senior designer and craftsman at Pinky’s Iron Doors in California. He creates handmade wrought iron and steel doors to be shipped off to Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Sandoval, Edgewood, Los Alamos, Corrales and Albuquerque in New Mexico. He is also an interior design enthusiast.