Community Corner

Easy Kitchen Updates That Sell

Selling your Golden Valley home? Here are some easy ways to highlight the feature buyers often care most about.

Every week, we invite local real estate agents to give insight on the housing market in Golden Valley, ways to increase the value of your home or ideas for easy home improvements that have a nice return on investment.  If you're a local realtor and would like to contribute to Golden Valley Patch, just email our editor.

This week's column comes from Golden Valley realtor Carla Anderson.  You can find her contact information at the bottom of the article.

Golden Valley is an attractive, first ring suburb offering an easy commute to downtown Minneapolis.

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Golden Valley has, relatively speaking, a large number of architect designed homes – from Mid-Century modern to cutting edge current. They enliven the neighborhood landscape.

Currently there are 119 homes for sale in Golden Valley. They range in price from $59,900 to $2,190,000 – evidence of the interesting diversity of the community.  In January, 2011, 18 homes came on to the market. In March of this year that number doubled.  April is off to a strong start as well. (Weather does affect real estate activity.)

It is important for owners to keep in mind, when contemplating renovation projects, to consider spreading their dollars around a little. Some fresh paint, newer colors (we can recommend a color expert), some landscaping or other more or less secondary
projects make it easier to recoup your investment at resale time.

As an older, established suburb updated homes – particularly those with renovated kitchens and baths, definitely are in greater demand and sell at premium prices.

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Long gone are the days of entertaining guests in your formal dining and living room spaces. One of the biggest trends in real estate over the past several years has been the growing number of homebuyers looking for large, updated kitchens, according to a 2010 AVID Home Design Drivers Study. Ideally, they are looking for kitchens that connect to an open living room and are designed for entertaining. 

“We have certainly seen a trend toward families spending more quality time in the kitchen, and they are really making it the heart of the home,” says Robin Peterson, president of Coldwell Banker Burnet. “Therefore, when selling your home, it is very important to showcase your kitchen’s most prominent features and update it to entice buyers, so that they can picture themselves spending a lot of time in it.”

      Here are a few tips on how to update your kitchen to appeal to a buyer’s preferences today and sell your home faster:

  • Islands are a highly desired kitchen accessory. They look sleek and provide convenience with more countertop space and more seating options, all crucial elements sought out by homebuyers. An island serves many purposes such as; cooking, food preparation, eating, and socializing. Your kitchen island can even be utilized as a workspace to tend to projects, pay bills, for the kids to do their homework or take care of miscellaneous needs. You can also add bar stools for seating space.
  • Lighting sets the tone of your kitchen’s appeal. It needs to be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. The key is to strike the right balance between creating the mood and seeing well to prepare meals. A simple trick is to add dimmers to existing lights. Or add task lighting to work areas, such as above the sink or stove.
  • Ample seating gives the kitchen a welcoming and cozy feel to make guests more comfortable. Having a variety of different types of seating (bar stools, couch, lounge chair, etc.) allows the room to serve multiple functions.
  • Modernize as much as possible. Mismatched appliances can be an eyesore and make the design look messy and unfinished. But, if you don’t have the budget for new appliances, an easy, inexpensive update can be as simple as painting the cabinets and adding new knobs and handles.

To contact Carla Anderson:

CarlaAnderson@cbburnet.com

Coldwell Banker Burnet Realty
3033 Excelsior Blvd. #100
Mpls MN 55416

612-925-8401   office
612-581-7746   cell
612-920-4706   fax


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