If you have experienced Lakefront Living you know how a pleasant atmosphere makes a big difference! You are also probably aware of how desirable a lakefront property is on the market.
Homeowners can create successful ‘do-it-yourself’ projects without breaking the bank that enhance the enjoyment of your lake house and increase property value for future resale! Depending on the purpose of your renovation, careful market research many be needed for sellers. However, this list of renovations may be used as a helpful and fun guideline to enhance your waterfront property and use your ‘DIY’ skills!
Landscape
Keeping the views of the water the primary focus, spruce up the yard by facilitating a garden and adding trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers. Another great way to update to your backyard is to create a stone or brick path leading from your lake house. This will increase the desirability of the home using the concept of curb appeal. If you’re eager to boost your home’s value, try having an irrigation system added to your landscape. The addition of an irrigation system ranked 9th on the list of projects most likely to add resale value to a home, yielding an 86% ROI on average according to the NAR’s 2018 Remodeling Impact Report.
Whichever creative project you use, don’t forget to assess the opportunity of improving the views of your Tennessee Lake and natural setting!
Outdoor seating area
Every lakefront home should have a charming outdoor seating area for entertaining and reconnecting with friends and family. There are many ways to achieve the perfect look to fit your lake house style. Building a DIY deck may mean pouring a small, concrete slab for a patio or building a pergola to an existing area. A deck not only creates a waterfront oasis, homeowners can recoup 65%-90% of their investment according to HGTV. The NAR’s 2018 Remodeling Impact Report on outdoor features also ranked new patios number 6 most desirable outdoor upgrade. This value increase makes your lakefront home more appealing to prospective buyers when you do decide to sell.
You don’t have to spend a ton of money to enjoy the outdoors, doing the work yourself can save a large chunk of the building costs. Depending on size, materials, and other features added to this project, building your deck can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000, or more. If you decide to go the true DIY route and not use a contractor, make sure to check with local regulations and codes and use the proper tools and building materials for safe results!
Update your lighting
Updating outdoor light fixtures is an easy and affordable improvement to your lake house. Elegant solar lights can be used on sides of pathways not only as a safety feature, but a beautify ambiance. Spotlights can be used to accent plants and decorations as well to create a glowing nighttime landscape. This is a small, effective way to add value to a home!
Improving utility
This can be an important value adding factor to consider with your DIY renovation. How waterproof is your existing home? And are there issues related that can affect your property’s value that you have the capability of fixing? Sealing or replacing leaky doors, windows, ceilings, walls, and pipes can increase property value by 10% or more and save trouble later on in the selling process. Consider other small additions such as a new mailbox or pressure washing the exterior of your home!
Written by Kody Millikan, Lakefront Living Realty