Selling Your House in 2023?
Selling
Your House in 2023? These 5 Things May Be Lowering Its Value
by Ashley Maready | Published on Dec. 14, 2022
Image source: Getty Images
Your dream home may not have
the same appeal for potential buyers.
Key points
- 2022 has been a terrible year for home
buyers, but 2023 could favor them if mortgage rates drop and home
inventory picks up.
- It may no longer be possible for homes
with distinctive features to command higher prices.
- Buyers may not want to offer top dollar
for bold colors and textures on the walls and ceilings, converted garages,
or dated kitchen cabinets.
2022 has been a
bad year to be a home buyer, and as we close out the year, it's looking worse
and worse for sellers, too. And since no one can predict the future, we don't
know what 2023 will look like. As of this writing, the average interest rate on
a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.61%, per Freddie Mac. This is quite a change
from where we began 2022, with 3.22% on the same mortgage the first week of
January.
Home prices were
already up, but when you combine higher prices with staggeringly more expensive
mortgages, the wisest course of action for many buyers right now is to wait it
out and see if rates drop.
If you're
hoping to sell in 2023, you're going to want to put your home in the best light
possible. In addition to budgeting $10,245 to cover the costs of landscaping,
thorough cleaning, and professional photos for your home's MLS page, have a
look at the list below. These features could be potential deal breakers for
home buyers, and they could lead to lower offers than you're hoping for.
1. Bold wall
coverings
Painting is one
of the simpler and less expensive home improvement projects a resourceful
homeowner can take on, so it's really no surprise that so many homes have paint
colors more suited to the current residents' tastes. Wallpaper is another
potential pitfall for getting a good price for your home. It can make a home
look incredibly dated, and it's a pain to remove. When it comes to the walls of
your home, think neutral when it's time to sell. You want potential buyers to
be able to imagine their own tastes on the walls -- try to give them the blank
canvas to dream on.
2. Textured
walls and ceilings
Even the
texture of your walls can present a problem for a potential buyer. Much like
wallpaper, texture is messy and hard (plus expensive) to scrape off the walls.
And if your home is older, those popcorn ceilings could even contain asbestos,
which is carcinogenic.
3. Dated
kitchens and bathrooms
Two of the most
heavily used parts of a home are the kitchen and the bathrooms. Buyers will
want to see reasonably modern fixtures in these rooms, because kitchen cabinets
from the 1970s and stained bathtubs are a turnoff that a homeowner will have to
look at multiple times a day. Be careful of going too far in the other
direction, however -- your taste will likely not match that of potential
buyers, and the return on investment for a kitchen remodel is not guaranteed.
And kitchen remodels can be expensive.
4. A converted
garage
In spring 2020,
when the world shut down due to COVID-19, you may have wished for more living
space for you and your family. Maybe you converted your garage to get that
extra room, and are now intending to sell your home. The fact is that more home
buyers will actually want a place to store tools and park their cars than will
want a home gym or an in-law apartment where the garage used to be.
5. Swimming
pool
I have many
happy childhood memories of swimming in my grandparents' pool, and used to
think about how cool it would be to have my own pool. As an adult, however, all
I can see are big dollar signs. Pools can add significantly to your homeowner’s
insurance costs, and can also present a big maintenance hassle. And if you live
somewhere with distinct seasons, buyers may not want to pay extra for a feature
they can only use a few months a year -- but must drain, winterize, and pay to
insure even when it's not swimming season. And if they have kids or
frequent young visitors, the pool could be dangerous.
If your home
has some of these features (or all of them), does it mean you're doomed to
field only lowball offers from potential buyers? Not necessarily. But it's
worth considering the financial impact they could have on your attempt to sell
your home in 2023.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Maready is a former history museum professional who entered digital content writing and editing in 2021. She has a BA from Hood College and an MA from Shippensburg University.
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