If you are about to sell your house or apartment, you’d better know your property value. Obviously, you want to get more out of the deal, but damaged lighting fixtures can reduce the price.
When it comes to defining property valuation, experts take into account numerous factors: location, neighborhood, landscape, house area, quality of interior decoration, and so on. Buyers also pay special attention to the quality of the interior decoration. But still not every homeowner inspects lighting fixtures indoor and outdoor.
Meanwhile, damaged lighting fixtures affect the cost of your house or apartment badly. You can use a professional service that will help you fix all the lighting issues or fix them yourself if you are a DIY person. But still, you can continue reading and find out how poor lighting reduces your property’s price.
Fortunately, we prepared a smart solution for each point. In this article, you will learn which lighting issues affect your property’s cost and how to fix them. So, let’s move on!
1. Old-Fashioned Ceiling Lights and Accessories
While home repairs, homeowners always renovate walls, floors, furniture, oftentimes the fixtures are left untouched. However, ceiling lighting is what catches the eye when looking at a room.
For example, many young potential buyers aren’t happy with old-fashioned brass switch plates and chandeliers. They understand that they will have to replace them with something more stylish in case of buying. Most likely, they will ask for a discount. As a result, this will reduce real estate property value.
Solution. Сheck with your realtor about modern buyers’ tastes and replace your old lighting fixtures with nickel, chrome, or stainless steel chandeliers or flush-mounted light.
2. Poor Lighting in the Kitchen Area
You may be surprised, but the epicenter of buyers’ attention while determining which property to choose is the kitchen area. Light plays not only a functional role here, but also aims to make this place cozy and attractive for the whole family.
If there is not enough light or you use not proper lighting fixtures types for this area, your property can be estimated lower by a few percent.
Solution. Take a close look at your kitchen. Estimate the amount of light and the overall composition of the lighting fixtures. The ideal lighting scheme should contain central lamps that provide lighting in the whole area and additional lighting fixtures which accent special zones, e.g., dining table.
3. Lack of Light in Internal Rooms
It is a common problem for most big houses. Lack of natural light makes homeowners place less value on their utility rooms. But if such rooms had enough light, they could be more functional.
For example, why not make working or sleeping places out of it? This can add extra value to your property.
Solution. Instead of regular artificial lighting, you can use tubular skylights here. They funnel natural light through the ceiling. By the way, it is a less expensive option if compared with glass skylights.
4. Dark and Dim Courtyard
According to Kiplinger’s research, 85 percent of buyers are looking for houses with adequate exterior lighting. It’s a common situation when potential buyers even may not see all the other advantages of your courtyard if it’s illuminated poorly.
So, such a picture can make them ask for a discount or even cancel a deal. Plus, a dark courtyard is a bait for thieves, while exterior lights can prevent home burglary by scaring off criminals.
Solution. Hanging light fixtures outdoors is always a good idea. You can implement only one option or take into service various outdoor lighting solutions at once. The must-have is a walkway and pendant lights.
The next step is to highlight landscape elements such as water objects or fire pits. The patio should also be highlighted. By the way, you can use strings of light that accumulate sunlight. This will help to avoid excessive electricity costs.
Another energy-efficient idea is to hang a motion-activated spotlight above the garage. It is convenient and also can reduce your electricity bills. This will add some points to your house when potential valuers will calculate property value.
5. Outdated Non-Energy-Efficient Lights
Potential buyers always think about the future perspective of the property. Electricity bills are crucial in this matter. This applies to both older and younger generations.
Thus, millennials not only want to reduce utility payments, but they also want to be sure that they live in a “green” house where lighting fixtures meaning not to harm the environment. That is why they will inspect how does your house consumes electricity.
They may also ask to show electricity bills over a biennium. So, if you still don’t use energy-efficient LED lighting, you may have difficulty selling your house or apartment.
Solution. Make sure that your lamps are equipped with LED bulbs in advance. You will get several benefits at once:
- your electricity bills will decrease by 25 percent or more
- LED bulbs produce less heat – it is especially crucial if you live in a warm climate
- you’ll add some percent to the price of your property
- potential buyers are more likely to make a purchase decision when they see that your house is “green”
6. Low-Tech Lighting Fixtures System
Nowadays, the smart home is no longer something from science fiction movies. It is our new reality. Security systems, heating systems, lights controlled by a smartphone are desirable by property buyers, especially youngsters. If you still haven’t implemented smart wireless technology in your house, you are risking to get less for your estate.
According to various property valuation methods, your house can lose from 3 to 5 percent of cost only by not falling short of buyers’ expectations about the smart home.
Solution. All in all, you may think that such technologies are hard and expensive to install. Fortunately, that’s not true. Today they are used almost everywhere: in residential, office, and industrial premises. There are many offers on the market and many brands to choose from.
Investing a small sum of money into renovating your lighting system, you can raise the cost of housing much higher. Plus, even if you won’t find the buyer so fast, you’ll enjoy living in a smart home by yourself.
Just imagine – you don’t need to go to the opposite end of the room to turn on the light. You can do it from the comfort of your couch only within several taps on your smartphone.
7. Getting Rid of Ceiling Fans
Although previous points are dedicated to lighting renovation, it is not a general-purpose tip. Thus, some homeowners are rushing to get rid of old lighting fixtures. But sometimes, on the contrary, they can be useful in increasing the cost of housing.
For example, we are talking about those stylish vintage ceiling fans. When homeowners get rid of them, they not only waste money but also lose some points of energy-efficiency.
Solution. Think twice before removing ceiling fans with fixtures. Furthermore, if you don’t have one, you may be better to add it. Ceiling fans are attractive for buyers by adding cozy vibes and being efficient while fighting the heat.
As you can see, it is crucial to inspect every little aspect of your home lighting when you want to know how to do property valuation. In some cases, you’ll have to make some renovations before putting a house up for sale. But still, they won’t cost a lot while adding extra percent to your property value.
What about your home – does it have any of the damages we discussed? Please, share in the comments.
The author is the owner of the repairing company Handy Kith. He has over a decade of professional experience in all facets of home repairs and installations. The author’s passion for aesthetics and design has helped him to launch the most in-demand company in the field.
