Your home's driveway represents more than just an open space where you park your car day after day. In fact, your driveway could become a major selling point for your residence, one that could put your home over the top in the eyes of prospective homebuyers.
So what does it take to enhance the quality of your home's driveway quickly and efficiently? Here are three factors that you should consider before you dedicate time and money to complete driveway renovations:
1. The Quality of Your Home
A driveway improvement project should be considered in relation to other home improvement tasks throughout your residence.
For example, is revamping your driveway more important than replacing your residence's hot water heater? This rarely, if ever, is the case, which means you may be better off dedicating your resources to other home improvement tasks before you commit time and money to enhance your driveway.
Remember, your driveway is important but should not take precedence over various homebuyer must-haves. And for home sellers who are on the fence about driveway repairs, considering a homebuyer's perspective may help these sellers determine which home improvement projects should become top priorities.
2. Return on Investment (ROI)
Ideally, you'll want to improve your home's driveway to enhance your residence's curb appeal and value as well as boost your chances of a quick home sale.
To accomplish these feats, you'll need to ensure that the time and money you commit to driveway renovations delivers a significant return on investment (ROI); in other words, you'll want to guarantee that you'll get back what you put in to your driveway modifications.
Consulting with a real estate agent can help you find the best way to maximize the ROI of driveway improvements, along with any other home repair tasks. This real estate professional is happy to provide tips to empower you with the skills and insights you need to bolster the quality of your home and optimize your residence's value.
3. The Real Estate Market
Does your driveway already sparkle? If so, you may be able to use your driveway as a selling point to differentiate your residence from others on the real estate market.
On the other hand, a subpar driveway that is loaded with cracks and holes may need to be repaired to the point where it won't detract from your home's curb appeal and value.
When it comes to driveway improvements, it is important to note that major overhauls aren't always necessary. Instead, you may be able to fill in various cracks and holes to ensure your home's driveway offers plenty of parking and serves its purpose consistently.
Take a look at some of the rival homes in your area to see the quality and condition of their driveways. By doing so, you'll be able to get a better idea about how your residence's driveway appears to homebuyers and act accordingly.
Examine your driveway as you prepare to list your home on the real estate market, and you'll be ready to make any necessary improvements to help your residence generate interest from homebuyers.
Ready to discover your dream home? With help from your loved ones, you may be able to accelerate your journey from homebuyer to homeowner.
Ultimately, there are many reasons to include family members and friends in your search for the perfect home, including:
1. Loved ones are happy to help you in any way they can.
Loved ones have your best interests in mind and will do whatever they can to assist you. That way, you can get extra help as you embark on the homebuying journey.
Before you begin your home search, it may prove to be helpful to meet with loved ones so that you can explain your homebuying goals to them. This will allow you to describe what you'd like to find in your dream home. Plus, meeting with loved ones gives family members and friends an opportunity to ask you questions about your home search.
If you and your loved ones are all on the same page, you'll be able to get ample support as you prepare to kick off your home search. Then, you and your loved ones can check out a broad array of houses and find one that matches or exceeds your expectations.
2. Loved ones can share their homebuying experiences with you.
For those who are entering the real estate market for the first time or have not purchased a house in several years, it may be beneficial to involve loved ones in the property buying process.
Loved ones who have recently purchased homes can provide real estate insights that you may struggle to obtain elsewhere. They can respond to your homebuying concerns and queries and help you prepare to enter the housing market.
Also, loved ones may be able to help you avoid potential pitfalls as you search for the ideal residence. Although some family members and friends may have made mistakes when they bought homes in the past, your loved ones can help you learn from their errors and ensure you can avoid various homebuying pitfalls.
3. Loved ones can help you make tough homebuying decisions.
Let's face it – the decision to buy a home is one of the biggest that an individual may make in his or her lifetime. As such, the decision to purchase a home is not one that should be taken lightly.
Loved ones are happy to listen to your homebuying concerns time and time again. They can offer suggestions and recommendations as you explore homes and help you remain calm, cool and collected at each stage of the homebuying journey.
Of course, if you want additional assistance during the homebuying journey, it never hurts to hire an expert real estate agent. This housing market professional can set up home showings, negotiate with home sellers on your behalf and provide comprehensive homebuying support at any time.
Reach out to loved ones for support as you get ready to search for your dream home. By doing so, you may be able to speed up the homebuying process.
If you’re looking to gain some more enjoyment out of your home and your yard, installing a fire pit can be just the way to do that. It’s actually quite simple to install your own fire pit with the right materials and planning. Take a look at the steps we have laid out for you below.
You’ll need to find a place in your yard that is far away from anything that can catch fire like bushes, sheds, trees, or tall grasses.
You’ll need to plan the area for your fire pit. Be sure that the area you choose has enough space. The fire pit itself requires about a 3 foot area of diameter. The outer wall will have a 5 foot diameter. Then you’ll need a 12 foot diameter circle sectioned off for the seating area around the fire pit itself. You can mark these areas off with string or spray paint.
You’ll need to dig the footer for both the inner and outer walls of the fire pit. Dig between the 5 and 3 foot markers down about 5-6 inches into the ground. Then, fill the newly dug out ring with concrete. Ensure that the top is level and smoothed out. Wait for the concrete to set.
While you’re waiting for your concrete to dry, find your stones and separate these into either cap stones or face stones. The cap stones are used for the top of the wall and the face stones are for the bottom. Cap stones should be flat and smooth.
Follow the outer edge of the ring that has been created. Complete the circle. Then, place a ring of fire brick around the inner ring. Continue this process as follows: an outer layer of stone, an inner layer of fire brick. Make sure that you’re keeping everything level throughout the process.
Using scrap stone and mortar, fill in the spaces of your completed wall. Before the wall is capped, you’ll want to make sure that it’s completely solid.
Now that your wall is solid and filled, you’ll need to place your cap stones. You may need to cut certain stones to be sure that everything fits in place for this part of your project. Once everything fits, mortar the stones into place.
Dig up the grass inside of the 12 foot circle that you have mapped out. Then, put down some landscape cloth. Fill the area with gravel for safety.
Now, all you need to do is add some comfy seating with some firewood and your fire pit is ready to enjoy! Heed safety recommendations placed by your city or town for a stress-free time using your fire pit.
A fire pit can be an asset to your home no matter where you live. Cool evenings call for great conversation by the fire anytime!
