Ideas for Increasing Your Home’s Value
When it comes to our homes, we all want to get top dollar for them when we eventually go to sell them some day. Even if that “some day” is ions down the road, you should always keep in mind that the improvements you choose to do to your home should, if they can, result in an increase in the home’s value.
This means they should rarely be extremely taste-specific (yes, I borrowed that popular term from various shows on HGTV, which I shamelessly love watching), if they are cosmetic changes that take a substantial amount of money. Try to stay somewhat neutral with styles or at least go with the “tasteful” status quo if you are doing anything that changes the look and personality of the place.
Some home improvements are just necessities, and they don’t increase the value. Examples of this are replacing leaky faucets, garbage disposals, fixing things that have broken and normal maintenance. However, replacing a furnace with a brand new efficient one may definitely appeal more and help the home’s value a bit when it’s being listed.
Same goes for windows. Windows are something that both increases the cosmetic appeal and also can increase the value and perceived value of the home. People are always looking for ways to save on heating and cooling costs, and efficient, airtight, new windows are one thing that’s on every buyer’s list.
Some cosmetic changes you can make that will help the value of the home and may not be too expensive are to buy faux stone siding panels. You can buy them for about $70 per panel, and depending on how many square feet you need to cover, you may be able to decoratively panel the bottom of your home for a reasonable price and increase it’s “curb appeal” and marketability.
We learned of this trick when we had out home appraised for a refinancing of our mortgage. The appraiser said that our home was beautifully crafted inside, but lacked personality on the outside. She suggested a stone facade and maybe sprucing up the plain cement porch a bit. Landscaping is always a good investment. Just don’t over do it, because not many people want to keep up on ten flower beds.
Investing on green and money saving technology may help you sell as well. Ideas for this may be toilets that use less water to flush, shower heads that release less water, energy efficient air conditioners and heaters, solar panels, and so on and so forth. People not only want to save money on their energy bills, but the green appeal is still very much en vogue now, and you may be able to capitalize on that.
