Most people want to ensure that the money that they invest in a home does not lose value. Better yet, they really want their home to increase in value.
If you are planning on selling your home any time soon or want to borrow money against your home (a home improvement loan or personal loan), you should consider ways to increase the value of your house to get the most money back when you sell or have it appraised.
Consider these ideas for increasing the value of your home so it appraises for more money and you can sell it for a greater profit.
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Know the Area
You should research the homes in your area and be aware of the price they are selling and the amenities that they offer.
Do they have a pool, mature trees, oversized lot, granite countertops, upgraded light fixtures, or other desirable features that your home does not?
Some features you can add to your home, however other features (such as the location) cannot be changed.
There is typically an average price per square foot that homes are valued, however less desirable homes tend to dip below that estimate and more desirable homes are above that estimate. Larger homes tend to sell for a little less per square foot than smaller homes.
Talk to a Realtor
Have a conversation with a realtor to see what buyers desire in homes specific to your area.
If your home is older, will your tiny closets reduce the value of your home?
Will adding trees increase your home's value?
Does your older kitchen make your home undesirable?
Any deferred home maintenence and cleanliness should be the first things to tackle to increase your home value.
Make a Plan for Your Home
After you know what the other homes in your area offer, you should make your home at least equally nice, if not a bit nicer.
If all of the homes in your area have granite/quartz/marble countertops, your home will have a lower value if it has laminate countertops.
If all of the homes in your area have laminate countertops, consider installing granite/marble/quartz countertops to make your home more valuable.
A wise investor may do some upgrades slightly better than the competition to increase the home's value and make it sell faster, but make sure not to put in something so expensive that you will max out on the upgrade value (such as an over the top surround sound installation or extravagant security system).
Think of the Future
Is there something you should do now to help the price of your home in the future?
If you plant smaller trees now, they will mature and increase the value of your home later.
If you install a sprinkler system now, your trees will be watered regularly and grow taller faster.
Don't Forget About the Neighborhood
When people buy or appraise a home, they are interested in the neighborhood as well as the house itself.
Does your neighborhood have friendly neighbors with well kept yards where the only noise you hear is the chirping of birds, or does your neighborhood have a lot of traffic noise, grass that needs to be mowed, no trees, no parks, graffiti, and neighbors that park their run down cars in the street?
The price of a home depends greatly on its location, so do whatever you can to make your neighborhood desirable.
Security seems to be one of the most important aspects of a neighborhood's perceived value, so do everything you can to improve the neighborhood's security. This might include creating a neighborhood watch, adding security video cameras throughout the neighborhood (or adding one to your home and encouraging neighbors to do the same), and/or encouraging police to patrol your neighborhood more often.
Consider adding additional lighting throughout the neighborhood to deter crime and make your neighborhood feel more friendly at night. If your neighborhood association will not add lighting in the common areas, then encourage your neighbors to add affordable motion activated security lighting to their properties.
Raise money to plant trees or apply for grants to add landscaping to common areas.
Contact your Home Owner's Association and ask them encourage homes to follow the rules.
Help neighbors with the upkeep of their homes.
Mow the grass in a vacant lot and create a group to pick up litter on a regular basis.
Volunteer at the local school and become more involved in the community to make it better. Encourage others to do the same.
Observe the features of more desirable neighborhoods and homes and try to bring yours up to that level.
Contact the media and inform them of all of the wonderful things going on in your community.
Increasing the value of your home typically doesn't happen overnight, so start as soon as you can to generate the most increase over time.
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