Home is where everything starts and ends for any individual or family. However, while investors and real estate do not put aside the emotional aspect of owning a home, they just focus more on the financial side of it. Anytime you make an investment as huge as purchasing a house and lot for sale, you must look for the one that will provide you with the most returns. Hence, as a homeowner, you must find ways to maintain home value for profit and investment purposes. In the best cases, you should increase your home’s value.
Taking Care of Your Home
While factors like location, demand, and the economy usually dictate the value of certain properties, it is the things like non-maintenance, which is within a homeowner’s control, that can accelerate the depreciation process.
If you have the best financial interests at heart, you must do what you can to not only maintain home value but increase it as well. Financially speaking, driving up the prices of your home can help set the market price. Moreover, if you do sell your home, you can make a profit out of it.
Considering the external factors that are not within one’s grasp, is it possible to mark up the value of one’s home past standard equity appreciation? It absolutely is possible.
How to Maintain and Increase Your Homes’ Value?
If you are confident that your home can be worth many millions and stand out above the rest, here are some ways to maintain (and even increase) home value.
1. Curb Appeal
Curb Appeal refers to how attractive a house or property is just by looking at it from a sidewalk or outside the said property. From a buyer’s perspective, when looking for a house and lot for sale, Curb Appeal will be my first impression of the house. This term is often used by realtors selling property to prospective buyers.
On that account, as a homeowner trying to improve your house’s curb appeal, you should keep in mind that the first thing people will see is the façade of your house — the front painting, the door, and possibly some landscaping work on your front porch to maintain or raise your home’s market value.
This paper is in no way stating that the interior of the home is inferior to the exterior but first impressions matter. There is no better way to make an impressive first impression than to make the entrance and front exterior of your home aesthetic and welcoming.
2. Paint your Home
A fresh coat of paint on your home’s walls is a great way to make your house look beautiful, refreshing, and well-maintained. When you paint your home, not only is it a form of personalizing your house, but it will increase the value of your home and even protect it from certain elements like dust and rain.
According to multiple home and décor websites, interior walls need to be repainted more often than the exterior because the former tends to wear down faster. Thus, interior walls are generally repainted every five years. Do not forget to repaint the ceiling because it makes improves how ambient and how well-lit a room can be.
Finally, the exterior can be painted every ten years.
3. Stay Up to Date
Other non-current assets that tend to depreciate like equipment depreciates even faster. In the context of one’s home, equipment refers to appliances like stove, refrigerator, toilets, heaters, and the like.
If you will not stay in a home long-term, then there is no need to replace these appliances. However, if you live in an older home or see yourself residing in the home for the next ten years, then updating your appliances, especially plumbing, will become a necessity at some point.
Be wary that the term is an update and not an upgrade. The point of updating appliances is to replace the depreciating ones with newer appliances. You do not necessarily need to have a state-of-the-art stove or toilet.
Moreover, for potential buyers, the home will be more valuable if the appliances are energy efficient and keep the utility bills low.
4. Clean and Serene
A good-looking house is orderly — easy to navigate because things are in their place and there is no unnecessary debris obscuring the path. Making sure the house has no dust, and smells fresh and fragrant helps in maintaining your home’s market value.
On the flip side, a quick way to depreciate one’s home is to buy too many things, making it hard to navigate around the house. Another way to depreciate the house is to leave malodor and dirt unattended.
Therefore, without the need for fancy and opulent furniture, a house looks best when it is clean and spacious.
If you will have your home viewed, do not procrastinate the cleaning a few days before the viewing because it will be too much. Instead, make it a habit to clean so that there will be less before the day of viewing.
5. Keep the Pests Away
Encountering pests at your home is not just an unpleasant experience, they can be damaging to your home and health.
Rats and Mice can damage insulation by chewing on wirings and walls as they build their nests. To add further, cockroaches and mosquitos spread bacteria and food contamination.
According to the Building Performance Institute, all different types of pests cause a total of 5 million dollars in damage to one’s home in the US.
To avoid this catastrophe, make the early investment in pest control to keep you and your house secure.
6. Fix the Roof
Roof replacement is not only a big investment but an imperative one because what is a house without a roof on it?
Having a fresh and new roof is not only about preventing leaks but will also help in maintaining and contribute to the increase the value of your property.
The material of the roof determines how durable and how quick its depreciation will be so it is best to go with metal and tile which will guarantee long usage. Just be sure to check often for loose shingles and clogged gutters which can contribute to water piling up and damaging the roof.
7. Bonus: Add technology
The 21st-century home is equipped with technology — smart locks, cameras, and automatic lights — that is sure to fascinate the modern buyer.
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In a recent survey, the majority of the respondents said that they would buy the home if there were preinstalled smart home products. According to the data, the top three most sought-for smart home products are Smart thermostats: 77% of the respondents, Smart fire detectors: 75% of the respondents, and Smart carbon monoxide detectors: 70% of the respondents.
So, if you are a homeowner looking to increase home value, the smart way is through smart technology. While it may be pricey, it will eventually pay dividends because the value of your home will increase substantially.
If you are in a home and décor store or even a technology store, see if going smart is the way to go.
The High Value Home
When you increase your home’s value or your house, you not only have a potential profit waiting for you if you do sell the house, but your house also becomes pleasant to stay in because of the maintenance done to keep the house nice.
Whether you are looking to sell or not, these habits can improve your life at home to make the inhabitants happier.
Written by Cholo Hermoso
