Increasing Your Home’s Value
Msnbc has an article about Increasing Your Home’s Value.
Since some parts of the U.S. are now having problems retaining property value, I thought this might be a good/interesting article that people might find helpful.
Tip 1: Maintenance Pays Off-big time
I can’t argue with that concept, a well maintained house will always outsell the falling apart POS down the street. That is, of course, assuming that the prices are reasonable aligned between the two properties.
Tip 2: Keep up with the Joneses.
The concept is to keep your property, and it’s improvements, in line with the area. Buyer expectations in a given area will pretty much match the improvements in an area. The provided example of granite countertops is accurate, in an area where granite is common, you probably shouldn’t install canary yellow Formica on your counters.
Tip 3: Size does matter.
“Creating living space within the confines of the existing structure”? I can see the conversion of a basement into a family room, but adding a bedroom in an attic? I suppose it might work, but I can’t see that kind of add-on helping value much. Maybe if I was living some kind of horror movie life and had some scuttling relative that needed to be locked in the attic.
Tip 4: Some rooms are better than others.
So the feeling is bedrooms and bathrooms are important because they indicate how many people can comfortably live in a house. Well, IMHO, two bedroom one bath homes are kind of obsolete unless the buyer is looking for a “cottage” type home. Three bedroom two bath homes are fairly common in many areas, four and five bedroom homes are kind of standard in a lot of new construction. Is a five bedroom home worth a lot more if it’s in an area of three bedroom homes? NO. It’s worth something more, but overbuilt properties usually won’t recover the cost incurred in the overbuild.
Tip 5: It’s all about balance.
Now the writer talks about improvements and making sure you’ll be able to recover your expenditure.
Overall, it’s not a bad article, but it probably should have stopped at Tip #2. Improving a home’s value inexpensively can be done by making sure everything is functional and maintained first, then upgrading portions of the house as time and money allows. Bathrooms, kitchens and flooring can be expensive upgrades, plan and save for those upgrades. You can start with:
Interior Paint- Fix all the holes in walls, take your time, get good coverage and clean edges
Electrical Outlets and Switches - Uniform and new throughout the house
Doors and Hardware - Change out all interior doors and hardware, think lever sets instead of knobs
Lighting - If the house has ceiling mounted lights, change them out.
Window Coverings - Personal choice, think neutral colors so room colors can be changed later on
These improvements can be done fairly inexpensively and will give your home a “fresh” appearance which can help your state of mind while waiting to proceed with the more expensive improvements.