Five Tips To Improving Your Home's Value
Are you one of thousands of Americans who are thinking about
improving your current home or buying a "fixer-upper" home?
Before you take the leap, here are five things you should know
before you start spending your money.
1) Life Style Home Improvements such as kitchen and bathrooms
consistently impact a home's value for the better. As a result,
these are always your best investment. Fans of TV home
improvement shows have been trained to expect the best; so not
only are life style improvements a good investment, but they
will help your home's value increase. Other lifestyle
improvements include master bedroom suite, media rooms and
today's trendy "outdoor rooms.
2) Maintenance improvements are necessary, but don't expect the
value of your home to go up as a result. Buyers expect systems
and maintenance to be adequate and up to date. Exterior paint
jobs may help increase the "curb appeal" of your house, but
since maintenance is a part of home ownership, don't expect a
$5000 paint job to translate into $5000 more in home value. But
do note failure to maintain your property will make the value go
down by the cost it will take to repair the damage or implement
necessary maintenance. Think of maintenance improvements as a
way to protect your home's value from going down.
3) Cosmetic improvements have a neutral effect on a home's
value. Jobs like wall paper stripping or painting are
improvements most homeowners can do themselves, so the
perception of their value is less. Jobs such as repainting on
the interior will have less impact on the value of your home. If
you can, try to do most cosmetics yourself and build sweat
equity instead of paying someone else to do the work. 4) Beware
over improving, especially if you plan to sell within 2-5 years,
you may want to approach all improvements cautiously. Before you
commit to any big projects, understand whether a three car
garage or a pool is out of character for your neighborhood-- you
may be consigning your house to an oddity status. If your house
is improved beyond all the neighborhood that surrounds it, it is
likely that the value of your home won't be realized when it
comes time to sell.
5) Stay Informed. Keep up with home values. Realtors use home
sales information on comparable sales (comps) to put a value on
a home. The best way to assess value is to look at home sales of
properties that are similar to yours. If you know 15 Hedge Lane
sold for $325,000 with a new kitchen, you can get an idea of
your home's value with a new kitchen if your home is comparable
to 15 Hedge Lane. Looking at comps gives you the best idea of
your home's value. You can look at exact home sale prices online
and keep track of values in your neighborhood by visiting Web
sites like or http://www.domania.com.