North Sound Valuation

How to Increase the Value of Your Home 

beautiful living room

Whether you plan to stay and enjoy upgrades in your home or you want to sell soon, there are many ways you can increase the value of your home. Here are some things to increase home value:

  1. Maintain the property in good condition

  2. Address health and safety concerns

  3. Home upgrades and remodeling

  4. Additions and expansion

  5. Landscaping and curb appeal

Maintain the Property in Good Condition

dirty gutter

The simplest and least expensive way to increase the value of your home is to regularly clean. Set up a schedule for your home maintenance to ensure everything remains in the best condition possible. If you’re reading this and haven’t been doing this, then start now! Swap out your furnace filters, clean your floors, and clean out your gutters. Every little project will help keep your home in a better condition, to get you a higher appraisal value – for a purchase, refinance, or anything else you may need.

 

Address Health and Safety Concerns

tools

If there are any health and safety concerns in your home, you should address them before an appraisal. This can be something relatively small such as a deck with a couple broken boards that you can easily replace, to a larger project that may require a professional such as a big hole in the roof that is causing leaking. Fixing these before the appraisal will ensure the loan process goes smoothly and you improve the home appraisal value of your home.

Upgrades and Remodeling

remodeling

Updating the kitchen, bathroom, or other areas of the home can significantly increase the value of your property. These home upgrades add value:

1. Kitchen remodels

Updating the kitchen is often considered one of the best ways to increase the value of a home. A modern, well-designed kitchen can be a major selling point for buyers making it an excellent upgrade to add value to your home. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) found that remodeling the kitchen gives homeowners a 9.8/10 Joy Score. This means it’s an upgrade perfect before a refinance – it increases home value for the refinance appraisal and it increases your enjoyment in your home.

2. Bathroom remodels 

Like the kitchen, a modern and well-designed bathroom can be a major selling point for buyers. If you want to upgrade a room but you’re not ready to sacrifice tearing up your kitchen, a bathroom remodel is a great choice. 

3. Refinishing Hardwood Floors

According to NARI, refinishing hardwood floors has a cost recovery of 147% making it a great lower cost way to increase your home value.

4. Energy-efficient upgrades

Making energy-efficient upgrades, such as installing solar panels or a new HVAC system, can help reduce a home’s energy costs and make it more attractive to buyers. NARI shows home insulation has a 100% cost recovery when you sell your home making it one of the best ways to do an energy-efficient upgrade that increases your home value.

5. Special features

Adding special features like a swimming pool, a spa or an outdoor BBQ area can increase property value. Creating an outdoor living space, such as a deck, patio or outdoor kitchen can increase the value of a home by providing the illusion of additional living space and extending the living area to the outdoors which buyers appreciate and in turn raises your home value.

Additions and Expansion

additions and expansion

One of the hardest ways to increase your home value is by adding square footage. Building an addition can add valuable living space to the property but isn’t always financially possible. If you can add a second story or finish a basement, this can add square footage to the property and increase its property value. 

Landscaping and Curb Appeal

landscape and curb appeal

Improving the exterior of the property, such as by adding landscaping, a new driveway, or a new front door, can make the property more attractive to potential buyers. An expensive landscaping may not significantly improve home appraisal value but a poorly maintained landscaping can negatively impact the market reaction and therefore lower the appraisal value.