Many people who own their own home consider their residence to be one of their greatest assets. For a lot of these people, their home is where the majority of their money is invested, and it’s a major part of their retirement plan. For these reasons, it’s important for homeowner’s to work to preserve their home’s value.
Home value is determined by many different factors, some that you have control over and some that you won’t. The location and surroundings of your home are something you can do very little about. Keeping up its appearance, keeping the home in good repair and making regular updates are ways in which you can preserve the value of your home.
Appearances are everything
How your home looks can add or subtract nearly ten percent of your purchase price to the value of your home. Buyers who are willing to spend a lot on a home are looking for a house with little work. A home that needs dusting, vacuuming or a lot of work on the front yard will give the impression to a potential buyer that there are a lot of other things in the home that need work, lowering the potential for that buyer to make a high offer.
Even if your house is not currently on the market, keeping your house clean is important in order to be able to access every area of your home. Leaving dust can stain windowsills and blinds, and not vacuuming can ruin your carpets and floors. While you don’t have to keep your home immaculate, it is important to keep up with basic housekeeping.
Keep your house in good shape
A typical buyer tends to overestimate how much it will cost him or her to repair an item in a home by about 300 percent. That means that anything that is broken in your home will lower your home’s value by three times as much as it will cost you to fix it. Obviously, the way to prevent this from happening is to make repairs to your home.
In order to save money on major household repairs, keep up with smaller maintenance items. For example, after a bad storm, have your roof inspected and make minor repairs to any damaged areas. This will be a lot less expensive than waiting for the bad areas to cave in and paying to replace sections of your ceiling with water damage.
Make a few updates
Styles and trends change, and the shag carpeting that came with your house in the 1970s that was such a selling feature will make your home appear dated. A potential buyer will subtract the amount they will have to pay to replace that carpet from their offer. While it’s not necessary to chase every new trend, when something in the house wears out, it is important to consider what is popular in new homes.
Of course, you don’t have to invest in something you hate, but try to look for popular colors that you like or new appliances with popular features.