How To Increase Your Home Value in 2023
What raises home value the most? We've got you covered with the fifteen best ways to increase your home value without breaking the bank!
If you're looking around your house, it's safe to say that you can quickly identify five to seven projects that you want to tackle to make your home more attractive, but many homeowners don't bother to fuss with it to save money.
We want to share a list of 15 ways to quickly increase the value of your home with a budget under $2,000. You will be surprised by some of the small details you can improve upon, which will make a world of difference when you decide to list your home for sale one day.
Owning a home comes with a lot of maintenance and responsibilities. Many times homeowners will decide to make minor improvements to their home to accentuate the value in their home, which in the long run will allow homeowners to gain more equity in their homes and more equity, as we know, means more money in your pocket!
Protecting your investment in your home is paramount, and many should look at this as part of their duty as a homeowner to protect their most significant asset. Yes, your home is not equal to money in the bank. Still, for many, the more you care for your home and improve upon it as the years pass, the return on investment or "ROI" will be significant in the long run, putting you in a perfect position should you ever decide to sell your home down the road.
Here are the top 15 Ways to Easily Increase Your Home Value in 2022
Care for Your Front Landscape
This could be one of the most straightforward tasks to stay on top of, automatically giving you the curb appeal you may be trying to achieve. It doesn't take much. Make sure that your beds look clean from any weeds. Trim your hedges, and be sure to mow your lawn more frequently in the warmer months.
Each time you get into the habit of your front landscape, remember this is the first thing people see as they approach your home. If not for reasons of resale, remember the first impression of a home starts at the front of the house.
Replace Mulch at Least Once a Year
Many homeowners do this in the spring before the hot summer months. We recommend trying to do it at least once a year but preferably twice a year. As the mulch sits, it starts to lose its vibrance. This is such an easy way to give the front of your home a refreshed look without having to do too much.
You can pick up bags of mulch from your local hardware store and be shocked how much a little goes such a long way. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, though! Pick up gardening gloves, shovel out that old, matted, and faded mulch, and replace it with bright, fluffy mulch. This task will make even the most worn bushes and hedges look better-taken care fresh!
Repaint Your Front Door
Repainting your door is one of those tasks that most people hate doing! Let's face it, it's not hard, but it is tedious and inconvenient while you're waiting for the paint to dry!
But grab a tarp to block off the area, so you don't end up with fingerprints on your freshly painted door, pick up a gallon of your favorite hue and start rolling it on!
As soon as the paint dries, you will see what a big difference giving your front door a fresh coat of paint will make to the overall look and feel as you enter your home!
Powerwash and Care for Your Fence
Outdoor elements get the best of the outdoor features of our homes. Fences typically need some maintenance, especially if it's wooden fences. Even if it's not, you will want to keep your fence clean and tidy, as this is also a curb appeal item that could quickly deter buyers if not appropriately maintained.
Deep Clean Your Home - Inside and Out Quarterly
Cleaning your home every week seems like an easy task for most. This is not what we're talking about here. We are talking DEEP cleaning.
Deep cleaning consists of cleaning the grout, washing and wiping down the baseboards, cleaning the grease that omits from your oven to other kitchen surfaces, scrubbing the tiles in your bathroom, and thoroughly dusting your window sills and blinds, and ceiling fans.
We recommend that these types of tasks be done at least 2-3 times per year to reflect a home that has been well taken care of and maintained. Over time, if these things aren't done regularly, they will start to show and even lead to more expensive solutions to fix down the road.
Add Interior Plants and Care for Them Regularly
Interior plants add charm and value to the home; the best part is if you care for them well, they will continue to add aesthetic value to your home at no additional cost!
If you take the time to find plants that will do well in your home based on the amount of light you can provide, you will find these areas of the house to be the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Even if you're trying to find the best way to stage your home, this is a quick and effective way to draw the eye to natural elements inside the house!
Change HVAC Air Filters Every Three Months at a Minimum
Talk about a cheap and easy way to avoid a costly fix down the road! Changing air filters regularly will save a homeowner from having to replace their HVAC unit and will give the homeowner more time.
Most HVAC units, if maintained well and regularly, should last around 20 years. If you think about it, why would you want to replace your HVAC unit at ten years when you can get it to last 20 years?
When a homebuyer comes to look at your home, the appearance of the air filters can be easy to spot if they are dirty, so keep them as clean as possible! Changing the filter every three months is sufficient, but if you want to take it a step further, pick a filter that filters out the most dust, mold, and allergens and change them out every 1-2 months. This is a quick and easy way to keep your HVAC healthy and your potential buyer happy!
Shampoo Your Carpets Regularly
Shampooing your carpets will lengthen the time between a complete replacement, and each time you get your rugs shampooed, it will give the room an overall effect of cleanliness. Carpet fibers carry a lot of dust and odor that can be unpleasing to most people.
If you can find the time and the money, this would be a great thing to add to your home maintenance routine every six months. Not only will it leave you feeling like your home is cleaner, but it will impress your guests. Most guests notice the floor if it's dirty, so avoid that route by taking good care of the carpeted areas of your home!
Wash Your Windows Regularly
Washing your windows is another task, like repainting your front door. Is it a nuisance? Yes, but the results quickly reward you and your prospective buyers.
If your windows aren't cleaned regularly, the glass will start to dull and fade, leaving you with a lackluster look on your windows. Again, the more time you invest cleaning your windows, the longer you can wait to replace them.
This small and very cheap task will save you a lot of money in the long run because replacing windows can be extremely costly, depending on the size and the number of windows needing to be replaced.
Repaint the Interior of the Home Every Five Years
This is something that homeowners often look at as more of a color preference, but what they need to realize is the effect of fresh paint. Gone are the fingerprints and scuffs. It's just how new paint coats the walls and gives the interior of your home a refreshed look and feel without having to spend much money.
We recommend that you pick one room a year that gets a fresh coat; that way, you don't have to repaint the entire house at once! This simple life hack gives the interior of your home a renewed feel without wasting too much time or money!
Remove Any Popcorn Ceiling or Wallpaper
Popcorn ceilings are always something we recommend to be done before moving into a home. The reason is simply that it can be messy!
Please don't worry if you've moved into your home without doing this first. It can be done in a manageable way, too but be prepared. This might be one of the messier projects on our list here. You will want to ensure your surface areas and furniture are completely covered and be prepared for quite a bit of dust (this is where changing those HVAC air filters regularly will come in handy!)
Even though this can be done as a do-it-yourself because it's so messy, we recommend calling the professionals for this! Because the professionals do this daily, they have ways of minimizing the mess and ultimately making the project take much less time.
If you're thinking of putting your home on the market and you have popcorn ceilings, you should consider this item as it tends to be one of the most hated features in a home for current home buyers.
Update Light Fixtures
This is a great project to tackle to give your home more personality! Some homeowners want to share their house on a facelift but need help knowing where to start. There is so much to choose from with many home decor websites without breaking the bank.
You can do this on your own, but this is another one that we recommend calling in a professional for safety reasons. Hiring a professional to hang your light fixtures is the safest route if you aren't trained in electrical work. This alone can change the look and feel of your foyer, kitchen, dining room, or primary bedroom and give a dramatic touch to make a significant impression on your guests.
Replace Damaged Tile Floors and Regrout
Tile floors can be beautiful, but the effects on a potential buyer can be devastating if not taken care of correctly. Dirty grout and cracked tiles overwhelm potential buyers, and they often will walk away thinking this project is more than they wanted to get involved with.
You can easily replace your tile floor or even pick some tiles that need to be replaced, and adding a fresh coat of grout after you will leave your kitchen and bathrooms looking much cleaner and way less overwhelming to a potential buyer. If you can find the time and resources, this is one way to increase your home value almost automatically.
Upgrade or Repaint Kitchen Cabinets and Update Hardware
Kitchens almost always tend to be the focal point of the home. If your kitchen is feeling drab or the color scheme is dated, one of the easiest and most effective ways to change the look and feel of your kitchen is by repainting.
You can take it further by replacing the hardware with a more modern look and feel. You will find an instant return on investment when you're talking about any improvements being made to your kitchen.
Most home buyers will tell you that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms of the house, and having it look updated and modern is a common desire for most people purchasing a home in the current market.
Upgrade your Appliances
This one seems straightforward. It can be costly depending on how many appliances need replacement, but it can instantly change how your home looks and feels by adding a touch of "newness" that many people like to see as far as appliances are concerned.
Appliances should last ten years, so updating appliances instantly make your home look more appealing by swapping out some of the older devices when you can!
Ways to Increase your Home Value - Final Thoughts from Raleigh Realty
In closing, you can see that taking small steps to care for your home will give you more equity in the long run and make your home much more appealing to prospective buyers.
We hope this article has helped you find ways to improve your home on a budget and will give you some to-do's going into the coming year!
If you or someone you know is looking to sell their home, contact us, and we will be happy to help answer any of your home selling or buying questions!