Buying a home is a big deal. Many people work many years to get to that point. However, buying a home is only the first step. You must also reinvest into your home in regards to time, money, and work to maintain your property’s value. If you don’t, you may have trouble selling it for a fair price in the future. Below are a few strategies you can use to maintain your home’s value over time.
Repaint Your Walls
One of the most effective methods for maintaining your home’s value is also one of the easiest and cheapest. This is repainting your walls when needed. Like everything, the paint on a wall can age. Over time, it can fade in color, get covered in marks, become chipped, and take on an ugly appearance. Thankfully, repainting is a job most people can do on their own. You don’t have to go to a trade school to figure out how to correctly paint a wall. A simple online tutorial should do the job. Better yet, a gallon of paint should only set you back about $25. Consider using this opportunity to alter the color schemes of your rooms to color choices that are more palatable to modern buyers.
Clean Your Septic Tank
Properly maintaining your home’s systems is another way you can help to retain the value of the property over time. This is certainly the case for your home’s septic tank. Every couple of years, your septic tank should be cleaned by having it pumped of its contents. Residential septic tank cleaning helps preserve the value of a home by lengthening the life of the tank as well as your entire septic system. If this cleaning does not take place, septic backup and the complete failure of your toilets’ plumbing will eventually be the result.
Remodel Your Kitchen
Another choice for retaining your home’s value is to remodel your kitchen. In fact, this project could actually increase the value of your home. You should see a return on investment for your kitchen remodel project of 60 to 80 percent. The remodel will also help your home move off the market faster. Modern home-buyers consider the kitchen as one of the most important rooms in the house as far as helping them choose a home to buy. Choose either a more modern or rustic style for your kitchen remodel. Focus both on the aesthetics of the room as well as the functionality of the counter space, cabinets, and different appliances.
Complete Your Yard Work
Something else that can increase the value of a home and help move it off the market faster is great curb appeal. Curb appeal refers to how a home looks from the street level. This of course includes the exterior structure of your home. However, the yard, landscaping, trees, foliage, and more definitely contribute a great deal to creating good curb appeal. As such, your attention to detail in regards to your yard work plays a big role in helping to determine just how valuable your home will be on the open market. If you ignore your duties and let your plants get overgrown and weeds sprout up everywhere, the value of your home can certainly take a hit. Make sure to complete your yard work and consider adding things like flower beds, trees, and topiaries to enhance your home’s curb appeal.
Update Your Bathrooms
After the kitchen, a home’s bathrooms tend to be the next big influence on modern home shoppers buying decisions. If your bathrooms are old, musty, and worn out, you can forget about selling your home quickly for a fair price. Bathroom remodels can help increase the value of your home on the open market. Replace bathroom fixtures after they wear out. Consider upgrading your shower to one with a sliding glass door. Replace wallpaper with tile that can better stand up to moisture. Make sure everything in your bathroom is clean and retains a sanitized appearance.
Retaining the value of your home will take some work. From time to time, you must complete maintenance tasks and reinvest in your home with remodeling projects. If you put in the appropriate amount of effort, you can actually increase the value of your home on the open market.
