Add value to your home

“There’s always something to be done.”

These are words to live by when you are a homeowner.

The number of things you need or want to improve in your house increases as you try to customize your home to fit your lifestyle. For the most part, it’s a combination of hard work and an investment.

Adam Walsh and his family just moved into their new home on Saipan and shares some ideas on what has trended as “do-it-yourself” projects, i.e., getting the job done without the professional price.

1. “It is important that you update your appliances. By upgrading the appliances in your home, especially in the kitchen, you will be helping not only yourself, but the environment as well,” Wash said.

The handymanmatters.com website says that, based on estimates, appliances on average account for 13 percent of your household’s energy cost, so cutting your energy use by upgrading appliances and keeping them in good condition will often save you money in the long run.

That can be an opportunity for homeowners to make their existing home appliances sounder—making them more energy-efficient or just providing more benefits for the time they are in use.

Other reasons for an upgrade have to do with safety issues or stopping something adverse from happening or continuing to happen. Old microwaves may give off some radioactivity, and other older home appliances may even display signs of having lead paint.

Actually buying new appliances also has a positive effect on one’s wallet by raising the value of the home that a person resides in.

2. That’s on top of keeping your house always clean.

“The surrounding areas like your yard or just the space outside your door and repainting walls goes a long way on how your place looks,” Walsh said.

According to homebuilding.co.ok, external makeovers can totally transform the appearance of a property, changing an unattractive 1950s or ’60s house into a property with period charm, or an old bungalow into a cutting edge contemporary house.

Most buyers will decide if they do not like a property before they even get out of the car and it can be hard to shake off negative first impressions created by a poor or unattractive exterior.

External makeovers and maintaining them restores or enhance the property’s character

3. “Updating small things are crucial: curtains, light fixtures, and even doorknobs. No matter how small the improvement, it is still added value to you home,” Wash said.

According to communityrenovate.com, real estate agents or valuers may find it hard to place a figure on the increase in value made by only cosmetic improvements, but the market will always place a premium on an attractively decorated and styled property.

4. “Neighbors play a big part on your home’s value. This is something that’s out of one’s control but doing research in the neighborhood that you want to move into will be of great help.” Wash said.

According to budgetingthenest.com, living beside good neighbors is something that all homeowners want. It is not just because it makes for a more enjoyable experience, but also because good neighbors don’t hurt the value of your property. Bad neighbors, on the other hand, can have a negative impact on your home’s value.

One of the biggest ways a neighbor can hurt your home value is when he goes into foreclosure. Homes that are in foreclosure near your home will cause a negative financial impact.

A study cited by The New York Times found that homeowners who lived within 300 feet of a foreclosed residential property experienced a drop of 1.3 percent in home value. The impact could be even worse if these homes are in visible disrepair.

If you live in a condo or planned unit development, having neighbors who don’t pay maintenance fees or mortgages can lower the desirability of that development and thus the value of your home.

If your neighbors are a nuisance because of their behavior, this can have a negative impact on your home value. Common problems include neighbors who frequently make noise or host loud parties.

Living near businesses or schools that are closed down and vacant can also hurt home values. So can living near loud nightclubs, homes for troubled youth, landfills and other undesirable businesses and facilities.