Whether you'reputting your home on the market this year or in the next five years, it is asmart decision to start building your home's resale value now. Here are someways to create a comfortable home while making it easier to put more money intoyour bank account on closing day.

Small Maintenance and Repairs

If you think that homemaintenance on the weekends waste your time and energy, think again. The smallchores you do around your home prevents it from losing value. Neglecting smallmaintenance and repairs causes 10% of your home's value to walk out your doorand slip through your windows. Most appraisers claim that homes showing littleto no preventative maintenance can depreciate from $15,000 to $20,000.

A studyconducted by researchers at the Universityof Connecticut and Syracuse University shows that regular maintenance boostsyour home value by about 1% per year. However, ongoing maintenance costs offsetthat value, which means that regular maintenance actually slows down your rateof depreciation. Furthermore, because home buyers generally notice any repairsneeded upon buying a new home, proactive maintenance lets the home buyer knowthat he or she will not have to spend extra money to maintain the basics. This makes yourhome more attractive, and thus more likely to get higher priced offers.

Maintaining the basics can costyou little money and certainly some effort, but there’s a way to accomplishthis very important activity smartly. This article by HouseLogic,for example, shows youhow to keep home maintenance below $300 a year. Planning ahead will also help make maintaining your home easier. Mostprofessional appraisers and real estate agents recommend a proactivemaintenance schedule that includes:

·        Keepingenough cash on hand to replace systems and materials

·        Creating andfollowing a maintenance schedule

·        Planning aroom redo every year

·        Keeping anotebook of all your maintenance and repairs

Landscaping

The Virginia CooperativeExtension at VirginiaTech published a study that showslandscaping can increase a home's value by 15%. The study claims that a home valued at $150,000 could increase its valuebetween $8,300 and $19,000 with the addition of landscaping. Particularlandscape elements add different value. For instance, landscape design canincrease your home's value by 42%, plant size can increase your home's value by32%, and diversity in plants can increase your home's value by 22%.

Replace Entrance Doors

If your entry doors are wood,consider switching them out for either fiberglass or steel doors. Steel doorsadd style and architectural interest to your home while improving security; youcan add a deadbolt and electronic keypads to keep out intruders. Unlike wooddoors, steel doors do not rot or splinter.

Alternatively, fiberglass doorscan be designed to look like wood doors and give your home a modern look.Fiberglass doors conserve more energy than steel doors.

Price-wise, a steel door will costyou $1,335 with a 91% return on investment whereas a fiberglass door will costyou $3,126 with an 82.3% return on investment.

Garage Door Replacement

At first, you might not thinkthat your garage door increases the value of your home. However, your garagedoor distinguishes your home from the other homes on your block. As the largestentryway of a house, garage doors get noticed first because they're the focalpoint of your home. If you want to quickly increase the resale value of yourhome, you need to make the most of this space.

Some interesting things beingdone with garage doors include:

• Increased Size: Bigger garage doors help homes standout more.
• Bold Colors: Bright and bold colors now cancomplement the color of your home, or you can build a concept around thecolor of your home.
• Faux Wood: You can install fiberglass or steelgarage doors that look like wood garage doors. This gives your home a newlevel of sophistication.
• Windows: Large Windows on your garage doorimprove the aesthetic of your home, and provide light into your garage sothat it's no longer a dark space.

More importantly, a garage doorreplacement will cost you $1,652 and add $1,512 to the value of your home;that's a return on your investment of 91.5%.

Fiberglass Attic Insulation

While energy efficiency is stillnot the sexiest selling point of your home, installing fiberglass atticinsulation saves energy and garners a big payback on your investment. Accordingto Remodeling Magazine's 2016 Cost vs. Value top trends report, fiberglass attic insulation gainedthe top return on investment among the 30 projects in this year's report. UsingRemodel/Max as the cost source, a fiberglass attic insulation project cost$1,268 nationwide.  Real estateprofessionals surveyed estimated that the work would boost the price of a homeat resale, within a year of its completion, by $1,482. That's a 116.9% returnon investment.

Replacing Windows

Replacing your windows is anotherway to save energy and increase your home's resale value. Replacing your oldwindows with energy saving models will beautify your home, keep it comfortable,and ease the workload of your HVAC system. According to HGTV, you'll see a reduction in your utility billby 7% to 15%. However, if you're selling your home, you could expect a 60% to70% recoupment of your investment. The two types of replacement windows that fetch thebest return are vinyland wood. 

Remodeling Your Kitchen

Kitchen remodeling can getexpensive, but small renovations can make your home more buyer friendly.Changing your kitchen's texture and color using a matte finish and neutralcolors such as putty or grey enhances your home's resale value. Because mattefinishes have transitional qualities, your potential homebuyer can easily matchhis or her stainless steel or black and white appliances. Also, refinishingcabinetry, or switching to Energy Star™ appliances provide comfort you like andpizazz buyers adore.

Flow is important to any interiordesign of a home. If you feel that your kitchen hinders a good flow, change it.A small investment to knock out a non-structural wall or remove a kitchenisland creates space and provides flow that buyers love.

A minor kitchen remodel can costyou $20,122 while putting $16,716 of resale value into your home; that's an 83%payback on the project. If you want to do a major kitchen model, this can costyou about $60,000 and put about $39,000 of resale value into your home, whichis only about a 65% payback on the project. Therefore, consider a minor kitchenremodel first.

Bathroom Addition or Remodel

Likewise, carefully consideradding a bathroom or remodeling your bathroom. Switching out your frosted glassshower doors for glass doors, cleaning the grout, replacing the shower andfloor tiles, switching out your sink or toilet, or replacing your sink andshower fixtures can cost you little money.

Adding a bathroom can getexpensive, but it can reduce congestion during hectic times and provide yourguests with a bathroom. Consult with your real estate agent or a localappraiser before deciding whether a full remodel or addition is right for yoursituation. While a bathroom remodel will cost you about $18,000 with a returnon investment of about 66%, a bathroom addition will cost you about $42,000with a return on investment of about 56%. Therefore, it's best to do your duediligence before working on your bathroom.

Your Needs andBuyers' Wants

On that note, ifyou need to renovate your home, be sure to consider how those changes willaffect its appeal to future buyers. Knowing design trends will give you theopportunity to make changes to your home based on where your needsand your potential buyer's desires intersect, thus increasing your property'sresale value drastically.

Designers anddesign websites provide great ideas when you’re brainstorming home renovations.Keep in mind as you research, however, that you don’t want to sacrifice yourneeds for a comfortable home just for the sake of what you think a future buyerwill want!

Therefore, beforeyou begin making any changes to your home, consult your real estate agent. Realestate agents, because we are constantly working with new buyer clients, haveinsider insight into what homebuyers are looking for now and in thefuture. We’ll be able to help you make smart choices when remodeling orrenovating your home.
If you think youmight want to remodel or renovate your home in the near future, or if you arejust curious about other ways you can increase its resale value, please reachout to me!