8 Easy Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value

Last updated: August 18, 2016


Exterior of a nice house


Having a home you can be proud of goes beyond just personal pride. Maintaining your household and property ensures that it remains a viable financial asset in your portfolio. If you reach a stage in life where you wish to move or want to leave your children with an asset that provides solid security, home upkeep is the way to go!

Here are 8 really simple things you can do to boost your house’s resale value.

Paint, Paint, Paint!

Painting is probably the first thing that comes to mind in home maintenance, and for good reason. New paint can perk up even the most run down and neglected of homes.

Man painting door trim

However, this goes beyond simply making sure that you apply a fresh coat of exterior paint every few years. Your front, back, and garage doors are subject to scratches, scuffs, and sun fading, so make sure to enrich their look as well.

Paint helps bring new life to your home. Be sure to re-paint trim and areas of high traffic, such as kitchens, the family room, and bedrooms.

Carpet Cleaning or Laminate Substitutions

Possibly more than any other part of your home, carpets can take a real beating. People and pets walk across them every day, and they accumulate the resulting dirt, spills, and wear. Even the highest quality rugs wear down in time, but you can prolong their life through regular cleaning. Having clean carpets also just makes your home look more appealing and presentable.

Person laying laminate flooring

If your carpets are past the point of no return, consider replacing them with laminate flooring. This highly affordable alternative delivers the look of exotic reclaimed or rustic wood, or metal at a fraction of the price. It also provides more protection against wear and stains than your average rug.

Get Organized and De-clutter

Make de-cluttering a regular aspect of your cleaning routine. Bottom line: unless something holds important sentimental value and/or you have used it in the past twelve months, thrown out or donate it.

Organized closet

Update fixtures

When people rejuvenate their home, they sometimes overlook fixtures because they think they are more work to replace. However, that hard-to-access ceiling fan or built-in dishwasher from the ‘90s still needs your attention. Outdated fixtures stick out like a sore thumb and can really clash with newer design elements, defeating your efforts.

Person installing a new kitchen drawer

Clean up Your Garden

Maintaining an attractive property goes beyond simply mowing the lawn and raking leaves. Give your garden a regular trimming and weeding to guarantee consistently attractive and well-manicured exteriors. If your brushes and trees are tangled and overgrown, people will not even be able to see parts of your lot. They will also obscure any notable views that your property borders.

Woman trimming hedges in a garden

Kitchen/Bathroom Refresh

These are high traffic areas in many homes and inevitably displays signs of age. Bathroom tiles becomes cracked and discolored, and kitchen counters can become frail after years of water, spills, and hot pots and pans. Leaky, rusty pipes and taps are also tell-tale signs of neglect. Invest in replacements to keep these important rooms fresh and sanitary.

Man recaulking a bathroom tub

Replace Your Lighting

All of that effort you put into these changes will suffer if they are not appropriately illuminated! Invest in new and more effective forms of ambient, glare-free lighting. This provides a welcoming level of brightness that shows off furniture and fixtures, and is comfortable for activities like reading.

New kitchen lighting overtop of kitchen countertop

If you’re looking to resell your home, or simply give it a facelift, keep the above tips in mind. Things like painting are a simple and easy solution if you hire the right professional crew to get it done.