re you one of thousands of to date. Exterior paint jobs may
Americans who are thinking help increase the "curb appeal"
about improving your of your house, but since
current home or buying a maintenance is a part of home
"fixer-upper" home? Before you ownership, don't expect a $5000
take the leap, here are five paint job to translate into $5000
things you should know before you more in home value. But do note
start spending your money. failure to maintain your property
will make the value go down by
1) Life Style Home Improvements the cost it will take to repair
such as kitchen and bathrooms the damage or implement necessary
consistently impact a home's maintenance. Think of maintenance
value for the better. As a improvements as a way to protect
result, these are always your your home's value from going
best investment. Fans of TV home down.
improvement shows have been
trained to expect the best; so 3) Cosmetic improvements have a
not only are life style neutral effect on a home's value.
improvements a good investment, Jobs like wall paper stripping or
but they will help your home's painting are improvements most
value increase. Other lifestyle homeowners can do themselves, so
improvements include master the perception of their value is
bedroom suite, media rooms and less. Jobs such as repainting on
today's trendy "outdoor rooms. the interior will have less
impact on the value of your home.
2) Maintenance improvements are If you can, try to do most
necessary, but don't expect the cosmetics yourself and build
value of your home to go up as a sweat equity instead of paying
result. Buyers expect systems and someone else to do the work.
maintenance to be adequate and up
4) Beware over improving, home. The best way to assess
especially if you plan to sell value is to look at home sales of
within 2-5 years, you may want to properties that are similar to
approach all improvements yours. If you know 15 Hedge Lane
cautiously. Before you commit to sold for $325,000 with a new
any big projects, understand kitchen, you can get an idea of
whether a three car garage or a your home's value with a new
pool is out of character for your kitchen if your home is
neighborhood— you may be comparable to 15 Hedge Lane.
consigning your house to an Looking at comps gives you the
oddity status. If your house is best idea of your home's value.
improved beyond all the You can look at exact home sale
neighborhood that surrounds it, prices online and keep track of
it is likely that the value of values in your neighborhood by
your home won't be realized when visiting Web sites like or it comes time to sell. href="http://www.domania.com"
title="http://www.domania.com"
5) Stay Informed. Keep up with target="_blank">http://www.domani
home values. Realtors use home a.com.
sales information on comparable
sales (comps) to put a value on a
About the Author:
The editorial staff of Domania lives and breathes home values. Find more advice and real estate tools at http://www.domania.com
Source: www.isnare.com
