Appreciation can help a homeowner or a real estate investor greatly. Appreciation is when the actual value of the property you own increases.These increases can happen organically overtime or they can be forced.
A natural increase overtime usually occurs when the housing market is seeing an increase in demand for houses and therefore the prices are driven up. This often occurs in lumps, or specific areas of a town, city or state.
Forced appreciation is when the actual home value increases due to the owner making adjustments to the house that are highly sought after by homebuyers.
Always keep in mind that appreciation is speculation, this means you cannot bank on appreciation and you especially shouldn’t for an investment. However, it can help you huge and be icing on the cake for your wallet when selling or renting out your home. Appreciation can even help when you are trying to refinance because the actual value of your home increases.
#1. Add More Bedrooms/Bathrooms:
Maybe there is an underutilized garage or some really spacious rooms that could be split in half. Either way, adding more bedrooms and bathrooms can greatly increase the price of your home. This can especially help if you are renting out the property or plan to, because on average the more bedrooms you have in the house the more you can charge for rent. No matter where you live, you can use rent price resources — like this one from Minneapolis — to uncover a reasonable rent price for your place.
#2. Curb Appeal:
Anything that makes your house look well-kept from the outside. Things like a fresh coat of paint, new shutters, maintained landscaping. These can all really help when it comes to your homes price evaluation.
#3. Kitchens and Bathrooms:
This is a well known trick now but dollars spent updating the kitchens or bathrooms of a home go a lot further than most other updates. There are a lot of cheap and easy ways to update your kitchen or bathroom yourself that will make people think you just paid thousands to get it done. Painting the cabinets, redoing any countertop and adding a backsplash can all really help bring up the total home value.
#4. Central Air:
This one can get pricey however a homebuyer is willing to pay more for a house that already has central air set up and ready to go. The convenience this offers is really the main appeal. The thought of never having to put another AC in is enough for most to pay more upfront.
#5. Solar Panels:
This is definitely an investment however there are also great tax refunds that can be given (these vary by state) to those who get solar panels installed. Also, home buyers are willing to pay far more for a house that already has these installed rather than buying a home that doesn’t and getting them installed themselves. It goes back to convenience again. People want the home is ready-to-live-in condition, they don’t want to have to make all these adjustments.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are trying to sell your home for a higher price tag, or trying to refinance your mortgage to get more cash out of the deal, forced appreciation can really act in your favor. By using just one of the strategies listed above you can greatly increase the value of your property. Just remember, don’t bank on market appreciation – but forced appreciation is all in your hands.
Thanks for reading! :)
Gina DiMasi
Gina DiMasi is an organizational finance whiz. Gina is an avid investor, educator and aficionado of bitcoin and other modern investments. In addition to being an all around nice person, Gina has a degree in personal finance studies from Framingham State University. When she's not running numbers or blogging up a storm, Gina actively volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.
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