Increase the Value of Your Home One of the best things about owning a home is that you have an opportunity to improve your

investment. You can add value to your home by simply renovating, improving, or adding on better things

to your home.

Not only will those changes improve your way of life, but they’ll also allow you to sell your home at a

higher price than you paid for it initially. With enough improvements, you could end up earning more

than you paid, including the interest added onto your VA home loan.

The following is a list of five items that can help you increase the value of your home. Each tip is

designed to be low cost since you would be doing most of the work.

Cleaning and Touch Ups First up, is to clean up. Before you look to tear, add, or otherwise adjust the physical nature of your

property, a simple deep clean on a weekend can do a lot to improve your home’s worth.

When a potential buyer walks in and finds the house in disarray, their opinions of the place are going to

drop immediately, meaning that they won’t be willing to pay for the asking price. You could even lose

the sale altogether.

On the other hand, a potential buyer coming in to find the place

immaculate will be much more willing to pay a higher asking price. The

worth of the home is determined by the perception of the buyer.

Give them a good show and they’ll be willing to spend more. Second,

patch and paint the house.

If there are any holes or ruined paint throughout the house, patch it

and paint it. Matching a paint color can be difficult so it may require a

new coat altogether.

Putting a new paint job on a wall can make the room feel refreshed,

which can add more value to the home. Third, take care of your yard.

Curbside appeal instantly increases a home’s worth in many consumers’ minds. Take care of the lawn,

trim the bushes, plant flowers, and perform other regular maintenance work on the yard.

You’d be surprised how different people’s reactions are when they walk up to a beautifully kept yard

rather than a wild wasteland. Give them the best impression.

What’s it missing? Fourth, cut your energy costs. A family moving in will be interested in saving money on their utilities and

the fact that your home will cost them less every month will be a major selling point.

This tip will likely need the help of a professional unfortunately, but many companies can provide you

with a free energy audit to locate inefficiencies. Ask yours to

come out and take a look.

Fifth and finally, add something that’s missing. Build a deck,

remodel the home to include an island, or add energy efficient

insulation.

Find something that you wish your home had and add it. With

the right preparation, a few tools from Home Depot, and a few

weekends of hard work, you could add something of value onto

your home.

Take these tips and use them as you can. Even if you’re in the throes of paying off a VA home loan, some

of these tips are cheaper than others and are affordable (costing you more labor than money).

Improve what you have so that you can come out ahead when all is said and done. Should the need

arise, you could pay off your VA home loan, and sell it for more than what you bought it for in the first

place.

Photo Credit: brokenarts, 10409