The 6 Biggest Issues that Lower Your Home’s Value
The 6 Biggest Issues that Lower Your Home’s Value
Your home is more than just a shelter and the place where the major events of your life happen. It’s also a significant financial asset. In fact, if you take good care of your home, you can build equity and grow its value. However, you might be surprised at how many things can lower the value of your home. As a commercial landscaper in Fort Collins, we recommend that you take the time to learn about the most common issues that can reduce the value of your home, and you’ll build more equity.
Never Put off Routine Home Maintenance
Nothing makes potential buyers turn around and leave like visible signs of disrepair. Cracked driveways and walkways, termite damage, peeling paint, and wood rot will all seriously lower your home’s value. Issues affecting your plumbing and electrical work, like leaking pipes, rust, and frayed wires, can have an especially strong negative effect on the value. And if you have signs of foundation damage, you can forget about getting anywhere like the original value of your home. So you should never delay routine maintenance tasks, no matter how busy you are or how much money you want to save. Doing so will cost you much more in equity.
Always Get a Permit
You can add a lot of value to your home by putting in a patio, deck, or even a whole addition. Basically, anything that increases the useful square footage of your house will increase its value. This is unless you failed to get the relevant permits. No matter what kind of project you plan, you should check with your local government about any permits you might need and codes you need to follow. Skip this step and your home will actually lose value, as potential buyers will ask you to lower the price so they can rectify the situation. (If you live in a rural area, you may not have any permitting requirements for most projects.)
Keep Your Kitchen and Bathroom Up to Date
Most potential buyers want the kitchen and bathroom to have a modern look. Tiling, counters, appliances, fixtures, and cabinets that look noticeably old-fashioned will have a surprisingly negative effect on your home’s value. You should replace them with more modern substitutes when it’s time to sell.
Unless You’re an Home Improvement Expert, Don’t Do It Yourself
You might think you can handle renovations and repairs yourself, and that doing so will save you a lot of money. It may do that, but it will also depreciate your home if you don’t do professional-level work.
You Need Good Landscaping
If you’re a talented gardener with a good sense of design, you could really increase the value of your property through landscaping. If you’re not, your property will look worse than those of the other homes in your neighborhood, and that will lower its value. Your landscaping must be as good as your neighbors’ landscaping or better. Hire professional landscapers to take care of your property if you cannot take care of it yourself.
Fix that Damaged Roof Right Away
Your roof is the most important part of your house because it protects the rest of your house. If you do not replace damaged or missing shingles and reattach loose flashing immediately, the rest of the structure could become severely water damaged, which would seriously lower its value. Inspect the roof every time you have a serious storm or high winds so that you catch potential problems early.
Final Thoughts
If you care about the amount of equity in your home, take the time to take care of it correctly. If you familiarize yourself with the equity-killing mistakes described above, your home could prove to be a valuable resource if you decide to sell or take out a loan against its equity.
Backes Landscaping is a full-service landscaper in Fort Collins offering landscape design services. Please give us a call for your landscaping needs at (970) 222-1730. Our professional landscapers install water features, retaining walls, xeriscaping, hardscaping, firepits, sprinklers, and offer Commercial Landscaping Services.
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