Home is where the heart is, but it is also where we put our financial future. When we buy a home, we are making the biggest financial investment we might ever make, and it can be hard to find ways to maximize your return from all those mortgage payments. Many homeowners turn to refinancing to try and earn an extra few percent, or reduce their overall outlay, but there are other ways to get an extra return from your investment.
Making some smart home improvements can add tens of thousands of dollars of value to a home for you to recoup when you sell later on. Many of the highest value home improvements are possible to do yourself, over time, saving you money on contractors and turning your hard work into cash for the future. Here are seven of the most popular ways to add value to your home so you can get a better return on your investment, and add some new features to your house for you to enjoy.
Adding a Sunroom
Adding a sunroom to your home is a quick and easy way to get some more floor space, and give your home a unique feature. If you add a sunroom to the rear or side of your home, whichever gets the most sun during the day, you can have an additional space to use as a lounge in the day and a dining room at night, conveniently close to the kitchen.
There are sunroom kits you can buy to suit nearly any design and fit into any space, and most of the work can be done without the need for a contractor or specialist. When it comes to fitting the roof or some glass elements, you may have to use a specialist to finish it off, but this can often be accomplished in a day or two.
Landscaping the Garden or Yard
Having a well-appointed and landscaped garden or yard, especially one that has some kind of theme, is a great addition to any home. Many people will look for a garden when house hunting, and a garden that has some flair and individuality can often draw buyers in from the street. A beautiful garden is also a wonderful thing to enjoy, and a fantastic opportunity to add your own style to your home.
Adding an Extension
Using some exterior space to extend your home can add a lot of value to a house, especially if you do some of the work yourself. Adding extra kitchen space, or a downstairs bathroom or bedroom, can offer great returns on your investment. You could even add a two-floor extension to get the most bang for your buck. If you were to add extra kitchen space and another bedroom to your home, you could see its value skyrocket, and you get the bonus of extra space to use in your home.
Make Open Plan Living Spaces
It might seem extreme to start knocking down walls in your home, but with a few subtle internal changes, you could revolutionize the look and feel of your home. A small home with a lot of small rooms can be opened up into a homely, open and modern space for very little money. You should read this blog about load bearing walls before you get out the sledgehammer though.
Open plan living can be a great way to get the most from a small home, or really show off the grandeur of a large home. The light and air that open plan living brings to a house can completely change its atmosphere and style.
Add a Hot Tub
A hot tub is one of the most desirable features for a home to have, and you can make the most of it too while you live there. The returns on a hot tub can be quite strong, especially when paired with some complementary improvements such as a changing area, outdoor bar or a fire pit.
Home hot tubs are quite simple to install, once the necessary groundwork for foundations and plumbing have been constructed, and these too are much simpler than you may think. A hot tub is a great addition to a landscaping project, as you can integrate the hot tub into your design and maybe help it give your garden or yard a theme. A Hawaiian styled garden with palms and ferns, and tiki torches and a fire pit, is a popular choice for people installing a hot tub.
Make a Parking Space
Parking is one of any homeowner’s biggest concerns. Without a driveway or garage, many will feel anxiety as they get closer to home, wondering if they will be able to park their car outside or even near their home. Stealing some space from a front yard for a car or two is a cheap way to give your home a highly valued feature, and ease your parking worries.
Add Energy Efficiency
Home additions like solar panels and energy efficient windows add value to your home, save you money on energy bills, and make your home more desirable to house hunters. Solar panels and home battery packs can reduce your home’s electricity consumption considerably, while adding thousands to your home’s value.
Additions like energy efficient windows can better insulate a home and save money on heating bills, and energy efficient heat pumps can save you even more. Heat pumps heat the air in your home and pump it around to every room. By carefully maintaining a draft free environment and heating fresh air from outside before circulating it around your home, a heat pump can keep a toasty temperature from very little energy. Paired with energy efficient windows and wall insulation, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars a year, while adding thousands of dollars of value to your house.
These simple home improvements can add thousands of dollars to the value of your home, and many of them you can do yourself with a little patience and determination.