#32 Increasing the Value of Your Home-Prt 1


Maintenance!  Maintenance! And more Maintenance!  It is the key to protecting and increasing the value of the home you have just acquired.

There are three aspects of your property that can improve or detain equity growth.    The first would be the physical structure -- your house; next is the property adjoining that structure --your grounds; and, third, the larger setting of your house and grounds, your neighborhood!   All three factors are, in a sense, the collective elements that greatly influence the health and the upward progress of equity!   (There is a fourth factor – the inside of your home and ways to increase value there.  But, that’s Part 2!)

 Increasing the value of the property in which you have just invested is almost entirely in your own hands.   Almost, but not quite!    The good news is that pride of ownership, visible improvement and conscientious maintenance of one property in a neighborhood can be voraciously contagious!  However, and unfortunately, that is not always the case.  Property value is greatly influenced by all the structures and grounds in the immediate environment.   It is also influenced by the condition of the immediate neighborhood and the overall community’s economic health.

Supporting your local economy is an important way to help keep it healthy!   And that automatically contributes to increasing your own property’s equity!   Local retail shops and restaurants welcome newcomers and value the support.  If you are a young family, perhaps with teenagers, those local businesses usually provide “first job” opportunities to students and young adults.

In any neighborhood, our property is partly judged by the company we keep!   And, even more troubling, our property value rises or falls on the tide of its immediate company, plus the greater, cumulative communitywide condition.

 It can become very frustrating to conscientious residential property owners if adjacent properties are not well maintained.  You may be thinking of selling your home in order to have more space for a growing family.   You don’t want the disadvantage of neighbors who do not take care of their property, show visible accumulations of trash, broken down vehicles or damage from unruly pets.  You can be sure, such conditions will affect the price you could expect to sell for.

So, it is easy to see that increasing the value of your home is not just up to you   Let’s look at the best of cases where your neighborhood – overall -- takes pride in the upkeep of landscaping, the control of pets and/or livestock and understands the cooperation necessary for shared boundaries.  Furthermore, the residential structures themselves are cared for with necessary painting and repairs.   And, following severe weather, cleanup is a given in such neighborhoods!   If the community’s local business aspect is robust, public parks are well groomed and safe, public services are adequate, streets are reasonably maintained and other facilities show proper concern – your property value is well positioned to grow.

Increasing the value of your home is not just about possibly wanting to sell in the future.  The value of your residential property is very important when considering other plans you may have and where you will want to show escalating value of your home as an asset.

Diplomatically handling deteriorating factors in your neighborhood is definitely a challenge.   Sometimes there are financial reasons why a neighboring property has fallen into disrepair.   Sometimes, people just don’t seem to care – and certainly not about your property!    In extreme cases, such as actual safety, dangerous hazards, increasingly foul odors and such, community ordinances come into play, and the community government and enforcement can be accessed.  Joining and supporting your Homeowners’ Association is another way to cooperatively insure quality maintenance.  If no Homeowners’ Association exists you could consider developing one for your neighborhood.

And that brings us back to where I started:  Maintenance, maintenance and more maintenance.    Even a perfect residential property in a rundown neighborhood cannot predictably increase in value until and unless the surrounding environment becomes compatible.

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