5 Ways To Invest in Your Home and Increase Its Value

Last Updated on September 15, 2022 by admin

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Recent hikes in the real estate market have many property owners interested in ways to update the home they’re in. If you’re ready to make some improvements that will not only work well for your household but boost the overall value of your home, consider the tips below.

Update Your Windows

Depending on the age of your home, new windows could

  • lower your utility bills by reducing heat build-up and drafts
  • improve the look of your home from the street
  • increase the resale value of your home

Add vinyl-clad windows with multiple layers of glass and a gas insert that will provide better protection against UV damage to your carpets, curtains, and furniture.

Improve the Lighting

You can easily add under-cabinet lighting to your kitchen to increase the usability of your workspaces. If your budget doesn’t allow for wired-in lights, look for battery puck lights that you simply turn on by pressing. Many battery-powered lights can be turned on with a remote that offers a color-change feature as well.

Consider also updating your lighting on the outside of your home. Add solar-powered motion sensor lights over your patio, garage door, and front door to boost your security. Solar lights in the landscape could also be useful both in beautifying the space and boosting your security. Trim back bushes that touch the house and add solar lights to shine up into any close shrubs or plantings.

Add or Update a Skylight

If you have a skylight that is showing signs of leaking, call the best roof repair company in Austin to get that damage fixed. Once you have one that doesn’t leak and you realize how useful that light is, you may choose to go ahead and add another.

Skylight technology, like window technology, is always advancing. If you purchased a home with an existing skylight that turns the space into a solar oven and ruins your carpet, updating the glass or the entire window can pay for itself over time.

Another option is to add indirect sunlight. These tube lights can actually boost the flexibility of your skylight location because you don’t need a direct route between the opening on the roof and the opening in the ceiling. These flexible skylights are lined with a reflective material to bounce around the available sunlight and create a glow inside your space without a direct beam of light.

Repaint the Interior

Paint is a cheap and fairly quick way to update your home. Do be careful to avoid rushing to get new colors on the wall. While choosing paint can be a lot of fun, you want to put in the time to

  • protect your belongings
  • wash the walls and repair nail holes
  • prime the patches
  • then paint

Protecting the floor before you wash the walls and patch any holes can save you a lot of work. Sheetrock dust clings to carpet fibers and will cause damage over time. Of course, while you have everything pulled away from the walls, you might as well clean the carpets.

Freshen the Floors

If you can rent a carpet cleaner it’s tempting to just use it for soap. However, the soap in carpet cleaning liquids is actually formulated to be a bit sticky so it picks up dust and dirt. To clean your carpets so they stay clean,

  • run over them with the cleaner and plain water
  • use soap per the machine instructions
  • rinse the rugs using the machine and warm water

You may be surprised at the suds in the water during the rinsing process. Turn a fan on the carpets, turn up the AC to pull water from the air, and let the carpets dry without walking on them.

If you have wood floors, rinse them with a mild vinegar and water solution. Damp mop one stretch, then follow after with a drying towel so you have no spots. If you have a manufactured wood product floor, carefully check the manufacturer’s recommendations to avoid damage. At least test the floor with any cleaning products before you apply them over the entire room.

You can easily invest in your home if your budget is tight. Paint is cheap. Cleaning your carpets takes some cash but requires more time and elbow grease than money. Fixing the roof is a priority if you have a leak around a skylight.