As a homeowner, you should always be thinking about improving the value of your home. A higher home value will make it easier to sell your house when the time comes. You can also increase your home equity to be able to tap into it if you ever need extra cash. This is truly investing in your own home! We recently spoke with Danny Papodopoulis, a home equity loan specialist with Homebase Mortgages, located in Toronto. Here are his top 5 ideas for home remodelling or renovations that will be sure to increase your equity.
Bathroom Upgrades & Addition
If you can’t build another bathroom, upgrading your home with new cabinets or overhead storage is a great option. Refinishing the bathroom can add a lot of value to the house, especially if the bathroom is in the master bedroom or guest room.
Kitchen Makeover
It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money on expensive appliances or finishes that would be found in luxury hotels and magazines. Paint, resurfacing counters and replacing outdated hardware can be done with little effort. Even changing out the light fixtures and other fittings can have a big impact on both the aesthetics and functionality.
Room Reinvention
It can be expensive to build a room from scratch, but you can get the same result and increase your home’s value by converting an unfinished attic or basement space into a family room, office or additional bedroom. You can turn unfinished basement or attic space into a home office, additional bedroom or family room.
More energy efficient Windows
Usually, energy bills are expensive. Smart homebuyers are looking for energy-efficient homes and will pay more to get them. This increases the value of energy-efficient homes. Many people balk at spending up to $10,000 on energy-efficient windows, but this expense can easily be recouped. Not only will it increase the perceived value of the home, but it will also save homeowners several hundred dollars a year.
Update Insulation
A good insulation system can save homeowners up to a few thousand dollars in annual power bills. Home inspectors will also note bad insulation in their reports, which will lower the value of your home. You can save up to $2,000 a year by making simple changes to your home’s insulation, such as adding additional insulation to the attic. This will also make your house more appealing to buyers when you decide to sell your home.
The Worst Ways to Increase Your Home Equity
We also spoke with Aj Makunnel, a home equity loan specialist with Mortgage Central Nationwide, to get his take on some of the errors people can make in trying to increase their homes equity: “Although, investing in your home is often a good thing, there are certain investments that just don’t provide a positive ROI upon selling your home. Some of the worst offenders are in ground pools, removing a bedroom to open up a floor plan and removing a garage to more floor space.
It doesn’t have to cost much to increase the value of your home. Consider it an investment in your home equity, which you can use if the need arises. It’s always great to have a financial lifeline if the need ever arises.
