How to Increase the Value of Your Home

We have all seen countless television programs about ways to decorate our homes and how to stage homes for potential buyers. This article is not one of those. This is going to show you options of what you can do to increase the value without the need to pick up a paint brush or spending a lot of money.

Often a real estate agent can tell you how much your house is worth even without seeing your house. He will base this on what your neighbor's house sold for and the current state of the market. This is okay but to increase it even more, we need to look at other options.

Let's say you have a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms. You have a fair size yard as well. Do you have a garage? No you don't, but you could. I know what you are thinking I said at the beginning this wasn't going to cost you a lot of money and building a garage is not in your budget. This is the beauty of it, you don't need to.

All you need to do is apply for permission to have one built. With this in place your property is worth more. If your neighbors have a garage, the precedent has already been set in your area. This is a key point to remember as when you apply you will want to mention this in your application form. Besides obtaining, outline planning permission for this purposed garage, you can get detailed permission as well.

Within your network of friends, there will most likely be someone who will do this rather inexpensively for you. We had plans drawn up for us and all it cost us was a case of beer. The fact is, the new buyer of your house will undoubtedly wish to change things anyway. The fact that your home now has detailed planning permission for a garage has just increased your property. It has taken the proposed hassle of paperwork out of the buyers list of to do things because you have had the foresight to do this. It has also puts your home into a different category. Some people are adamant they want a garage, although few use it for their cars.

If a garage is not a possibility another option is simply off street parking. For this you would need to contact the local council with regards to placing a drop in the curb at your house. Yet again, if any neighbors have this there should be no problem. You may need to pull up a few plants but a place to park a car is a necessity for many potential buyers.

The next idea is to sell your home with a business. What is that I hear you say, “I don't have a business.”. There are many home business ideas which you can add to the value of your home.

Below is a list which is just the tip of the iceberg. This will then market your home, not just as a home but also as a business. There are many people who are now self employed and many of those work from home. They already know there is money to made from doing this, your added benefit of a work from home advertisement could get them interested. Here again, you don't have to be running a highly successful business, as they will put their own stamp on it. If you don't have any accounts, you can explain why, perhaps you are still setting it up. This doesn't matter as long as you can show them a business model or plan.

Let's say for example you have a couple of acres in the country. Contact your local planners and see what types of businesses you could run without planning. Also find out which types of planning you could get most easily. Let's use dog or cat kennels as an example. This could be housing or breeding animals. For the housing you can cost up the price for kennels and write out a proposed business plan. This will be dependent on the catchment area and competition. The prices you can get by telephoning a local building firm as many will give you free estimates.

Remember about precedents in your area. If there is already livestock being reared, or housed, you are likely to receive it without any problems.

I imagine you can think of several people who already work from home. You need only start this business to sell it in partnership with your home. Some will need training and others not. If your business is area dependent, you would then turn your clients and area over to the new owners.

• Ebay
• Amazon
• Day Care
• Ironing service
• Carpet Cleaning Services
• Bed and Breakfast
• Locksmiths
• Amway
• Avon
• Mary Kay
• Tupperware
• Pampered Chef
• Ann Summers
• Betterware

Many successful estate agents have marketed and sold properties for much a higher price because they help their client see the potential a property has, not just as it stands today. Yes this entails more work with regards to paperwork but your outlay both monetary and time-wise, could be rewarded nicely.

Is your home a suitable property for a rental. If so, find out how much it could rent for. Not every home is purchased for the owner to live in, many are bought as investments. If you live near a hospital, university, or tourist resort these are all excellent opportunities for you to sell to a property investor. Contact rental agencies and get a quote of what they feel your property would bring in. Then advertise this fact. Remember you are not limited to marketing your property to only a certain type of person. Advertise in different places, on various websites and with multiple agents including those directed at property investors.

The next idea perhaps applies to older properties or those in Europe. Did anyone famous live there? If you have documention, that someone of importance lived there, this will give your property a boost. Whether it was Napoleon's shoemaker or Ozzy Osbourne these things should be mentioned, it could up the price of your property.

Another option is to consider swapping your property. Although still a relatively new concept with regards to houses, you could swap out of your home for a home in another area or country even. Some people will swap vehicles, boats, as well as homes. These are permanent swaps, not just for vacations.

The fact that there is a community spirit is also important to many people. This can include involvement in schools which will increase the schools effectiveness. Homes within a school district which always achieves high marks, makes your property more valuable. You will often see this advertised.

Also a neighborhood watch program. Some people will see this as a community which cares about its neighbors. Safety is a concern for many people, not just those with children, and as such they want to know that there community is actively trying to make this happen.