Eco-Friendly Upgrades to Increase Your Home Value

Sponsor/Writer - LouAnn Moss

When you’re making home upgrades, looking for options that both increase your home’s value and stick with your personal values of sustainability may seem difficult. However, many eco-friendly upgrades that make your home greener also increase its value since saving energy leads to lower prices for your bills, which is attractive to potential buyers. Below are a few ideas on how to improve both your home value and your environmental-friendliness.

Figure Out Your Home’s Current Value


Figuring out your home’s value is not that difficult. In a manner of speaking, a house is worth whatever amount someone will pay for it. There is, however, a market price and you can have an agent assess your house to get a better estimate.

For instance, in the third quarter of 2017, you could get a condo in Manhattan (in an existing building) for around $1.9 million. You can check your area and find the general market prices for houses like your own. There are also tools that you can use online to get better estimates.

Manage Your Energy Levels


If you want the ability to track and manage the energy being used in a home, you can invest in an energy management system. These systems can automatically turn off your appliances when you are not using them. For instance, it can turn the HVAC system off after you leave home, helping you to save energy.

You can also connect to other small home appliances to manage and control how much energy they use. You should note, however, that these systems are a relatively new technology and they might have high upfront costs.

Make Sure Your Lawn Isn’t Patchy


Lawn maintenance is very important for increasing your home’s resale value. If you properly maintain your yard, you can see a 4% increase in the value of your home. On a 400, 000 home, this could amount to an increase of $16, 000.

Lawn care shouldn’t be expensive, and it’s definitely worth the investment. Also, it doesn’t really take time to improve your lawn and work on your garden. You can use hydroseeding to grow your lawn. It is the fastest and most affordable method of seeding, and will give you a very impressive outcome. The grass will grow in about a week and it will only take about three to four weeks for the patches in your loan to disappear completely.

Save with Energy Star Appliances


Another way to increase your home resale value is to install Energy Star certified appliances. These appliances consume less energy, and that can be very appealing to potential buyers. For instance, a regular clothes dryer uses about 3, 000 watts per cycle, whereas an Energy Star certified dryer uses about 556 watts.

Check Your Plumbing


Plumbing is very important in the home. If part of your home’s plumbing system is not functioning properly, its market price can be greatly affected. It will also make buyers think twice before purchasing your home.

Is your home lined with rusty iron pipes? If your house has been around for a while, there’s a good chance that your pipes might need replacing. Most appraisals take into account the type of plumbing that’s in your home when you need to have your home’s value assessed.

These old pipes can cause a lot of water wastage through leaking, which can also damage your house in other ways. It is estimated that about 10% of houses in the United States have leaks in their plumbing. It might also come as a surprise to you that a single leak can cause a loss of about 90 gallons of water per day. This only goes to show that having good plumbing is a significant factor in determining the value of your home.

Sustainable home improvement is possible. There are ways to significantly improve the value of your home while being eco-friendly. At the end of the day, you will make your home more energy-efficient, which will allow you to sell it quicker and walk away with a good sum of money.

Image credit: Storyblocks

Array
Hi I am Share a little biographical information to fill out your profile. This may be shown publicly.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend