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Maintaining and increasing your home’s value can pay off in major ways. Not only does helping your home hold value help it sell for its full amount, it can also help your home sell more quickly, help maintain your neighbor’s home values, and ensure that you’re not overpaying in property taxes.
These 10 projects are listed from least to most expensive, and may help you increase your home’s value. Best part: None of these projects cost more than $2,000, so you don’t have to break the bank to take on these projects either.
----Low Cost: Budget under $500----
LAWN FERTILIZING
Fertilizing your lawn may not seem as though it’s doing much for your home’s value, but a well-maintained lawn plays a major role in your home’s curb appeal. Curb appeal is how well your property looks from the road, and has a major impact on your home’s value and resale. Fertilizing a dry, brown, or otherwise patchy lawn can help boost your home’s curb appeal, and in turn its value.
Cost: The average cost of lawn fertilizing is around $.03 a square foot assuming a 6,000 square foot lawn, for a total of $180. Total costs range from $.02 a square foot for a DIY job to $.04 a square foot during peak season.
Money Saving Tips
- If you are able to tackle this job DIY, you can save a lot of money (which you can then use to plant shrubs or trees to further increase your home’s curb appeal).
- Tackle this job at the beginning of the season to avoid paying peak prices.
INSTALL AN ATTIC FAN
The attic is one of the most overlooked areas of the home when it comes to the impact on the rest of the home. Attics that are not properly insulated can become superheated, which can overheat the roof, cause ice dams, and raise your energy bills. Installing an attic fan can help protect your roof, lower your energy bills, and improve your home values.
Cost: The average cost to install a gable mount electric attic fan is around $275 for spaces up to 2,500. Total costs range from $39 for a wind-powered vent to $321 for an electric fan to cool up to 3,000 feet.
Money Saving Tips
- Look into getting a solar-powered fan, which will not only run when you need it, but will also lower your monthly energy costs to run it as well.
PAINT A ROOM IN YOUR HOME
Dingy, old, or out of fashion paint can really hurt the resale of your home. By giving a room in your home a fresh coat of paint, you can help remedy this problem. Choose neutral paints in light colors to get the most universal appeal, particularly if the rooms are small or dark, as these colors will help open them up and make them feel larger.
Cost: The average cost to paint a 200-square-foot room is around $378, with a full range between $162 for DIY to $459 for rooms that need more than one coat of paint on the walls.
Money Saving Tips
- If you are able to tackle this job DIY, you can save a significant amount of money, allowing you to do more than one room.
- Choose a color that is close to what you already have on the walls so you won’t have to apply more than one coat.
SMALL BATHROOM UPDATE
While a major bathroom renovation can be costly, you don’t actually have to complete one to help boost the value of your home. Sometimes it’s enough to tackle just one or two areas of the bathroom, replacing old or outdated items with new ones to help freshen up the space and help it function better. Things like installing a new, eco-friendly water saving toilet can have a major impact on the value of the room as a whole.
Cost: The cost to install a new toilet is between $300 and $500 with a total range between $100 for a DIY job to $700 for a higher-end model.
Money Saving Tips
- Tackle small jobs yourself, such as toilet or faucet installation.
- Look for lightweight acrylic tubs, which are less expensive to buy and install.
----Mid-Range Cost: Budget under $1,000----
INSTALL A KITCHEN BACKSPLASH
The backsplash is one of the most personal and trendiest places in the kitchen, because it’s so easy to install and update. Most backsplashes are only around 30-square-feet in size, so even costly tile doesn’t add up to a lot when installed here. You can use the backsplash to update an older or darker kitchen by using glass tiles to reflect light, or trendy mosaics to boost style, any of which will help boost resale value.
Cost: The average cost to install 16-square-feet of ceramic backsplash is between $400 and $600, with a total range between $300 for lower quality ceramic tile to $1000 for high end, premium tile.
Money Saving Tips
- Use small amounts of high end mosaic tiles and cut them into strips or square for borders and accents to brighten up a plain field of tile.
- Install the tile yourself to save on the installation costs.
INSTALL NEW FLOOR TILE
Old floor tile can really bring down a room, particularly if the flooring is dingy, cracked, or just out of date. Installing new ceramic floor tile can brighten up the room and improve its value at the same time. Newer tile floors are much easier to clean and maintain, and have grout joints that are both smaller and easier to keep clean than in years past, which makes this job a lasting one. Most areas that use tile – entryways, bathrooms, or kitchens - tend to be small enough to keep the costs down as well.
Cost: The average costs to install ceramic tile on the flooring of a bathroom is around $700 to $900 with total costs ranging from $550 for low-grade tile to $1,000 for tile with radiant heat beneath it.
Money Saving Tips
- Install the tile yourself to keep the costs of this job down.
- Look for odd-lot tile sales to get higher-end tiles at a lower price to keep the overall cost down.
----Highest Cost: Budget under $2,000----
REPLACE AN OLD BATHTUB
Old bathtubs and bath/shower units can really lower the value of your home, particularly if they are filled with mold, mildew, and old water stains. Replacing your old tub can have a big impact on the way the rest of the bathroom looks, which can therefore have a big impact on your home’s resale value.
Cost: The cost of installing a new bathtub is around $1,006 for a standard fiberglass tub/shower with a total range from $143 for a low cost bathtub installed DIY to $1,857 for a high-end cast iron bathtub.
Money Saving Tips
- Use a lightweight acrylic tub or tub/shower enclosure, which costs a lot less than cast iron tubs. They are also a lot lighter, and therefore cost less to install as well.
INSTALL BAMBOO FLOORING
New wood flooring can transform a home. Wood flooring also has a major impact on a home’s value and its ability to be sold in a timely way. Bamboo flooring is an eco-friendly wood flooring option that also costs less than many other hardwoods, giving you the look of wood for less, along with sustainable design.
Cost: The average cost to install bamboo flooring in a 16 x 16 room is around $1,250, although costs can vary greatly by region.
Money Saving Tips
- Float the floor for an easy installation that you can tackle DIY.
- Purchase the flooring from a local seller to cut down on shipping costs.
REPLACE OLD CARPETS
Nothing lowers the resale value of a home faster than old carpet. Carpets can be notorious for hanging onto smells, stains, and allergens, which make them a major turn off for home buyers. Replacing old carpet with new can have a major impact on your home’s value.
Cost: The average cost to install new carpet in a 16 x 16 room is between $1,200 and $1,400, although costs can vary greatly by region.
Money Saving Tips
- Cover up old carpets temporarily using new throw rugs to hide stains.
- Invest in stain-resistant carpeting to lengthen the amount of time before you need to replace again.
REPAIR WATER DAMAGE
Water damage can take a major toll on your home’s value. Water can cause wood rot, mildew, and black mold in your home, as well as unsightly stains, all of which can lower your home’s value if you don’t repair them in a timely way. Tackling water damage should always be done as soon as possible to help minimize the amount of damage that will ultimately occur.
Cost: The average cost to repair water damage in an 80-square-foot bathroom is about $23 a square foot, which translates to around $1874, although this figure can be impacted by what the damage is and how much needs to be replaced.
Money Saving Tips
- Use fans after the water has receded to help dry things out before damage like mold can set in.
- Do the tear out of damaged materials yourself to help eliminate some professional fees.
IMPROVE THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME
No matter how small your budget is, there are always things that you can do to help increase or maintain your home’s value.
To find the costs of more ways you can improve your home’s value, be sure to check out the Fixr and How Much cost guides.
