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Show your home a little Valentine's Day Love

Published: February 2018
Author: Bank of England Mortgage Staff

Showing your home a little extra love this time of year is easier than you may expect!

Whether you're looking to increase your home's value for a future sale or you just want to increase the power of your largest investment, here are five great ways to boost your home's value.

Let Your House Breathe
Space is a huge commodity and is something most homebuyers list at the top of their “must have” criteria when looking for that perfect house. Give your home a chance to breathe by creating space in your most cramped areas.

Knock out a nonstructural wall or even remove an outdated kitchen island to give new life to tiny, old rooms. Anything that opens up space and creates a better sense of flow in a house offers an instant perceived value to would-be homebuyers.

Stay Healthy with Maintenance
Just like you, your home needs regular maintenance. Although it's not nearly as exciting as remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, tending to the basics of home upkeep actually provides you a larger bang for your buck.

Insulate the attic, repair plumbing issues, fix leaky windows, install storm doors and weed out those winter-hardened flowerbeds. These regular care items and basic fixes add value to your home's bottom line and leave your home looking and feeling like a million dollars.

Go Green Instead of Red
This Valentine's Day, take your house green instead of embracing the holiday's standard red hue. If your heating or air conditioning systems are old, switch them out for a more efficient solar-powered system. This $7,000 to $10,000 investment can provide you annual tax credits and lower your monthly heating and cooling bills dramatically, not to mention that it instantly makes your house more appealing to future homebuyers.

Appeal to a Softer Side
If you're getting ready to put your home on the market, don't allow walls with chipped paint to go unmaintained. If you need to do more than a touch up, take the opportunity to appeal to the softer side of your potential homebuyers and repaint with more neutral colors for your update.

Love at First Sight
As the saying goes, you only get one shot at making a first impression. Give your home the best chance possible for making a good impression on prospective homebuyers by updating the front of your home

A new front door and updated landscaping can take your house from “blah” to “powerful” and provide the “arrow” needed to hit a future homebuyer right in the heart, causing them to fall instantly in love with the look of your home.

These five updates are great ways to not only show your home a little love this Valentine's Day, but they also give your home the extra lift needed to help it stand out and appeal to prospective homebuyers during the next home buying season.