4 (Weird) Threats to Your Property Value

Every homeowner likes making their house unique, but it’s not always good to stand out. Sometimes what you think gives your home character will actually drive down your property value when you list your house on the market. Here are four odd threats to your sticker price you should be aware of:

1)    Bigger Isn’t Always Better. While you might think the largest house in a neighborhood would be the most coveted, this is surprisingly not the case. If your home is significantly larger than other homes in the area, it will actually be harder to sell, because many buyers in that price range will first look to neighborhoods filled with larger houses.

2)    Clashing Colors. It’s not unusual for people living in the suburbs to give their house a unique paint job – or even a few highlights –to make it stand out from similarly-styled homes. But this colorful twist could end up wringing thousands of dollars out of the house’s property value. If you’re selling a home with orange shutters or a purple door, it’s probably a good idea to repaint them in neutral shades before listing your real estate investment on the market.

3)    Inconsistent Appliances. Believe it or not, consistency in a room’s theme is a major selling point for today’s buyers. If you’ve got a kitchen with black plastic appliances and a stainless steel refrigerator or a bathroom with a copper basin sink and a white porcelain toilet, it can take a significant bite out of your final sale price. If you plan on selling your home, invest in appliances that fit a general theme. Instead of sinking your property value, these brand-new, matching appliances will increase it by thousands.

4)    Alarming Homeowner’s Associations. With more and more people migrating to the suburbs, homeowner’s associations have become a factor in many people’s decision to buy a house. If your neighborhood watch acts more like the neighborhood police – or if they hardly exist at all – you could see a major hit in buyer interest. The best thing you can do to overcome this obstacle is to show your real estate investment on days when your neighbors are least active and to try to clean up around your neighborhood if they’ve been shirking their duties.

Just because you didn’t expect these things to hurt your property value doesn’t mean that you can’t take steps to avoid them. As long as you stay creative and active when it comes to listing your real estate investment, you should be closing your sale at a good price in no time.

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