3 Things That Lower Your Home’s Resale Value
Your home’s resale value will depend on several factors. And to get the best outcome, it is crucial to assess the whole property, instead of focusing on a few parts. The primary reason many homeowners sell their homes is to make extra money from the transaction. For the 16% already selling, it is to downsize into something more manageable.
Regardless of your reason, here are 3 things that lower your home’s resale value.
- Poor property maintenance
When a potential house buyer walks into a property for sale, it only takes ten seconds to make that decision. In those few seconds, they take in a lot of details about the house – right from the entry point. A poorly maintained house manifests in several ways. It may have a bad smell upon entry, full of clutter, stained walls, and cracked tiled floors. Faulty fittings and fixtures can also be a major put-off that negatively impacts the resale value.
Indeed some people don’t mind minor faults. However, since you don’t know where your buyer draws the line, it is better to ensure everything is in order. Experts advise that your windows, doors, walls, flooring, and roofing must be in excellent shape. If, for example, your roof is leaking, it is advisable to hire a roof replacement company to repair the damage before putting the house up for sale. 
- Unpleasant history
In real estate, a home with a bad history is considered ‘stigmatized.’ In many instances, such properties have stayed on listings for several months and even years without generating positive interest from prospective buyers. Perhaps, when you bought it, the history may not have been much of a concern to you.
Unfortunately, others may not feel the same as you did when you put it back up for sale. Instances of unpleasant history include highly-publicized divorce, robbery, homicide, etc. Due to the negative psychological image attached to the property, the resale value may be significantly reduced. According to real estate research, the property resale value may decrease by as much as 10%. If your house has an unpleasant history, you may want to keep that on the low unless a prospective buyer asks. You can also consult expert decorators, builders etc., on changes you can make l to create a more pleasant atmosphere.
- Air and noise pollution
This problem is usually regarding the location of the house. The EPA says 45 – 55 decibels is the maximum limit for indoor and outdoor residential areas. Anything more than this is categorized as noise pollution. Therefore, if your house is in a noisy area with high air pollution, that can lower the resale value. Noise and air pollution are elements you cannot hide from buyers. It would be wise to expect a lesser value for the property just to be fair to the buyer who expressed interest. On the other hand, you can include features to the house that lower the pollution indoors.
To conclude, if you carried out home improvements without local council permission, that could affect the resale value. No buyer will want to take up the cost of a house likely to bring them legal problems.
Yup, so true. We always try to maintain our outdoor area. Luckily there’s no bad history in the home!
I am so glad that noise pollution is not an issue where we are at.
We bought our house on a “bubble”, and unfortunately we did not get much of a price break due to the previous owners not taking very good care of the place. We have worked so hard to update our home, from ripping out old carpeting to removing scraggly bushes that were never cut back.
Yep. Poor house maintenance will get me every time. I pointed that out to an agent and they brushed it off saying, “that can all be fixed.” Needless to say, I dropped that agent.
These are all true! This is a really great and very informative post! I’m gonna share this with my friends and family
I repainted around the exterior doors and around the garage door when we put our house up for sale. The doors take a ton of wear and tear as they get bumped as you go in and out of your home. I always cringe when I see people who don’t take the time to paint and seal up the exposed wood on their homes. A can of paint is cheap compared to replacing boards and lumber on your home.
This is really helpful advice and something homeowners should be aware of. We all need to look after our properties, it works to our advantage in many ways.
These can definitely lower the value. My husband and I have been doing a lot of upgrades with our house since we have bought it and it has already brought up the value a lot.
Lazy homeowners are the worst! Especially when they are your neighbors!
These are important things to remember. We’re currently selling a property but we’re finding it hard to find buyers.
We are good of all of these. We bought a home a year and a half ago and the first thing we did was curb appeal with park to the yard. I always love a will landscaped yard and always wanted the same when I had my own home and its is the first project that we tackled when moving in. We are on the Poconos and we have fabulous air quality!
Such an awesome article to read, it’s very informative and detailed! Definitely a great help to homeowners about this point, you’ve stated! Thanks for sharing this with us!
I am not a homeowner yet, but I still found this post really interesting and helpful! I will have to keep this in mind in the future! Thanks for sharing
I understand how important is the exterior and interior aspect of the house, but I am so agree with you that where it is situated it’s even more important!
Good little article – there are so many more you could add to this. Neighborhoods, proximity to public ‘eye sores, and location to very good or very bad transport links.
amazing article, I totally recomend it
Thank you for the insightful article, Sherman! You’ve clearly highlighted critical factors that can lower resale value—poor maintenance, unpleasant history, and pollution. Your practical advice for addressing these issues is very helpful.