Despite the uncertainty of the real estate market, there are simple, proven steps anyone can take to increase the property value of either commercial or residential real estate.
How to Increase Commercial Property Value
1. Capital Improvement
Investing resources in capital improvements is a sure-fire way to increase your property’s value. Whether you choose a cosmetic fix or structural changes, these types of improvements are usually worth your while.
Possible Cosmetic Fixes
- Painting
- New wallpaper
- Landscaping
- Carpeting
Possible Structural Changes
- Structural façade
- Upgrading the lobby
- Remodeling the units
2. Raise the Rent
One strategy for increasing the value of your commercial property is to raise your tenants’ rent. Since vacancy rates are decreasing, your property may be overdue for a rent increase.
Before deciding to make a change, you can check to see if your building is charging market rent for your area at Rent-O-Meter or HUD.gov.
If there have been recent capital improvements to the building, these upgrades could be used to justify raising rent.
3. Increase Occupancy
Another strategy for increasing commercial property value is to expand your building’s rentable square footage. While we don’t suggest renting every available inch of square footage, there may be unfurnished areas of your building that could be developed for a different use. Reimagining these spaces could add value to your commercial building.
4. Develop Additional Income Sources
The property value of commercial buildings are also influenced by the revenue streams they produce.
Since building amenities are appealing to those who lease space, adding them to your list of offerings attracts more interest in the property. Charging for popular amenities, such as parking spaces, WiFi services and storage space, can increase property value by raising the building’s revenue.
5. Lower expenses
Without cutting corners, there are many ways to lower the expenses of a commercial building.
If you switch to more efficient lightbulbs across the whole building, savings can add up quick. Or, you can avoid picking up the entire heating bill for your building by individually metering all units.
How to Increase Residential Property Value
1. Increase Open Space
Homebuyers today prefer open spaces to smaller enclosed rooms. Since many older houses are not laid out this way, knocking down non-structural walls is a typical method for creating open space. This will quickly update the look and feel of a house by improving the flow of the floorplan.
2. Enhance Curb Appeal
If you’re trying to improve a property’s value, be aware, its curb appeal plays a major role. From applying fresh paint to planting new shrubbery, it pays to invest in creating a beautiful exterior look that offers a winning first impression.
3. Update the Bathrooms
Another common focus for homebuyers is whether or not the bathrooms have been recently updated. If you don’t want to spend big bucks on new fixtures or appliances, it will improve the property's value to at least clean the grout, remove rust stains and apply fresh caulk.
4. Modernize the Kitchen
For many Long Island families, the kitchen is often the center of activity in the house. Updating this essential room will add value to the house as a whole.
When modernizing a kitchen, a fresh coat of paint on the walls works wonders, but the floor can be just as important to attracting homebuyers. Redoing the kitchen floor is a major investment, but it can pay off greatly in the long-run.
5. Pay Attention to Detail
In order to maximize your home investment, you’ll need to cover all your bases to create an appealing atmosphere. This could include other necessary updates like installing a new front door, top of the line windows or new flooring.
Since there are many decisions to be made when selling a commercial or residential property, it helps to enroll the services of a licensed real estate broker. If you have any questions, contact S&D Real Estate at 516-248-6905 or 631-761-9220.
