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In residential and commercial real estate, and in the construction industry as a whole, there’s often a tendency to think that adding value means creating extra rooms in a building, in order to provide for a better comparable analysis.
But those are not the only ways to add value to a property. Some of these other strategies don’t require as much money as adding bedrooms and bathrooms or renovating an entire commercial space. Still, they can be pretty effective in getting you a better resale value or getting more out of the property that you own.
Here are some of the property trends that are taking hold in the construction industry, as a way to enhance what a particular property offers on the market.

Adding Amenities

When it comes to adding amenities, you might ask about the price of purchase and installation, and how that works in adding value to the property.
An in-ground pool, for example, might cost so much to install that it doesn’t pay to add it to an exterior of a property before resale. On the other hand, something like a hot tub or even a multipurpose athletic court outside can add value. Inside, a rec or game room with amenities for entertaining can also drive higher values for a property.

Sealing Concrete and Replacing Floors

Here’s another relatively easy way to add value to a property. Renewing an aging concrete floor with a seal coating will make that surface more attractive and more useful for owners and inhabitants.
It also helps to prevent certain types of water damage that can devalue a property over time.
Modern coatings provide a lot of excellent color and texture, and overall aesthetic design for interior and exterior spaces. Outdoors, you can also think about adding some attractive hardscaping, whether that’s in the form of:

• Low walls
• Patio
• Grilling station
• Firepit

Any of these additions can also add to the curb appeal and the value of a property.
Also, it might make sense to take out aged, outdated flooring like battered linoleum, legacy tile, or cheap fake wood and replace them with modern materials like high-quality laminate or bamboo.

Weatherization

Many property owners are getting on this bandwagon because of the multiple benefits of weatherizing a property.
Again, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. You can simply replace old roll fiberglass with something like foam spray barriers that are highly rated in terms of ASTM and other standards. You can look for easy opportunities to seal a building’s envelope in a better way; many legacy buildings do have these types of shortcomings if you look hard enough.
Sealing wall joints and attic and basement areas also lowers the energy bills for a property and make it more of a value to whoever owns it.

Design for Access

Adding additional access also helps you to get more out of a building or multiple buildings on your property.
Some people like to add daylight basement doors or sliding doors to external-facing areas of the building. Alternately, existing access doors might need to be replaced. For that matter, adding a small shed or outbuilding adds value, too.
None of these are particularly renovation-intensive, and they add a lot of utility to your property for whoever is living or working there.

Design for Maintenance

Going back to the idea of designing a property to make maintenance easier, you have excellent gutter guards and cover designs that can prevent items from building up and causing water damage to your property when it rains, or when snow slowly melts, creating weather challenges for a property.
Gutter guards or gutter covers are effective ‘lids’ for the gutter and downspout systems that guide rain away from your property’s foundation and the interior walls and rooms. They work to protect the open tray of the gutter on top, so that debris rolls over the lid and collects on the ground, instead of clogging key infrastructure.
Along with an appropriate soffit space and other design aspects, gutters are responsible for protecting your building and keeping it nice and dry.
Having a leaf guard for gutters in place ensures that leaves and debris will not build up in the gutters, clogging them and causing problems.
There is nothing like dragging accumulated clutter out of a gutter where it has collected into a shape that’s as thick and dense as a pork tenderloin.
Look for gutter covers and gutter guards that are highly rated for exterior protection and you’ll be doing your property good!
These represent some of the popular ways to improve a property for residential or commercial use. Take advantage of more affordable ways to protect property value, and enhance it, whether you’re putting it on the market, living there or renting as an investment.