Even if you're not planning to sell your home right away, it's a good idea to know how your actions affect your home's value long term. The updates you choose to do or not to do, or whether you do a repair now or put it off a while longer, can all impact how much you can sell your home for later on down the road. Here are 7 things that our real estate agents warn can decrease your property value.

1. Poor landscaping.  
   You've probably heard how important curb appeal is when you sell your home. It's important the rest of the time, too. When you let your yard go over a long period of time, it becomes difficult and expensive to reverse the long term damage to your landscaping when it comes time to sell.
   
   
2. Poor exterior paint.
   Curb appeal is also important when considering the exterior of your home. Specific paint colors can devalue your home by making it unappealing to buyers. Cracked and crumbling paint makes your home look run down, plus it might actually be causing damage by letting moisture get to your siding and woodwork.
   
   
3. The wrong interior paint.
   The color you painted your walls might be your favorite color, but it's not everyone's, and bright colors especially can be a hard sell. This doesn't mean you shouldn't express your uniqueness in your own home, but unless you intend to repaint everything when it comes time to sell, choose colors that are warm and neutral.
   
   
4. Deferred maintenance.
   Think it doesn't matter if you don't get that repair done right away? Think again. If you have a habit of putting off maintenance and repairs, the entire house will look run down, and chances are the small problems have become big ones by the time you get to them.
   
   
5. Out-of-date or poorly updated kitchen.
   The room buyers almost universally pay the most attention to when looking at Boise homes for sale is the kitchen. Even if you don't put a lot of work into anything else, be sure to update your kitchen. Remember, the kitchen has always been thought to be the heart of the home, and buyer preferences show this to still be true.
   
   
6. Bathrooms with bad taste.
   After the kitchen, the bathrooms are the next thing a prospective buyer tends to look at, so it's important to update them over the years. A dark bathroom with cracked tile, dirty grout, and outdated fixtures stands out like a sore thumb in today's world of bright, clean, spacious bathrooms.
   
   
7. Garage conversions.
   Yes, it might seem like a great idea to turn that garage into more living space, but when it comes time to sell your home, prospective buyers aren't likely to think of it that way. Most buyers want garage space, or at least the ability to choose for themselves what the garage will be used for. If you're going to turn the garage into something, such as workout space, make sure it's not a permanent change.

Owning a home is just like any financial investment: Your decisions today can have an impact years or even decades down the road. For more information about how to maximize your home's value, contact us today.