Do you own a large property? Is that property a money pit that you have pumped many thousands of dollars into but are worried you won’t make it all back?
Perhaps you spent years dreaming about owning a home, a rental property, a commercial building, or raw land, and you have recently achieved that dream. Congratulations! Welcome to the world of property ownership. Now your list of responsibilities has gotten significantly longer and more difficult.
Maximizing Both Value and Efficiency on Your Spacious Estate
To maximize your investment and squeeze it for every dollar it’s worth, you need to focus on maintenance and upgrades. Otherwise, your investment could depreciate or become a money pit. Zoning codes may dictate that your property be either residential or commercial, in which case you need to make sure the property can properly serve that function.
Additionally, unless you want your property to burn a hole in your wallet that cannot be repaired, you need to focus on efficiency to keep ongoing costs at a minimum. Here are a handful of ideas to maximize value and efficiency with your large property.
Reduce Energy Usage
When that utility bill arrives in the mail or your inbox, the numbers can be astounding. The more energy your property uses, the higher those ongoing costs will be. However, it is hard to simply stop using electricity. You probably want your lights to stay on and your appliances to work, right?
Things can get pretty uncomfortable if they don’t. Leasing to business tenants might mean assuring them that the working environment will be comfortable, and internal temperature has a lot to do with that, so take care of your tenants by focusing on energy usage practices.
Reducing energy usage will cut down on your regular payments. It may require some upfront investment. For example, you could replace older appliances with newer models that have high energy-star ratings. Solar energy systems for homes and wind turbines are all the rage for property owners in 2024.
The green movement allows owners to escape their reliance on the public grid for electricity, so joining the wave can be both profitable and earth-conscious. It is great for the environment and can lower energy costs going forward, reducing the strain on your bank account. These changes will also be attractive to prospective buyers in the future.
Improve Insulation
Insulation is responsible for keeping the external and internal environments separate. Many property owners deal with hot summers and cold winters, and their homes are only comfortable thanks to insulation. Over time, insulation can lose its effectiveness.
Have you ever noticed that some rooms in your house get colder or hotter than others, making them unbearable to stay in during extreme weather?
Taking steps to improve insulation will make your property more efficient. You can protect your home from leaks in the roof and windows with regular inspections of the area.
Signs of water damage or drafts are a major inconvenience, but they will become much worse if you ignore them, so focus on addressing the cause. You can also pay a contractor to add insulation if there are areas of the home that are lacking.
Build on the Land
One unique way to add value to your property is to build on it. When you own a large plot, you can adjust the functionality of the land by putting up new structures or adding on to current ones. While there are benefits to maintaining the land and not adding any additional structures, there are also plenty of reasons to build.
If you love to celebrate with invited guests, a large pavilion can provide shelter for more outdoor entertainment opportunities on the property.
A new pole barn building can serve as a man cave, a she shed, a workshop, or a storage unit for outdoor equipment and landscaping tools. Want to add more living space to the home? An addition can maximize the square footage and ramp up the value of the property.
Dress Up the Exterior
Curb appeal plays an important role in property value. People are more willing to check out a property if it looks nice from the outside, which emphasizes the importance of first impressions. Keeping up with lawn maintenance will also help the resale price in the future.
There are plenty of projects and chores you can tackle to dress up the exterior of the property. Regular mowing, weeding, and edge trimming will ensure the yard looks neat. An outdoor patio is a simple project that can add communal spaces to the exterior.
Adding plants or a full garden to the yard will also beautify the space. If you want to go a bit overboard with the oasis aesthetic, a calming water feature such as a fountain or artificial stream will provide a sense of serenity for all who enter the backyard.
Install Smart Technologies
Technology has come a long way in 2024, and your home, commercial building, workshop, or rental unit can become more efficient with the right smart tech installations. These innovations cut down on common utilities like electricity, water usage, heating, and more to help you save money in the long run.
Start with a smart thermostat to have greater control over a space’s temperature, whether you are present or not. Smart thermostats can take advantage of timers and precise temperature control to reduce the amount of energy used to maintain comfort in the building.
Does voice activation sound like a fun way to control your home? Smart lights will respond to your beck and call, only turning on when you enter the room and tell them to. Smart plugs serve a similar purpose with small appliances like the coffee maker, so you could walk into the kitchen and tell the coffee maker to turn on.
Investing in Your Property is a Great Long-Term Strategy
Prioritizing efficiency for your residential or commercial asset will require some investment. It costs money to install solar panels, a smart thermostat, or a newer kitchen appliance.
These changes will pay off in the long run by lowering utility costs and increasing resale value. Take steps to maintain and upgrade your property so that efficiency and value are maximized to get the most out of this investment.