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4 Hidden Signs That Your Home’s Value Is Rising
By Leslie Cook MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
The more attractive a neighborhood is to buyers, the more they’re wiling to pay for a home there.
Location, location, location.
The phrase is often used to describe what makes a home desirable and, by extension, valuable. A building’s features may make the property attractive to buyers, but it’s the surrounding neighborhood that makes people really want to live there — and pay a higher premium to do so.
Want to know if your home is secretly increasing in value because the area nearby is improving? These are some tell-tale signs.
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New infrastructure projects
These projects can include new roads or highways, added green spaces such as parks and playgrounds, and improvements to public utilities such as sewer lines and electrical grids. Well-planned and executed improvements to existing infrastructure are a sign of economic growth that will attract more businesses and people to the area, raising home values.
How to spot: Check your local newspaper for new project announcements. You can also log onto your local government’s city planning department website and search for planned capital improvements.
New business incentives
Often at the core of revitalization projects, government incentives designed to attract new business are another indicator of economic growth. Cities and towns that offer lots of retail, dining and entertainment options are more attractive to prospective buyers. Homes within easy access of these amenities tend to fetch a higher price than those requiring a longer commute.
How to spot: Check your city’s economic development office website for new incentives that may be in the works. These plans are also often mentioned in the news, so routinely check for updates.
School upgrades
Investment in local schools that raise the quality of education, such as upgraded facilities, modernized equipment and new technologies, is another sign of area growth. Proximity to top-ranked schools is highly prized by families with school-age children, leading to a price premium for homes in those districts.
How to spot: Your local newspaper will typically cover important news about school changes and improvements. You can also talk to parents who have children attending these schools for hands-on feedback. You could even have luck with local Facebook groups that have access to this information.
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Community involvement
Neighborhoods where homeowners actively maintain their properties and the surrounding areas are highly desirable to new buyers. Organized activities such as community gardens and neighborhood watch programs show a sense of homeowner pride that is compelling for many buyers seeking to raise a family in a safe environment — and who are willing to pay extra for it.
How to spot: Some neighborhoods have a community newsletter or online chat group that covers local happenings, so consider subscribing or joining to keep in touch with the latest news.
Leslie Cook is Money's lead real estate editor, covering news stories about mortgages and how rate movements affect the housing market and writing and editing stories that inform our readers about real estate trends and how they affect homebuyers and sellers. Leslie writes a weekly newsletter, Money Moves, that covers a wide range of real estate topics in addition to her weekly articles. Her work has been featured on Apple News, MSN and ConsumersAdvocate.org. Leslie has been covering the mortgage and real estate industry at Money since 2019 and has interviewed industry leaders, such as Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, and Glenn Kelman, CEO of brokerage Redfin. She has been a guest on the This Morning with Gordon Deal radio show, interviewed by The Mortgage Note, and served as moderator for ServiceLink’s State of Homebuying webinar. While at Money, Leslie has contributed to several of Money’s rating and ranking features, including Best Places to Live, Best Places to Travel and Changemakers. She has also played a major role in researching and selecting Money’s Best Banks rankings for the past four years. Before joining Money as a staff writer, Leslie was a reporter for Caribbean Business Newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico, covering human resources, telecommunications and computers. She graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in history. The research and interviewing skills learned there have contributed to Leslie’s ability to provide accurate information on her area of expertise and elicit informative responses from her interviewees.