How Can I Build Equity Into My House?

Definition of "How can I build equity into my house?"

Bruce Griffy real estate agent

Written by

Bruce Griffyelite badge icon

LPT Realty LLC

Are you wondering how to speed things up with your mortgage payment? Thinking how to build equity to your home”?

Well, by paying off your mortgage. The more you do, the more percentage of the asset you gain; that’s obvious.

But when you ask “how can I build equity into my home” you are not thinking about the obvious, right? You want to know the tricks! So here are some little neat ones:

Pay More

When making your monthly mortgage payment, try to send a little bit more than the amount you are required to pay every month. So, if you’re monthly payment is $1,000, you should try paying $1,100, even though you are not required to do so.

Here’s why: when you pay over the amount you are required to pay, the outstanding amount goes directly to the principal of the loan rather than the interest. So, even an extra $50 per month can build equity into your home, as well as knock years off of your loan.

Make some home improvements

Making home improvements will make your home worth more, so while it won’t improve the growth of your home equity percentage-wise, it will make whatever percentage you own worth more. The great thing is that you can do this on your own with DIY home improvements to increase your home value. And why not implementing some ideas to improve curb appeal within the property?

Refinance

If your earning improves, try applying for a refinance. Bringing your 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage will make you accrue bigger percentages of your home equity. But we advise to be cautious with this one. Refinance is not simple, so check your credit score and your overall debt-to-income ratio.

As you can see, most of the times the answer to “how can I build equity to my home” involves spending money. Haven’t you ever heard “you have to spend money to make money”? That’s the case right here. Equity in a home can only be acquired via money, so you might speed things here and there and sometimes not take it out of your pocket – say the area develops and you bought-in early, so the percentage you had is worth more now – but in all cases you will only get it by making the lender recuperate whatever he put in that loan.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Questions

Popular Real Estate Glossary Terms

Active photoelectric cell made of silicon and activated by electromagnetic energy in the form of light waves. They are now used in a wide range of electronic systems including ...

Form of lighting designed to have 90% to 100% of the emitted light directed upward so the principal illumination is reflected rather than direct. Indirect lighting is designed to have less ...

Pipe fitting shaped like the letter U permitting an intersecting pipe to be directed around another pipe. Plumbing connection between two water pipes in the same system. Passageway ...

A partition or wall that provides no support to the structure in which it is located. For example, a nonbearing partition or wall does not support any floors above it. A partition which ...

Work required as a court judgment because of a crime committed. ...

Agreement in which the contract price to build something is equal to the total costs incurred plus a predetermined profit. The profit may be based on a percentage of cost (e.g., 20% of ...

Clause in a percentage lease permitting the landlord to cancel a lease and recover the property if the tenant's sales fall below a specified level. Clause in a lease permitting the ...

Under law, a warranty in effect even if not expressly stated. It provides that real property sold is warranted to be appropriate for sale and is in proper condition even if not stated, ...

Measures looking at the past, current a future direction of the economy. They may have an impact on the real estate market. Each month government bodies, including the Federal Reserve ...