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

The altering of a rented or leased premises by a landlord rendering it unsuitable for habitation in order to effectuate the tenant's vacating. Constructive eviction occurs when the tenant ...

Demolition and removal of all existing structures on a building site and the subsequent construction of a totally new building structure. For example, in a downtown redevelopment project, ...

Upgrading made by a lessee to leased property. Examples are paneling and wallpapering. These improvements revert to the lessor at the expiration of the lease term. As improvement costs are ...

Same as term junior mortgage: Mortgage placed on a property after a previous mortgage. It can be a second, third, etc. mortgage. A junior mortgage is subordinate to the terms of a previous ...

Extent to which soil has cavities or pores, thereby allowing water to pass through. soil productivity;Ability of the soil to accomplish the desired objective such as its capacity for ...

Governmental body that reviews property tax assessment procedures. ...

Document stating one has an ownership interest but not direct control in an asset, estate, or business. While one shares in the benefits of ownership including profits, the direct control ...

An anticipatory breach of contract is the action that occurs when one party in the contract shows their intention to not fulfill their contractual obligations to the other party. The ...

property use which is in violation of the current zoning ordinance, but had been in use prior to the zoning ordinance's enactment. A nonconforming use is normally allowed to continue; ...