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Cheap (Or Free) Ways to Increase Your Home’s Home Value

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Owning a home is an investment, and a pretty good one over time. Although owning a house will never give you a better return on other investments like putting your money into the stock market, the combination of building equity in a large asset that reliably appreciates and not pouring money into the black hole known as “rent” is pretty potent.

That’s reason enough to want to boost your home’s value as much as possible—every extra dollar your home is worth is equity you magically own. Most of the techniques that increase home value require up-front investment, however. A new kitchen or the addition of a bedroom will make your house more valuable, but you have to come up with the money for them first.

But there are ways to nudge your home value up that don’t require much money—or any money at all.

Clean and declutter

Cleaning is basically free, and you can’t underestimate how much more valuable a home appears when it’s neat and tidy. Not only will a deep clean of your home—inside and out—make it look newer and make it easier for potential buyers to see themselves living there, a dirty, grungy house looks like an expensive project even if there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, a deep-cleaning of your house can add more than $3,700 to the sale price. And decluttering—putting away all the junk you’ve accumulated and giving your home a clean, organized feel—can add more than $6,500.

Repairing minor problems throughout the home is also essential. If you’ve been ignoring small things—sticky doors, loose hinges, non-functioning light switches, dents in the drywall—potential buyers or appraisers will see those as signs of bigger problems, and value your home accordingly. After all, if you can’t be bothered to fix a broken kitchen cabinet door, why would anyone assume you’ve kept your roof or furnace in good repair?

You should also take an objective look at the caulk around your windows and in your bathroom and kitchen, the grout between your tiles, and the condition of your carpets and floors. Re-caulking is super cheap and totally DIY, cleaning grout is pretty much a sweat equity transaction, and cleaning your hardwood floors with a product that shines them up will make your home seem newer—and newer homes get higher bids.

Paint

Paint is always celebrated as the cheapest home renovation around. A fresh coat of paint inside can boost your home value by $5,000, and painting the exterior of your home can add more than $7,500 to your home’s value. If you DIY the job your costs will be in the hundreds of dollars, making this one of the most cost-effective ways to boost your home’s value.

Light

The light situation in your house—both in terms of natural sunlight and the artificial light inside—has a dramatic effect on your home’s value. Studies have shown that the more direct sunlight a house receives, the more the house is worth. And letting more of that light in—and augmenting it with plenty of interior light sources—can make your home feel larger, cleaner, and more livable, all of which translate into a higher value. Refreshing your light fixtures and adding window treatments that maximize natural light is an effective strategy but can cost you a few bucks. But simply making sure that your window treatments are clean and functional and all your light fixtures work and have fresh bulbs of the appropriate temperature and brightness will have an impact.

Refreshed hardware

People notice details. If they walk into a house and there are numerous missing, dirty, or broken drawer pulls, door handles, or wall plates, they will probably start mentally deducting from the price they’d be willing to pay for your home. Replacing or repairing these items is pretty easy and cheap, and makes a world of difference (plus it will make your home more pleasant for you while you’re still living there).

And while you’re at it, why not change your shower head to something spa-level for less than $100, and consider replacing your old, grungy faucets with sparkling new ones. Those changes aren’t free, but they won’t break the bank, either, and you can DIY these projects pretty easily.

Simple landscaping

Landscaping and curb appeal can have a huge impact on your home’s value, increasing it by as much as 20%. That’s professional landscaping, of course, which costs a fair bit of money. But if your yard, patio, or deck is a disaster it’s probably affecting your home’s value negatively—and even a bare-bones outdoor area will help your home’s value if it communicates that it’s been well-maintained.

Your first step is to just clean things up: A power wash, trash disposal, and sweep-up will make a huge difference. Giving your front door a bright color and adding some cheap solar lights can make your home feel more inviting for next to nothing. Mowing grass and trimming hedges, trees, or other vegetation so it looks like something you did on purpose instead of a losing battle against nature is also a 100% free landscaping step that will boost your home’s value.

If you have the space, you can also construct a deck from wood pallets, which you can usually find for free at construction sites, big-box hardware stores, or almost any other business that uses a loading dock. People also often advertise free pallets on Craigslist, Facebook, and other platforms to save themselves the trouble of dealing with them. This deck won’t last decades, but it can make your backyard seem like a cozy and put-together space instead of an alien landscape where joy goes to die.

Flex rooms

One final way to jolt your home’s value is to reconsider how you’re using the space. Rooms that serve more than one purpose, sometimes called “flex rooms,” offer options to people. If a potential buyer wants a home office, a flex room can be that—but if they want a spare bedroom, it can be that, too. Flex rooms boost home value as a result. So if you have a guest bedroom, consider moving the layout around and adding a desk so it could double as a home office, or a game room. Suddenly your home offers a home office space without spending a dime on an addition, and be worth more.





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For sale: A piece of California’s country music history

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The famed Buck Owens Crystal Palace, where music legends including Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Garth Brooks and a young Taylor Swift have played, is up for sale, with the foundation that runs the Bakersfield venue planning to list it for $7 million on Monday.

The nightclub, museum and steakhouse was owned by its namesake Buck Owens, the country music trailblazer who bucked the slick commercial melodies of Nashville for a distinctly West Coast twang. Owens opened the Crystal Palace in 1996, watching it become a premier venue for the biggest names in country music, including himself. Buck and the Buckaroos played there every Friday and Saturday night until his death in 2006.

Jim Shaw, a member of the Buckaroos and a director of the Buck Owens Private Foundation, said that after 28 years of running the famed venue, the Owens family plans to step back and find new owners amid a challenging business climate. The foundation said in a statement that “since Buck’s passing in 2006, we’ve tried to maintain the excellence that he expected, even as it became more and more difficult during these challenging times of increasing food and labor costs.”

The venue is not closing and scheduled events will continue as planned, Shaw said.

“It’s business as usual for now,” Shaw said. “Ideally, someone who wants to keep it exactly as it is will come forward.”

Owens’ youngest son, Johnny Owens, wrote on Facebook that the family’s hope “is that a buyer steps forward with a vision for the future and a reverence” for his father and the Bakersfield Sound.

The Crystal Palace, located on Buck Owens Boulevard, is a major tourism staple for Bakersfield. The 18,000-square-foot venue is next to the city’s downtown entrance.

“It’s the No. 1 tourist attraction in Bakersfield,” Shaw said. “There are people stepping forward and we are waiting to see what happens. I am getting a lot of phone calls. I’m anxious to see what happens.”



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2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview

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A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week.

“Yes, I was given some questions for Biden,” Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance.

Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask,” he said.

Ingram is the second interviewer who now says they were provided questions by Biden aides to ask the president this week. Earlier today, another local radio host who interviewed Biden this week told CNN she was given questions to ask Biden before the interview.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” the Biden campaign told ABC News on Saturday.

Ingram told ABC he didn’t see anything necessarily wrong with the practice. “To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” he said.

He continued that he was grateful for the opportunity to interview Biden at all.

“Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me,” Ingram said.

MORE: Wealthy Democratic donors sound alarm over Biden staying in race

On CNN earlier today, Andrea Lawful-Sanders, the host of WURD’s “The Source,” said Biden officials provided her with a list of eight questions ahead of their interview with Biden.

“The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them,” she said.

“I got several questions — eight of them,” she continued. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”

Responding to Lawful-Sanders, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement that it’s not “uncommon” for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. She noted that Lawful-Sanders was “free” to ask any questions she saw fit. She also noted that it was the campaign who sent over the questions and not the White House as other reports claim.

Lawful-Sanders did note in her interview with CNN that she ultimately “approved” the questions provided.

“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” the statement said.

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”

A source familiar with the Biden booking operation told ABC News that moving forward they will “refrain” from offering suggested questions to interviewers.

“While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions.”

2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview originally appeared on abcnews.go.com



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President George W. Bush turns 78 years old

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George W. Bush, born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, was the 43rd President of the United States.

Bush was born to parents Barbara Bush and former President George H. W. Bush. He has five siblings; Jeb Bush, Marvin Bush, Neil Bush, Dorothy Bush Koch and Pauline Robinson Bush. Pauline was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away at age three.

He was formerly the Republican Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

WHY FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IS WINNING … THE POST-PRESIDENCY

Bush was first elected to the White House in November 2000, and officially began his first term as president in January 2001, after he defeated Democrat Al Gore during the presidential election. Bush was reelected to his second term as the incumbent in November 2004, when he prevailed over Democrat John Kerry, and led the United States until January 2009 before handing over his torch to former President Barack Obama.

Bush married Laura Bush on November 5, 1977, the day after her 31st birthday, in her hometown of Midland, Texas. The couple were engaged in September 1977, and married less than two months later in a Methodist church. Bush and Laura met at a barbecue, and he took her to play mini-golf on their first date. 

The Bush’s share twin daughters, Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, born on November 25, 1981. Today, the couple also share four grandchildren; Mila, Poppy, Hal and Cora.

GEORGE BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY ISSUE STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN WITH MESSAGE TO US TROOPS, VETERANS

During his presidency, Bush cared for his English springer spaniel, Spot Fetcher, who accompanied him to meetings in the Oval Office and on adventures throughout the White House. The dog was born to his parent’s dog, Millie.

On September 11, 2001, less than one year into Bush’s presidency, the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists when airplanes hit both buildings, causing a collapse and thousands of lives lost. At the time, Bush was reading to elementary-aged children at a school in Sarasota, Florida. He was calmly and quietly advised of the attacks and quickly returned to Washington, where he was briefed alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush was regarded highly for his poise while learning of the attacks and for his demonstration of patriotism and leadership in the uncertain days and weeks following the hijackings of multiple planes on the day that shook America to her core.

SADDAM CAPTURED ‘LIKE A RAT’ IN RAID

On December 30, 2003, during Bush’s first term as POTUS, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader and executor of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., was captured by the American military

In the early morning of December 30, 2006, during Bush’s presidency, Hussein was hanged and executed for his crimes against humanity. Americans across the nation celebrated the death of Hussein and applauded Bush for promising the country he would take him out and following through.

While Bush was regarded for his dealings with the terrorist attacks, the signing of No Child Left Behind Act and the Patriot Act and the creation of the United States Department of Homeland Security, many Americans were unhappy with the sanctions of interrogation techniques, the war in Iraq and taxes while he was president.

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