For the last few years, real estate in SoCal has been a seller’s market. In early 2024, the median home price in California crossed the $900,000 mark! With homes selling for a million dollars a pop, it’s not a bad time to re-evaluate what your home is actually worth. And while ‘location, location, location’ may be the key selling point for most Southern California homes, don’t underestimate the importance of the house itself!
Small home improvements not only improve your own living standards, they also increase the value of your home. And we’re not talking about window dressing and trellises. We want to help you tackle the things that actually matter—your home’s plumbing!
Quality plumbing is an essential investment for every homeowner. Not only will better plumbing make your home more comfortable, it will also lower your water bill and place you in a better position to sell. In this blog, we discuss the four most lucrative plumbing upgrades to boost your home’s value.
1. Upgrade to a Tankless Water Heater
Tankless water heaters are a modern, eco-friendly fixture that are a popular selling point for today’s home buyer.
According to Energy.gov, households that use less than 41 gallons of hot water daily can reduce their energy consumption by 24%–34% by switching from a conventional water heater to a tankless water heater. But how?
Tankless water heaters heat water immediately without using a storage tank. As soon as you turn the faucet, cold water flows through a heat exchanger, quickly heated by gas or electric energy. This enables tankless water heaters to provide an uninterrupted hot water supply without waiting for a storage tank to fill up with enough hot water.
In addition to consuming less energy, tankless water heaters also have a longer product life than most traditional models—boasting an average lifespan of about 20 years!
2. Install Low Flow Toilets
While they may seem like small details, upgrading to water efficient fixtures like low-flow toilets can help make your property more appealing to environmentally conscious buyers. They also practically pay for themselves by dramatically reducing how much you spend on your monthly water bill.
Low-flow toilets conserve more water than traditional toilets—using only 1.28 gallons per flush compared to 3.5 gallons for traditional toilets!
3. Replace Old Pipes with PEX
Old, leaky pipes are more than just an inconvenience. They’re a threat to your home! Not only do leaks lead to higher water bills, mold, and property damage, they also bring down the value of your home
Many older homes have outdated pipes made from galvanized steel or polybutylene. These materials are prone to corrosion, leaks, and lower water quality. Upgrading to modern plumbing materials, like PEX, can prevent costly damage and increase home value.
What is PEX?
Cross-linked polyethylene tubing, better known as PEX, is gradually replacing copper as the go-to piping material for residential and commercial plumbing. That’s because PEX’s flexibility makes it fast and easy to install compared to rigid copper piping (saving you time and money). It also doesn’t corrode as easily, is less susceptible to freezing, and is less expensive than copper.
Upgrading to PEX can improve water flow and eliminate future plumbing issues, an attractive selling point to any prospective home buyers.
4. Add a Water Filter to Your Home
Tired of spending a fortune on bottled water? Are you racked with buyer’s remorse when you see the dozens of plastic water bottles filling your trash bin?
A state-of-the-art filtration system minimizes water bottle waste and shields you from absurd retail mark-ups on a theoretically inexpensive product. It also extends the life of your appliances by preventing clogs from mineral deposits.
When it comes to water filters you have a whole host of options, including:
- Refrigerator Water Supply
- Sink Dispenser
- Whole-House Water Filter
Conclusion
Upgrading your home’s plumbing is a great way to boost your property’s value. And unlike repainting your window frames, which may feel like a waste of money, improved plumbing creates an immediate noticeable difference in your quality of life (just wait til you see your water bill after installing low-flow toilets)!
While there’s a lot of home improvement projects that you could probably handle yourself, plumbing isn’t something you want to mess around with. Trust us, the last thing you need is to get sprayed with a mouthful of dirty water when you accidentally create a leak in one of your pipes.
For professional plumbing assistance, turn to the pros at Norwalk/La Mirada Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning to get the job done right the first time!