What could hurt your real estate's value?

[caption id="attachment_684" align="alignleft" width="300"] (Photo credit: bertknot/Flickr)[/caption] For many people, investing in a home involves putting their life savings into the long term investment. There are various mid-range and upscale home renovations you can do to enjoy your home more and increase its value, there are some elements that are beyond your control that will affect your home's value.An unfortunate eventIf your home is the site of a suicide, murder or a stigmatized event, you'll likely have a harder time selling the property. In some Canadian cities, you aren't legally obligated to inform sellers if a crime took place on your property, but buyers could still discover the past issue from neighbours. In Calgary, the property that was the site of the city's worst mass murder is currently on sale with the listing citing a note to talk to the property's real estate agent before putting down on a offer, according to CBC News. Some ways you can avoid these issues includes doing a quick Google search for the property or search HouseCreep.com for more information on what has happened in the property's area.A bad neighbourIt's amazing how sometimes what you see on TV translates to real life. If you've seen the show Hoarders, you can imagine piles of junk littering someone's lawn until it starts to spread to their neighbour's property. But if they also don't take care of how their property looks, such as regularly mowing the lawn or fixing up the home's exterior, that will hurt your home's value. In Toronto, a property owner erected a massive fence to avoid seeing the hoarding of their neighbours. The hoarding may be done by one person, but it can affect the entire neighbourhood.A study done by the Appraisal Institute found that your neighbour's unkempt property will hurt your home's value by five to 10 per cent. If you've tried talking to them and it hasn't helped the situation, some cities offer services to help hoarders. The next time you go house shopping, inspect the property you plan into and take a quick glance at your neighbours so you have an idea of what you might be getting into.What's around youThe people who live nearby affect your home's value, but so does the surrounding buildings. If you live near a landfill, the potential smell isn't the only issue you might have to contend with. The unfortunate reality is that it could hurt your property's value by six to ten per cent, according to a US study. Your property drops even further when it's near a landfill for hazardous waste and your home's value could be hurt by as much as 15 per cent. You'll be better off living near a power plant, but even then your home takes a hit of four to seven per cent of its value when it comes time to move out. One easy way to avoid many of these issues is by buying a newly built home since then you'll know that it's incident free and you'll be the first one living there. If you buy a newly built property, Rebate4U can help you figure out the paperwork to claim an HST housing rebate. Our priority is to provide our clients with the most professional and quality service in obtaining rebates for their new and renovated homes. We are proud to offer our clients the most personal and attentive service, and we make sure that all of our clients are 100% satisfied.