After negotiating the price of your home, if you’re buying a house that was previously owned, you immediately think about the ways you can change it. It probably has never happened before that someone didn’t make changes to the house they purchased. There’s no way you like the exact style that the other person had before you.

Customizing your home means making it the way you like. It can be incredibly fun to remodel, redecorate, and make the home your own. Of course, when you make big changes to your home, it can cost a lot of money. Some of them can be pricey, while some of them are just smart. Here’s a mixture of both that I’ve included in my home that has made the property value increase and made the home more enjoyable to live in.

A generator to keep the lights on

It has become a necessity for us

Credit: Chris Hachey / MakeUseOf

When we moved into our home, it wasn’t long before we realized that our block tended to lose power a lot. We learned that our local grid was overly stressed, and the area where we live frequently lost power. This is not ideal when it’s summer, and you’re just trying to keep your family cool.

It was especially scary when we kept losing power, and we had an infant. Having an upstairs that saw temperatures climb as the afternoon went on made for difficult decisions on where to let the baby sleep. Plus, months of breast milk could potentially thaw if the power were out for extended periods of time.

One thing that we noticed was that whenever the power would go out, the houses next to us had generators that would kick on immediately. It seemed that everyone in the neighborhood had them except us. We realized this should be a massive priority on our list for upgrades.

About a year or so after we moved in, we were able to add a full-house generator to work against outages. Since then, we’ve lost power a handful of times, and the generator hasn’t missed a beat. While the generator was pricey, it has been worth it because of the comfort it provides. Both my wife and I work from home, so being without internet for a while makes it hard to work.

This is not something everybody would need, as some people never lose power. My brother-in-law told me that he has lived in his home for seven years and lost power one time for an hour. So, some people don’t have to worry about this. But if you are in an area that tends to lose power frequently, it might be worth the upgrade. The next buyers of your house will also appreciate having this.

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Upgrading the electrical box made it possible

This was the top priority when we moved

Credit: Chris Hachey / MakeUseOf

We had a home inspection before we moved in, and the inspector found that the homeowner before us did a lot of the electrical work himself. Not that it was done poorly, but some of the choices that he made were eyebrow-raising at the least. In order to consider putting in a generator, it made sense to upgrade the electrical box.

We had a licensed electrician come in and upgrade the electrical panel from an older 100-amp box to a newer 200-amp box. While there was nothing visibly wrong with the previous one, knowing we wanted to make some changes to the home in the future called for a new option.

Whether you’re adding an EV charger, a pool, a hot tub, or a heat pump to your home, having upgraded electrical options makes it a possibility. The panel being upgraded made it easier for the generator to be installed, too.

When upgrading your panel, make sure that you label the breakers to know which one controls which parts of your home. I spent a few hours testing each breaker to figure out which outlets and lights each was in charge of, and I don’t have to do it again.

Adding a fence changed our backyard

I’m no longer nervous about letting my dog roam

The backyard in my home is large. The neighbors to the right of us have their own fence, while the neighbors behind us and to the left of us do not have a fence around their yard. We knew we didn’t need a fence around our entire property, but wanted to close in most of the yard to make it a safer place for our daughter and dog to play in.

Plus, in our first two years living in the house, deer would frequently walk through our backyard. Not only was this annoying in terms of ticks showing up on our property (I’ve gotten two tick bites since living here), but they also make my dog go crazy. He once saw deer in the yard and bolted when someone opened the sliding door. I had to chase him into the neighborhood behind our yard and, luckily, he avoided any cars coming on the road. After that, it was decided that the fence was the next big purchase. After all, when we moved out of an apartment, we knew we wanted to give him, an Irish Setter / Golden Retriever mix, a yard to run around in.

Whether you’re adding an EV charger, a pool, a hot tub, or a heat pump to your home, having upgraded electrical options makes it a possibility.

We added a fence that provides a good amount of space for all kinds of activities in the back. It marks a distinct boundary to the yard, which it lacked previously. It also gives it an upgraded look that is going to help with resale value someday.

Not only that, but it also provides peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about someone accidentally letting him out. The five-foot-high fence keeps him in and the deer out. That’s been worth the price for me.

Adding exterior illumination has been helpful

It used to be so dark

Credit: Chris Hachey / MakeUseOf

Speaking of the oddities of the previous owner’s electrical work, they had four lamp posts surrounding the outdoor deck. For some reason, there is no control for those lights other than inside the basement of the house on a timer switch. You can press the button on the timer switch to turn them on, or you can set the timer. But in order to turn on the lights outside, I have to descend a flight of stairs and walk through a basement to get to them.

This became a hassle, and we never used to do it. This, in turn, made the lighting in the back problematic because there wasn’t any. We added Govee outdoor lights for a while, as they strung along the sides of the deck. But those eventually bunched up and made it hard to enter or exit the deck.

Adding a Ring Floodlight Cam not only boosted the home’s security system but also provided strong lights that reach farther into the yard. While walking my dog before we had the fence, I used to be in the dark if it was nighttime. But with the strong floodlight, it illuminates the yard enough to see, helping me avoid piles of my dog’s messes that I might’ve missed while cleaning the yard.

The front of the house wasn’t much better, as there was no uplighting or path lighting to lead from the driveway to the front door. We added small solar lights that provide some nice lighting leading up to the door. Neither the floodlight nor the solar lights set us back much, and it has transformed how the outside of the home looks.

Ring Floodlight Cam

Power Source Hardwired (100-240V)

Compatability Amazon Alexa

What’s Included Flood light camera only

Manufacturer Ring Store

Ceiling fans are a big plus

It was something I looked at when buying a house

I’m a big believer in the need for ceiling fans. Not only do they provide overhead lighting that makes it easier to see in rooms, but they also provide a cooling aspect that can’t be replaced.

My home has single-zone heating and cooling, meaning the AC and heat have to rise to the second floor. There are no separate climate settings for upstairs. This makes the AC work harder in the summer months to achieve the cooler temperatures.

A way to subsidize that is by using the ceiling fan. We’ve replaced three of the four bedroom fans so far with new ones that are remote-controlled. These fans can have their directions reversed, making them circulate hot air better in the winter and cold air in the summer.

I would rather be cooler than hot, so better ceiling fans than the ones that were previously here have been so worth the purchase to me.

There are some big and small changes you can make to your home

We’ve made some notable changes to our home since we moved in. While we haven’t completely remodeled any rooms, we have changed the entire backyard of the house (we’ve also repainted the deck). Adding a generator has been a blessing, as we’ve had to use it more often than we care to admit.

Lighting can change your home for the better, so find the answers for style and functionality before you make the switch. Plus, making it more possible by upgrading the electrical panel was a smart first step. I look forward to continuing to better my home with new changes.