Real Estate values increase in areas of housing shortages and areas where turn over is greater i.e. the popular areas where families continue to transfer into. Where the schools are perceived to be better and shopping areas have high end stores. A plan for trading up will increase your net worth faster than waiting for appreciation.

3 Year or 5 Year Plan A plan to move from your present home every 3 to 5 years to a more expensive home in a perceived better neighborhood or to a larger home within your current neighborhood. Buy the worst home in the neighborhood and over 3 to 5 years make it one of the best.

Home Improvements A schedule of improvements to build value in your present home. Do what you can yourself over time and hire contractors to do the rest over 3 to 5 years. There is a point where after the improvements are made that the value is fixed and the only increase comes from appreciation. Thats when its time to move to the next property.

Find the Worst Better Home Find a neighborhood that is perceived better than your present one and buy the worst house. Start all over again set your 3 to 5 year improvement plan in place. You should be getting better you have your trusted contractors in place. Set your improvement standards you should be doing pretty much the same thing only now in a larger area.

Match the Best Home Amenities - Each new neighborhood has certain requirements for the better homes make sure at least match what everyone else has. Things like all hardwood floors maybe marble tile bath floors not ceramic, granite counter tops, landscaping sprinkler systems, landscape lighting.

Contemporary Improvements Make each improvement the newest and best product from features and style to functionality. Dont put in the same old bath or kitchen fixtures because you had them in your last home and they worked great. Be up to date in everything you do that way youll be ahead of any home in the neighborhood.

You can grow your net worth through real estate by trading up using successive moves to bigger and better homes. The real trick is to increase your equity and not pocketing the cash and keeping your current mortgage level which will allow you to do this without a big raise or promotion at work.

Bill Carey

Real Estate Broker, Investor and Home Builder with his wife Karen make their home in Charlotte North Carolina. With over 30 years in real estate Bill has a unique perspective on the real estate business having personally bought and sold homes in the various northeast, midwest and southern states. Bill is a licensed Real Estate Broker in North and South Carolina working with home buyers and homeowners in the Charlotte, NC region. As a home builder and project manager he over saw construction of executive style single family homes to multi story multi family projects. His first investment along with a partner in 1975 was a small 2 bedroom 1 bath single family home renovated into a 4 bedroom 2 bath student rental, 2 years later sold at a nice profit. Bill and Karen now invest in real estate in the Carolina's resort locations along the southern beaches and mountains.