(ARA) - Economists predict the worst of the recession is over, but the housing market still has a way to go to complete recovery. It pays to think positively and improve your home, both to boost its value as the market recovers, and to enhance its livability for your family now.

Improving your home is usually a good investment, as long as you focus on improvements that offer high return on your dollar. Renovated kitchens and baths increase a home's value, as does a great deck or patio. Finishing the basement remains a good way to improve value and livability while also expanding square footage. Think of it as double the return on investment - not only are you creating an appealing space in your home, you're actually making the home bigger for potential buyers who want maximum living space.

Finishing a basement is a favorite technique of home flippers - investors who purchase distressed properties for a low price, renovate them and sell for a profit. While flipping may not be in your future, you can still borrow a page from the flipper's handbook and finish your basement to improve your home's value.

One hit home improvement TV show bought a home in Hamden, Conn. to flip. The 1,200 square foot Cape Cod-style home, built in 1950 had fallen into major disrepair. While extensive interior and exterior renovations could give the home curb appeal and entice buyers, the flippers knew that finishing the basement would be a fast, cost-effective way to add living space and square footage in a neighborhood where they were competing with homes that offered more updates.

Many unfinished basements are dark, damp and don't provide homeowners any enjoyment of the space other than use for storage. The flippers used the Owens Corning Basement Finishing System to quickly finish this basement, giving it a new life with light and usable space. Where normal drywall construction could have taken several weeks and blown the flippers' renovation schedule, using the Basement Finishing System allowed them to finish the basement in just two weeks.

The renovation added 500 square feet of finished living space to the small home, and ensured potential buyers found a bright, inviting space when they toured during the open house. Finishing a basement is also a great way to improve the healthfulness of a home. A dark, damp basement that could have been a breeding ground for mold and mildew associated with respiratory disorders instead became a dry, bright and tidy showpiece area of the home.

While you might not have your own full-time construction crew like a home flipper, or the spotlight of a national TV show, when it comes to finishing a basement you don't need to. Professional installers can finish a basement in about two weeks using the Owens Corning Basement Finishing System. The system features built-in thermal and acoustic benefits, and the walls are durable, resisting dents and stains. It easily turns a cold concrete basement (that might deter potential buyers) into a warm, comfortable space that can be used for bedrooms, baths, office space or family rooms. Finishing the basement quickly not only ensures you have an attractive space to show buyers at a time when market competition is fierce, it also affords you faster enjoyment of your current space now.

Visit www.basementfinishingsystem.com to learn more.

Courtesy of ARAcontent