Location, location, location. :-)
Every house I've bought, I've done so with the idea that I will need to sell it again someday, so it'd better be appealing to a broad spectrum of possible buyers. To me, this means:
- Good school district
- Enough bed/bath/garage to be generally attractive -- 3/2/2 minimum, for my area, is popular. And decent closet space.
- No weird layout/floorplan/difficult-to-change features. Tract homes are generally well-designed to be broadly appealing, though generic. Custom homes can get really weird. No uber-trendy design features that will age badly.
- Not over-improved for the neighborhood
- Not immediately adjacent to anything that future buyers may dislike (and I wouldn't want either): busy intersection/ traffic noise, shopping center/parking lot, etc. Adjacent to a park or greenbelt, however, is a positive.
- No structural damage or other damage that will be difficult and/or expensive to repair -- foundation movement, mold, flood plain, etc.
But, back to the original question of whether any of this will make a particular house increase more in value -- who knows. It's just the best I can do with being able to re-sell in the future at a reasonable market price, whatever that may be at that time.