Home improvements can be a lot of fun, but they can be expensive and may not increase your home’s resale value enough to justify the expense. In some cases, your pet project may cost you thousands of dollars and can actually have a negative impact on your home’s resale value.
There are some considerations that need to be taken into account before you begin the upgrades. How long do you plan to remain in your home? If you plan to be there for 15 years and really want a certain project completed for your own pleasure, by all means, do it! But if you think you will move in another two to five years, consider the impact your renovations will have on resale.
Are you going to complete the project yourself, or will you hire a contractor? A contractor will be considerably more expensive, but a professional improvement will usually have a higher resale value than an obviously amateur job..
Swimming Pool
Who does not want the convenience of a backyard pool with it convenience and relief it can offer during hot summer months. What people often don’t consider is the amount of time and cost is takes to maintain a pool property. In addition, there are many safety concerns with buying a home with a pool, particularly for family with children. Unless a pool in a normal attribute of a home in neighborhood (beach property), it usually will make it harder to sell a home. So be careful, especially if you plan to move within 10 years.
Gourmet Kitchen
Everyone wants a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, high-end stainless steel appliances, and custom cabinetry. A kitchen is one of the rooms that sell a home, but a kitchen renovation is one of the most expensive home renovations and can cost up to $50,000 or more. Again, you may not get your value back when you sell, especially is you put a lot of personalized features. If you will be selling the home within two years, consider an update that will not be overly expensive but will effectively approve the function and appearance of the kitchen. Some options could be laminate floors instead of hardwood or tile, new solid-surface countertops rather than quartz or granite, freshly refaced cabinets, new matching appliances, and a fresh coat of neutral paint. The room will look fresh and clean, ready for another family to love the kitchen.
Hot Tub
You thought everyone wanted a hot tub, right? Not so. Some people, especially parents, consider a hot tub to be a safety hazard, and lots of folks think someone else’s hot tub is not clean and sanitary. A hot tub is hard to un-install, especially if the deck has been custom built to accommodate it. Get yourself a hot tub if you like, but don’t make it a permanent fixture in the home. Remember your ideal upgrade may be someone else’s headache.
Too Much Landscaping
A beautiful yard sets the tone for a beautiful home. However, yards that have intricate planted areas, rock gardens, and water features may look complicated and overdone to potential buyers. They may interpret your beautifully laid out landscaping as being a time-consuming project that will ruin every Saturday, and may cause them to shy away from buying your property.
Your home is your castle, so paint every room a different color if you want. However, when it comes time to sell the home, remember that a neutral palette and a simple, functional design will help buyers see themselves creating new memories in this lovely space.
A Bedroom That’s Not a Bedroom
Bedrooms are prime factors in the choice of a new home, so if you advertise a four-bedroom house, make sure you have four bedrooms! If you have converted a bedroom to a closet, or turned one into an office with built-in cabinetry, buyers will view your home as a three-bedroom and it may hurt your resale value considerably. Before marketing the home, turn your closet back into a bedroom, and make sure that office can also be a functional bedroom.
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