What Home Improvements Add Value to Your House?

Do you want to improve your home in order to sell it, or is your goal to make it nicer and more liveable for you?

Whatever your reasons for wanting to make upgrades, an important thing to consider is whether or not those upgrades will add value to your home.

There are many changes that homeowners make that don’t add value, but actually decrease the value of a home.

Those who aren’t going to be selling their home might respond: ” I’m not putting my house on the market, it’s my house and this is what I want.”

Certainly you can do whatever you want, it is your house, And although I understand that feeling, the truth is, someday you may want or need to sell, and if the changes you have made make the house “a project” for someone else, you will either be making it harder to sell, or more expensive to sell because you have to change things back to a more traditional look…you want to appeal to potential homeowners and create a feeling of “coming home”.

Home improvements that may have a negative affect

• Be careful when “improving” your landscaping. Not all homeowners want to spend every waking minute out working in the yard to keep it maintained.
  • Swimming pools, water features or even hot tubs are not on everyone’s “must have” list.
• Avoid permanently altering the function of a room – the house needs to maintain its functionality.
  • One couple bought a 3 bedroom home, but soon decided they needed office space rather than bedrooms. Because the changes they made were not structural to the house, and the rooms would be easily reverted to their original state, this change will not have a negative affect.
  • Garages are prime real estate for most people, don’t change yours into something that it’s not.
• Home improvements that are not completed or not completed well are not improvements.
• We all like our own taste, but not everyone else does…avoid taste specific changes.

Improvements that will add value

• Kitchen upgrades are always a good investment.
  • Add new a finish or replace your cabinets
  • Upgrade your countertops
  • Upgrade the flooring
  • Add new lighting
  • Purchase new appliances that are energy efficient
  • One word of caution – Avoid over upgrading, such as making a residential kitchen resemble a commercial kitchen.
• If you’re going to add on to the house, adding an additional bathroom will always pay off.
  • For older baths, renovate with new cabinets and countertops
  • Add a new shower door or new hardware for cabinets
  • Add new lighting
  • If possible, add a new sink, new tub or shower
• Replacing your old roof  won’t necessarily add value to your house, but it will help prevent the loss of value.
• Upgrading your windows with a new look and energy efficiency can add value and energy savings.

Don’t ever underestimate the value of having clean windows, they may not increase the value of your house, but there is value in the enjoyment of looking through clean windows, and knowing you didn’t have to clean them yourself.

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