Home Renovations That Can Help (Or Hurt) A Sale Price

Home renovation can be tricky. Most people make renovations to please themselves, but those renovations don’t necessarily make the home more valuable in terms of its sale price. The money that was sunk into the renovations might not be recouped when it’s time to sell. On the other hand, some people make renovations to please themselves, but also with a view to improving the home’s sale price if they decide to put the home on the market at a later date. But what renovations are the most valuable in terms of resale value?

1) The Kitchen

In virtually any home, the number one renovation that improves resale value is modernizing the kitchen. This is particularly true in an older home that hasn’t been updated, but most homes built last century will benefit from a kitchen remodel. Unless the kitchen needs a serious update, even a few hundred dollars spent can up the home’s resale value considerably. Fix leaky faucets and make other minor repairs, add a fresh coat of paint, new curtains and light fixtures, and updated cabinet hardware. Minor additions like these give the kitchen a fresh and clean look that makes it feel new even if it’s not.

2) The Bathroom

The same principles apply in the bathroom—kitchen and bathroom are typically the two rooms that buyers want to see are clean, modern, and well-maintained, so these are the rooms where a little money spent can have the greatest impact. Fresh paint, new faucets and fixtures, resealing the bathtub and sink, updating the mirror and vanity, can all make a big impression.

3) New Paint

A fresh coat of paint in key rooms ups buyer interest, and it’ll make a particularly big difference if your current home’s color scheme is bright, unfashionable, or otherwise undesirable. Neutral colors are best, because they’re not distracting, and they help potential buyers envision what their possessions will look like in the space.

4) Spruce up the Outdoors

A tidy garden adds curb appeal, and it can add value too, simply because it helps show the house off to good advantage. Prune trees and bushes and put things in order, and perform any minor maintenance tasks like cleaning gutters.

5) Add a Bedroom

Adding a bedroom isn’t exactly a minor renovation—unless you already have that room in the house. If the house has a den or an extra living room that’s suitable for conversion, on the other hand, adding a simple closet system instantly converts that den into a bedroom, and can add a healthy chunk to the sale price.

Renovations That Don’t Add Value

There are also a few renovations that many people believe add significant resale value to a home, but actually aren’t all that valuable. An article at Forbes.com pinpoints half a dozen examples that, while they’re expensive to install, tend not to pay for themselves when it comes time to sell up.

• Swimming pools: they’re fun when you’re at someone else’s house, but the effort they require to maintain means that many people just don’t want one at their own home.
  
  
• Overbuilding: when you overbuild in comparison to other homes in the neighborhood, the lower value of the surrounding homes drags down the value of yours.
  
  
• Landscaping: A well-kept yard is a winning bet, but an extensive garden isn’t, simply because many potential buyers are turned off by the heavy maintenance an elaborate garden requires.
  
  
• High-end upgrades: expensive touches like hand-made tiles or stainless steel appliances don’t necessarily add value if the rest of the home isn’t up to the same standard.
  
  
• Specific-use upgrades: A media room, or any other room with a highly specific use, may not add value, as most home buyers aren’t specifically looking for that particular feature. It’s also worth noting that upgrades like disability access features tend not to add value due to their highly specific nature, even if they cost a significant amount of money to install.
  
  
• Wall to Wall Carpet: Carpeting is one of those love-it-or-hate it things, and the difficulty of maintaining expensive carpeting means that many home buyers aren’t swayed by the idea of buying a home with new carpet. In fact, for a seller it’s usually more profitable to restore wood flooring than it is to install new carpet. Alternatively, instead of installing new carpet, treat your existing carpets to a deep cleaning.