Tag: renovations

Real Estate Reality Check: Home Updates That Could Sink Your Sale

When preparing to sell your home, homeowners often believe extensive renovations will boost their property’s market value. However, not all updates are beneficial. Some improvements can actually diminish your home’s appeal and potentially reduce its selling price.

Highly personalized renovations pose significant risks in the real estate market. Buyers want to envision themselves in a space, which becomes challenging when confronted with extremely bold paint colors, custom-built features, or specialized rooms that cater to very specific personal tastes. A home theater with built-in equipment or elaborate landscaping might reflect your unique style but can repel potential buyers looking for a more neutral, adaptable living space.

Luxury upgrades in moderate neighborhoods rarely recoup their full cost. A gourmet kitchen or high-end bathroom might seem like a valuable investment, but buyers in average-priced areas won’t pay a premium for top-tier features that stand out from the neighborhood’s standard offerings.

Swimming pools frequently deter buyers rather than attract them. These features represent ongoing maintenance costs, safety concerns for families with young children, higher insurance premiums, and significant upkeep expenses. Most potential homeowners view pools as a burden rather than a desirable amenity.

Converting garage spaces can dramatically reduce a home’s appeal. Most buyers prefer functional garage areas for vehicle storage, workshops, additional storage, or potential workspace. A converted garage limits these practical uses and can make your home less attractive to a broader range of buyers.

Technology-specific installations quickly become outdated. Built-in charging stations, complex smart home systems, or highly specialized technological infrastructure might not align with potential buyers’ preferences or current technological ecosystems.

Do-it-yourself renovations can be particularly problematic. Poorly executed updates are immediately noticeable to potential buyers. Uneven paint lines, imperfect tile work, inconsistent finishes, and signs of amateur craftsmanship can significantly decrease perceived home value. Professional-looking updates are crucial when preparing to sell.

The key to successful home preparation is restraint. Focus on minor, strategic improvements, neutral color palettes, basic maintenance and repairs, and thorough cleaning and decluttering. Consulting with a real estate professional can provide targeted advice specific to your local market, helping you understand which updates will genuinely add value and which might inadvertently decrease your home’s marketability.

The Bottom Line: Ultimately, the goal is to present a clean, well-maintained home that allows potential buyers to imagine their own future within its walls. By avoiding overly personalized or excessive renovations, you increase the likelihood of a successful and profitable sale.

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Examples of Upgrades That Might Not Add Value to Your Home

If you’re considering jumping into this crazy housing market or if you just want to make some upgrades that will retain value, remember that not all home improvements add value to a home. Talk to a Realtor before you start making any major improvements if you aren’t sure.

Upgraded bathrooms will add value, however, avoid going overboard. According to a National Association of Realtors Research Group study, updating a bathroom is one of the most popular home improvement projects in the United States. It’s also one of the few home improvement projects with the potential for increasing value close to how much you spent on it. But only if you do it right. Make it simple. Add fresh paint, updated lighting, and repairs to any damage you did to the bathroom over the years. If you can keep the remodel under $5,000 start to finish, you can potentially turn a profit. It’s tempting to go with high-end appliances and overly extravagant bathrooms definitely fit in the category of projects that will actually hurt your home’s resale value. 

Fresh paint will always help a home look its very best, but steer clear of bold, bright, or dark colors. Painting the interior or exterior is a low-cost improvement that makes a big statement.  White, tan, and gray in various shades can make a home look clean, open, and inviting, even if none of these colors are your favorite. You may prefer reds, purples, deep blues, hot pinks and the like, but don’t assume that buyers will. They may look at it as an expensive paint job they don’t want to tackle.

Buyers want an upgraded kitchen, but renovating using high-end appliances won’t guarantee you’ll get your money back when it’s time to sell. Instead, focus on the most worn or dated parts of the kitchen, such as flooring and countertops, and go for mid-range appliances if they even need an upgrade.

Many homeowners believe a swimming pool or hot tub will add value to their homes, but a pool or hot tub can decrease a home’s resale value, especially if you live in a cooler climate where pool season is minimal. The high cost of pools does not end after installation. Routine maintenance also is expensive and most buyers know this. Families with younger children tend to stray away from homes with pools. With the cost to build a pool, maintenance expenses and a very minor potential value increase, a swimming pool addition simply isn’t worth it for most homeowners.

The Bottom Line: Your best bet would be to contact a trusted professional Realtor in your area. She will be able to advise you about what you need to do to prepare your home for sale. Many buyers spend too much money upgrading their home before putting it on the market hoping they’ll recoup those costs in the sale and that does not happen often.

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Renovations That Will Increase Value of a Home

Kitchen: Start small at first. Replace the kitchen faucet, add new drawer knobs, pulls & faucets in a matching style and replace old light fixtures with modern, energy-efficient options. Rather than replacing cabinets, paint the cabinets a new color, or hire a refacing company to refinish the cabinet boxes. If your appliances don’t match, consider ordering new doors and face panels from the manufacturer. This will give your kitchen a more cohesive look without the high costs of replacing the appliances.

Laundry Room: A separate laundry room topped the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) list of most-wanted home features by buyers.  Carrying loads of laundry to a basement and then back upstairs again is a thing of the past. Now, buyers want their laundry rooms in a convenient area – near the kitchen or bedrooms with plenty of folding space and cabinets.

Exterior: Does your home have curb appeal? Paint the front door – it’s the first thing buyers see after the landscaping. Make it clean and consider new hardware (door-knocker, knob). Replace and add to the exterior lighting. Wash the siding. How is your walkway to the front door? Fix any broken or loose brick or flagstone. Pull the weed regularly. Add pops of color with flowers and plants.

Windows: Big-ticket items buyers want is new energy-efficient windows. Not only are they a great selling point, but they will also save the owners money on energy bills while they occupy the home.

Ceiling Fans: The most-wanted decorative home feature by potential buyers, according to the NAHB. Ceiling fans can be inexpensive and practical – they keep the air moving with the air conditioning or the heat. Plus, now they have reversible controls that allow the air to be drawn up, or blown down.

Hardwood Flooring: A cleaner look, easier to maintain, and more durable than carpet. If hardwood floors are already in the home, get it sanded and refinished to make it like new again. If there is carpet – it could increase your home’s selling price by 2.5%.  according to Realtor.com Paint and flooring are also some of the easiest repairs to make and can be very affordable if done right.

Fresh Walls:  Take the wallpaper down. One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways that can help to increase a home’s value is also one of the simplest.  Freshly painted walls. Neutral colors are best and can make it easier for potential buyers to see themselves in the home.

The Bottom Line: It may be a seller’s market, but you still have to make your home stand out. It would be wise if you want to sell your home as quickly as possible to put your best foot forward for potential buyers, and especially those who come in to take a physical walk-through of the property.

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Kitchen Changes to Sell a Home

First Friday Feature: An Updated and Modern Kitchen | Kitchen ...

The kitchen is king. A newly renovated kitchen can help you sell your home for more money and sell your home faster. But, before you take on the work, prospective sellers should talk to the Realtors local to them and find out how they compare to the rest of the market. Find out what their home, their kitchen in this instance needs to have for the buyers out there looking for a new home. Often the kitchen can make or break a home sale. Kitchens can be the deciding factor.

Clean

The cheapest thing to do is to start with an immaculately clean kitchen. Clear counters of clutter and remove any items from the tops of cabinets and the refrigerator. This makes the kitchen appear larger and getting rid of any personal items will help potential buyers focus on seeing their own things in the area.

Paint

Fresh paint is a relatively inexpensive way of changing the entire look of a room. Opt for light, neutral colors. There is an endless amount of primers and paints available now, making it easy to really make a transformation. Sometimes just cleaning and painting is all it takes to make your kitchen look totally transformed!

Cabinets

It might not be in the budget to change out the cabinetry completely, but there are little things that can be done to create a total makeover.

  • Replace doorknobs and drawer pulls with classic finishes such as brushed nickel or stainless steel for a brand new look. Hardware stores carry a variety.
  • Painting cabinets always make an instant upgrade. Ask a knowledgeable Realtor what color is the most popular. Add a pop of color by simply painting the inside of the cabinets.

Backsplash

Have some fun with this update. Make a bold statement or blend it into the background. If it is outdated, it’s fairly simple to replace it DIY. This is a way to help make a kitchen stand out from the others on the market. Realtors often select subway tile and while white is the most popular, a color can be used to coordinate with the countertops.

Flooring

Refinish wood floors or replace broken ceramic tiles. For scratched, torn, or faded linoleum, it might be time for a complete redo. Most Realtors will confirm that hardwood flooring is the biggest preference closely followed by tile. Consult with a good Realtor on which is the best seller in the neighborhood.

Countertops

A bigger job but can make an incredible difference in the kitchen. If changing the countertops and living in the home for a time before selling it, install what is enjoyable to live with but will also add value. If changing countertops to sell a home, upgrade to the standards of the neighborhood.

Lights

Replace old and outdated light fixtures with pendant lights. Spray paint any brass fixtures. Upgrading lighting fixtures can help improve potential buyers’ first impressions. Buyers all know they will spend most of their time in the kitchen and proper lighting is a good purchase. Proper lighting can make the difference between a dull room and a rich first impression.

Stage

Potential buyers want to envision themselves and their “things” in the kitchen. Again, have a Realtor that will speak the truth of what should be done.

  • For eat-in kitchens, use a smaller table and chairs to make the area appear larger. Place a throw rug under the table to define the separate space.
  • A few well-placed plants bring life and warmth.
  • Add gourmet touches to your now cleared counters such as a bowl of polished fruit, a full bottle of herbed olive oil, or a small wine rack.
  • Polish fixtures, replace light bulbs, and dust every corner.
  • Remove magnets from the refrigerator to help depersonalize.
  • Window treatments should be light or neutral colored.
  • Stow cleaning products under the sink.

The Botton Line: First impressions really matter in Real Estate. Within seconds, we all decide whether we like something or not. The house might be in the best neighborhood, but if the first impression isn’t up to par, it will be tough to sell. And, again, the kitchen is still king when selling a home and a “modern, updated kitchen” tops the list every time in surveys.

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Renovations to Skip if You Plan to Move

1. Swimming Pools
Swimming pools are one of those things that may be nice to enjoy at your friend’s or neighbor’s house, but that can be a hassle to have at your own home. Many potential homebuyers view swimming pools as dangerous, expensive to maintain and a lawsuit waiting to happen. Families with young children, in particular, may turn down an otherwise perfect house because of the pool (and the fear of a child going in the pool unsupervised).

2. Out-Building the Neighborhood
Often homeowners try to increase the value of their home so they make improvements to the property that unintentionally make the home fall outside of the norm for the neighborhood. While a large, expensive remodel, such as adding a second story with two bedrooms and a full bath, might make the home more appealing, it will not add significantly to the resale value if the house is in the midst of a neighborhood of small, one-story homes.

3. Extensive Landscaping
Homebuyers may appreciate well-maintained or mature landscaping, but don’t expect the home’s value to increase because of it. A beautiful yard may encourage potential buyers to take a closer look at the property, but will probably not add to the selling price. If a buyer is unable or unwilling to put in the effort to maintain a garden, it will quickly become an eyesore, or the new homeowner might need to pay a qualified gardener to take charge. Either way, many buyers view elaborate landscaping as a burden, though attractive and, as a result, are not likely to consider it when placing value on the home.

4. High-End Upgrades
Putting stainless steel appliances in your kitchen or imported tiles in your entryway may do little to increase the value of your home if the bathrooms are still vinyl-floored and the shag carpeting in the bedrooms is leftover from the ’60s. Upgrades should be consistent to maintain a similar style and quality throughout the home. A home that has a beautifully remodeled and modern kitchen can be viewed as a work in process if the bathrooms remain old. Thus, a kitchen upgrade might not get as high a return if the rest of the house needs work. High-quality upgrades generally increase the value of high-end homes, but not necessarily mid-range houses where the upgrade may be inconsistent with the rest of the home.

5. Carpeting
While real estate listings may still boast “new carpeting throughout” as a selling point, potential homebuyers today may cringe at the idea of having wall-to-wall carpeting. Carpeting is expensive to purchase and install. In addition, there is growing concern over the healthfulness of carpeting due to the amount of chemicals used in its processing and the potential for allergens (a serious concern for families with children). Add to that the probability that the carpet style and color that you thought was absolutely perfect might not be what someone else had in mind.

Because of these hurdles, wall-to-wall carpet is something on which it’s difficult to recoup the costs. Removing carpeting and restoring wood floors is usually a more profitable investment.

6. Invisible Improvements
Invisible improvements are those costly projects that you know make your house a better place to live in, but that nobody else would notice – or likely care about. A new plumbing system or HVAC unit (heating, venting, and air conditioning) might be necessary, but don’t expect it to recover these costs when it comes time to sell. Many home buyers simply expect these systems to be in good working order and will not pay extra just because you recently installed a new heater. It may be better to think of these improvements in terms of regular maintenance, and not an investment in your home’s value.

The Bottom Line
It is difficult to imagine spending thousands of dollars on a home-improvement project that will not be reflected in the home’s value when it comes time to sell. There is no simple equation for determining which projects will garner the highest return or the most bang for your buck. Some of this depends on the local market and even the age and style of the house. Homeowners frequently must choose between an improvement that they would really love to have (the in-ground swimming pool) and one that would prove to be a better investment. A bit of research, or the advice of a qualified real estate professional, can help homeowners avoid costly projects that don’t really add value to a home.

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