Brian White
of Coldwell Banker says, "Most people are aware that kitchens and baths impact value the most but also cost a lot of money." Instead, Brian recommends considering what you can comfortably do yourself to help control costs. Since labor is often a major component of kitchen and bath work, the more your willing to do (e.g., demolition, tile) the more you can save. He also suggests looking for things that have the most "space coverage" such as paint, new flooring or anything that will impact a substantial amount of visual space or square footage in your home. Brian also offers words of wisdom to home owners on things that don't add value that one might think do, including:
*Highly specialized or taste specific items that would be highly valuable to a few but not to most home buyers. Brian's examples, which made me laugh, included things like fancy wallpaper, Australian Coastal sea shell sinks, rare Botswana bathroom tile or gold lame curtains from Micheal Jackson's wardrobe. While these might be highly valuable items to the current owners, they are likely to have no value for home buyers.
*Items such as new roofs, HVAC, hot water heaters (especially tankless), although completely necessary, are seen as maintenance items rather than things that increase the value of your home. Home buyers expect these to be present and in good condition on any well maintained home.
*Pools are also something that typically does not give a good return on investment. If home owners are lucky, they might get 50% back on what they spent. It also doesn't make your home worth more the way one might think. If there is a similar house down the street, with a better lot and no pool, they can get as much or more for their home because the lot is better.
Given Brian's advice, my take-aways are that home owners should consider the general appeal of any updates they make. This doesn't mean you should not make your house your own, but it's important to recognize that the more specialized, and personal, your updates are they more likely you are not to receive a good return on your investment or turn-off potential buyers should you have to sell.
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