Home Improvement Ideas That Don’t Pay Off
Home upgrades can be costly, depending on the project that you’re undertaking. If this is something that you would like to do since you personally want to improve the look and functionality of your house, then the satisfaction that you would feel upon its completion would be priceless. However, if you’re not planning to stay here for the rest of your life and you’re thinking of selling it sooner or later, it’s important that you thoroughly think of the upgrades that you’re going to make.
Not all the enhancements that you will do in your house would increase its value. There are upgrades that wouldn’t really pay off in the end as you may still not be able to sell the property at a higher price. Moreover, remember that people have different taste. What’s attractive for you, may not be as interesting to others. That being said, here are some of the upgrades that you may want to avoid if selling your home in the future as they might not bring the return that you’re expecting.
Getting a Swimming Pool
You think that it might be cool to have a swimming pool built and that it would increase the value of your home. While it’s true that there are actually some buyers who would love it, there might only be a few of them as majority of buyers may see this as additional expenses as it requires costly maintenance. Moreover, those with kids could feel that it could be a safety risk. Many parents would not want the unnecessary stress of having to worry about the safety of their kids around the pool, especially with their busy schedules.
Going for Bold Changes
It’s good that you can express yourself and you would like to change your house into something that would match your own style and preference. However, this may not be a good idea if you’re planning to sell your home. The potential buyers may not be as bold as you are and the enhancements that you have made may not attract them to make the purchase. As mentioned, people have different tastes and preferences so it wouldn’t be possible to come up with something that would match all of their styles. What you can do is to go for a simple look. Go for colors and designs that are more on the neutral side. Potential buyers would be able to imagine how they could easily turn the house into something that would match their own personality. It would be difficult to do that if you have too bold and bizarre colors and designs.
Spending Much on Over the Top Enhancements
Yes, you may want to impress the buyers by making changes that would make it look more luxurious and elegant. However, you should still consider the value of similar properties around the neighborhood. If after the renovations the price of the house gets ridiculously higher than those houses around you, it would be difficult for you to sell it. Buyers are looking for affordable options so you may want to pass on unnecessary over the top changes or additions that wouldn’t really help you in the end.
Having Special Rooms
Additional bedrooms would appreciate the value of your home. However, getting additional rooms that wouldn’t be used as bedrooms may not give you the same effect. For instance, a home office or a home library may be good for you, but it may be something that buyers wouldn’t need. They may want an extra room that they can use as a bedroom for their kids and while they can turn the special rooms into one, it may be difficult for them to envision that if it has loads of other stuffs.
Are there other home improvement ideas that you think wouldn’t pay off if selling the house? Type your comments below.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image by RichTea [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
2nd image by Nevit Dilmen (Own Photograph) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
3rd image by User:Mattes (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
