It’s inevitable that homeowners eventually have to re-evaluate whether their house meets their lifestyle needs. When they love their location and neighborhood, really like their house, and don’t want to waste money on closing costs and moving expenses, homeowners usually decide to stay where they are and remodel their home. Knowing what features would improve your quality of life key, but it’s also important to know which remodeling projects might not pay off when it finally comes time to sell. Knowing about these four remodeling project types will help you avoid costly mistakes that could affect your home’s resale value.
1. High-Maintenance Landscapes
Unless you personally enjoy being outdoors enough to enjoy it, and unless you have a love of gardening or the resources to hire maintenance help, don’t add an exorbitant landscape to your home. The same thing is true of adding water features, which bring higher utility bills that might turn frugal, conservation-minded future buyers off. Stick with a healthy, well-manicured lawn and tastefully arranged ornamental trees and flowers to give your home curb appeal, instead of adding landscaping that potential buyers might see as a headache.
2. Fussy Flooring
Carpet is certainly more comfortable and welcoming than hardwood. But carpet traps dirt and allergens, lacks the longevity of hardwood and tile, and can easily start to look dingy. Many homebuyers prefer to see if there is solid flooring beneath the carpeting, even to the point of ripping up the carpet and restoring the hardwood floor. So rather than adding new carpet to hard floor surfaces, consider investing in getting your hardwood floors cleaned and restored. If your hard floor surfaces are beyond salvage, then the next best flooring options are tile, linoleum, bamboo and cork, which have the benefit of also being green. Avoid vinyl and laminate.
3. Upscale Upgrades
Unless you are a foodie or aspiring gourmet chef who will get tremendous enjoyment from your upscale kitchen, don’t install higher-end kitchen equipment and appliances than would be found in comparably priced homes in your neighborhood. Unless your idea of unwinding after work every day involves luxuriating in a personal steam room or spa that is wired with internet-equipped television and surround-sound, it might not be a good idea to invest in these upgrades, either. Potential home buyers might not be willing to pay extra for features they deem unnecessary and the property values of your surrounding neighborhood will keep your own property value down.
4.Highly Specialized Rooms
If you are a committed hobby enthusiast who needs the space to pursue your passion, then you should make sure that your hobby room really is, for example, the woodworking shop of your dreams. But actually having a room that is so specifically purposed—yoga studio, wine and cigar cellar, art studio— that it doesn’t seem to function well for any other endeavor might harm your resale value. Make sure that specialized rooms can be easily envisioned as something else when potential buyers come to call. Having an extra, undesignated room in the floor plan is actually very beneficial for resale value because buyers will see it as a potential extra bedroom, an office, craft room, rec room, or home gym.