Renovations That Can Actually Diminish the Value of Your Home
When preparing to sell a home, many homeowners believe that making a few renovations is the key to increasing their sale price. While this is true in some cases, in general, more often than not – homeowners do not recoup their investment.
There are even a few “upgrades” that can diminish the value and subsequently, the sale price of your home.
- Too Much Color – while a great paint job can really freshen up a home’s appearance, you want to make sure you’re using a color scheme that other people can see themselves living in. A bright orange and yellow kitchen might seem like a refreshing whiff of citrus to you, it might be the equivalent of sucking on a lemon to someone else. Best to keep your color choices neutral and stage the home with smaller pops of color in things like throw pillows or a small rug.
- Over Personalizing – When you’re at home, you’re in your element. You want to feel relaxed and well… at home. Design elements that are tailor made to your personal brand of convenience and style may not appeal to pool of potential buyers looking at buying your home. You may want to change out things like a row of five refrigerators, all descending in size along a kitchen wall for a more conventional, single fridge approach.
- Swapping a bathroom for more “living area.” – This is almost never a good idea. The number of lavatories in a house has a direct correlation to the selling price!
- The most damaging “upgrade” a homeowner can make is making actual structural renovations to the home without the proper permits! They may seem like an unnecessary hassle, but in truth, they are there for a reason. Permits for structural renovations ensure your home remains safe and up to code. If the local city has no record of your permit, it will be very hard to justify the price at the time of sale. Worse yet, they could require you or the new homeowner to tear the work out and have it re-done with the proper permits.