Thinking about making changes to your home? If you’re smart, you’re also wondering how these changes will impact the value of your home down the line when you are ready to sell it. There are many ways to update your home to suit your tastes, and those changes come in all shapes and sizes. But to really impact the value of your home, here are the top ways you can increase what your home is worth. 1. Add a bedroom. Adding a bedroom is the number one way to add significant value to your home, especially since the pandemic and home offices/home school rooms went from luxury to necessity. If you have the space and the funds, adding a bedroom will pay dividends at re-sale. PROTIP: To be considered a bedroom at assessment time, there must be an egress window (a window large enough for entry or exit in case of emergency) and there must be a closet. The room must also have a ceiling height of at least 7 feet and a minimum total area of 70 square feet. 2. Install an additional full bathroom. If you’re going to add a bedroom to your home, and you have the space (especially if the new bedroom is in the basement), you might as well add a full bathroom, too. PROTIP: Some people can get pretty creative about what should be considered a full bathroom, but a pipe coming out of the wall in the basement is not a “shower” – sorry, friends. By definition, a full bathroom is a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower or bathtub (or both). 3. Update the finishes in your kitchen and bathrooms. Updating your kitchen and bathroom space will add value to your home and make it a lot more marketable. While you don’t need to drop serious coin on luxury updates, you could upgrade to middle-of-the-road quality cabinets, countertops, and appliances. Try to go with a classic or transitional versus a trendy look. Not only will updating your kitchen and bathrooms add value to your home but it will attract buyers who are looking for turnkey properties. 4. Maximize outdoor entertaining space. The bottom line is, especially post-pandemic, everyone is looking for a way to enjoy their yard. The best way is to add an outdoor space where you can entertain friends and family with easy access to the kitchen or at the very least a grill. If you don’t already have a poured patio or deck, consider adding one – and bonus points if you go for a maintenance-free material. 5. Add a laundry room (or move one) to the main or second level. The traditional place for the washer/dryer has always been the basement. Over the past 20 -30 years, the washer and dryer have migrated to the main floor. Now the big trend is to get the laundry room as close to the bedrooms as possible. One of my favorite features in new construction is a laundry room that literally connects to the walk-in master bedroom closet. 6. One thing to AVOID – don’t take away storage space. When homeowners renovate, one of the ways they can accidently devalue their home, or at the very least make their home less attractive to potential buyers, is eliminating storage space during the addition of a bedroom or finished basement. You can also maximize existing storage space by adding shelves to a garage or utility room. Bottom line: approach changes to your home with the end in mind. While some of these tips will literally add tens of thousands of dollars of value to your home, the most important thing to recognize is, at some point if you are a homeowner, you will sell your home. In order to attract potential buyers, ensure a quick painless transaction and get the best possible price, you always should be thinking about how you can add value to your property. Comments are closed.
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