If you have a medium priced home and are planning on selling it and want to put in some upgrades to better your chances, make sure you are purchasing the right upgrades to get your money back.
Having a swimming pool in your back yard sounds like a luxury that would make your home perfect, but as for resell, it adds no value. Pools are expensive to maintain and can be something that most people don't want to mess with. Plus, if a family has small children, it can actually look life threatening. Only put one in, if you want one, not because you think it will add resell money to the house.
Adding waterfalls or ponds, or high maintenance plants that require care and watering can turn your yard into a tropical retreat, but as far as resell goes, it can mean lots of work for a buyer. Plus, the cost of maintain it or hiring someone to do it can actually decrease the value of your house. Better to go for zeroscaping.
If the houses in your neighborhood are all around $200,000, it doesn't make since to add room after room to your own house. Buyers don't want to pay upper neighborhood prices for a house that is in a medium priced neighborhood. They will just go to the upper neighborhood price area and buy instead. It's okay to add on, but don't count on getting it all back when you sell.
If your home is medium prices, teak wooden floors and granite counter tops are not an upgrade that you should bother with. If you plan to sell in the future, don't spend a lot of money on upgrades, that buyers will appreciate but won't want to put out money for. Do purchase tile, but buy locally and forget about the imported tile from Italy. It may sound good on your real estate house profile, but buyers will not agree with your increased pricing for your house, just because the refrigerator in your home is restaurant size.
Faucets, door handles, hot water tank, a/c units are all extras that can improve the chances of your house being sold, but can be lose you value if you over buy. Buying silver cabinet knobs at $10.00 a pop, will not give you anymore for your house than buying silver tones knobs at $5.00 a package. Buying a large hot water tank that will allow you to wash clothes and take a bath at the same time, is a nice treat, but not something that warrants more money for your house.
Great list. I mistakenly thought that some of these would increase the value of your home. H5
Great list.
High five for the list of upgrades that will not increase your home value.
select one here...