When people renovate their homes, they often look at the home's resale value too. Generally, several renovation projects can hurt your home's resale value, as listed below. If you’re looking to put your house on the market later down the line, you may want to avoid these to snag higher prices and quicker sales.
However, if a particular renovation makes you happy and you’d personally enjoy the upgrade, don’t hesitate to have it done. After all, it’s your home, and you’re free to make any changes that make it more comfortable and enjoyable for you daily. You can ask advice from one of our Gurus and book our Structural Changes service.
Home's Resale Value: Swimming Pools
Swimming pools increase the value of your home by a minute 7%. They are also incredibly expensive to install and insure, making it difficult to recoup the cost.
Simultaneously, many families aren’t looking for a swimming pool. They may want more usable yard space or may not be fond of swimming. Pools also limit potential buyers to a narrower range, as they pose safety hazards to families with younger children. Moreover, pools have considerably high maintenance costs, deterring potential buyers.
However, you can consider incorporating a swimming pool if you live in a high-end neighbourhood and/or hot climate where a pool is useful for most of the year.
Particular Customisations
Credit: The Crawford Partnership
You may enjoy quirky customisations for your home, but they may not align with your potential buyers’ tastes. For example, an in-house theatre will be ideal for a movie buff, while a built-in aquarium will be a marine life lover’s dream feature, but they may be off-putting to buyers who have no interest in these and would prefer having usable space instead. The maintenance expenses and costs of replacement also deter buyers.
The same goes for statement tiling, textured ceilings, and high-end electronics (that can quickly become outdated). In a nutshell, too much personalisation negatively affects the resale value of homes — including bright paint colours. More on that below.
Bright Paint Colours
Bright colours are a very personal style choice — and using them for the walls may hurt your home’s resale value. This is because the walls make up a major portion of the interior’s colour palette, and choosing colours that most people won’t resonate with can push away buyers.
Neutral paint colours, on the other hand, allow buyers to envision the house as a blank canvas they can design the way they wish. If you do choose to use bold colours, repainting the space before putting it on the market would be an easy fix.
Too Much Carpeting
As much as you want to cosy up your home with wall-to-wall carpeting, it’s not your best bet when it comes to resale value. Carpets can quickly wear and show signs of damage, and their colours and textures are highly subjective to personal taste.
In contrast, hardwood floors can yield approximately 75% return on investment — buyers truly love them! If you’re going through the trouble of replacing the flooring, you may want to opt for a hard surface.
Luxury Kitchens and Bathrooms
Kitchens and bathrooms are very popular in home improvement projects. However, going overboard and incorporating too much luxury may not give much return on investment.
Only focus on the aspects that are the most outdated or worn, and opt for mid-range appliances and items as opposed to high-end ones. Also try to refrain from splurging on luxury lighting fixtures. As tempting as those beautiful ideas in the remodelling magazines may look, don’t let them push you out of your budget — and consequently struggle with recouping the investment.
In fact, one of the key steps to a successful kitchen renovation is ensuring you don’t surpass the budget after being carried away with adding too much luxury.
Combining Rooms to Form a Bigger Space
Credit: Decorilla
Combining two small bedrooms may sound like a reasonable renovation for couples without children or small families. But that doesn’t appeal to potential buyers! The number of bedrooms adds more value to the home than the size of the rooms, as most families want their children to have their own space and don’t mind the size.
Instead of breaking down walls, consider using interior design tips and tricks to make a small space look big.
Final Words
While certain home renovations seem appealing, they may not be the best investment to make if you aim for quicker sales and higher resale prices. You can always consider more temporary alternatives, though. For example, a portable swimming pool instead of a built-in one, or a standard fish tank instead of a fancy aquarium. You can carry these into your new home — or your new homeowners can easily remove them without affecting your home’s resale value.
Need help with your home project? Book our Structural Changes service. Transforming your home into a space you love shouldn't be a daunting task. With HiiGuru you can save time, avoid costly mistakes and bring your goals to life with experts by your side.
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