Home improvements that usually aren’t worth the investment

When people think of reselling their home, they do whatever they can to increase the value of the property in the eyes of realtors and potential buyers. For some people this might mean a few small upgrades here and there, for others it means major renovations to the effect of building an entirely new home.

Increasing the value of your home is a strategic decision that needs to be based in reality. There are several home improvement projects that seem like winders on paper but are actually just huge pits for you to barrel money into.

Let’s take a look at the biggest home improvement projects that just aren’t worth it.

Pools

Let’s get this one out of way, there’s a lot of misinformation about the value adding effect of pools and its one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to add value to their property. Many people will see a return but it won’t be enough to offset the cost of installing the pool in the first place.

Pools are great for some kinds of buyer and a big concern for others. For example, people with young children will see a pool as a safety hazard; others may see a pool as a big piece of maintenance that they would rather not pay extra for.

In some areas it gets very cold for a great deal of the year, making the pool useless. If you live in a region that only has warm sun for a few weeks a year, there’s no point including a pool.

This explains why the majority of people who add pools for the purpose of resale value end up losing money. This is because they automatically thought a pool would add value without considering other factors.

Room conversions

Turning an entire room into a walk-in closet may sound good to you, but think about what buyers are looking for. Every bedroom is precious and adds significantly to a home’s value, so sacrificing one for the sake of an unnecessary indulgence is far more likely to hurt you re-sale value.

Overly personalised renovations

It goes without saying that creating something personalised to you is harder to resell to someone who isn’t you. Even if you think you’ve created the perfect unicorn themed child’s room, all you have done is limit the potential buyers to those who will tolerate it.

Overcapitalising

Spending too much money on upgrades, even if they’re warranted, can backfire. If your home is a mansion-like anomaly in a middle-income neighbourhood, you’ll turn off every kind of buyer.