This is from my Arizona Republic column:
Home improvement is usually not a good financial investment. Instead, remodeling will normally have lifestyle value as you use and enjoy your improvements while you live in the home, then pass them along to the next buyer at a discount.
How big a discount? You may get dollar for dollar for tasteful upgrades to kitchens and bathrooms. A well-maintained pool can trade at its replacement value. For everything else, you’ll do very well if you get 50 cents on the dollar.
There are ways to improve these results. The worse shape the house is in, the greater the relative value of intelligent remodeling. If you can upgrade the market value of the property at the same time — for example, adding a master suite to a two-bedroom house — so much the better.
On the other hand, it is possible to spend a lot of money and make the house worth less. I was in a home where the sellers had redone the kitchen with black marble tile, black cabinets, a black porcelain sink and, as the crowning glory, black Corian countertops with bright red accent stripes. They couldn’t understand why they kept getting low-ball offers.
It’s always a treat on listing appointments to listen to sellers explain why their home improvements are worth even more than what they cost. This would be the only used stuff in the world that sells at a premium over new…
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jf.sellsius says:
Remodel for yourself not for your buyer.
September 26, 2006 — 8:15 am