|
Make improvements to your
home to make it competitive.
All other things being
equal a buyer will purchase the home with up-to-date kitchens,
bathrooms, and other upgraded amenities. Remodeling can make your
home more competitive, and the cost of many improvements can be
recovered when your home sells.  Remodeling your home to bring to up to today's
standards will in many cases pay for itself when you put your house on
the market. However, by no means will every project return all or
even part of the money you put into it. In fact an extravagant
improvement can even make your home harder to sell.
In every neighborhood the limits on
what a home can sell for are well defined. If the houses range
from $200,000 to $225,000, no matter how many rooms, baths, hot tubs,
fireplaces, or skylights you add, your top resale price will be close to
$225,000.
To get an idea of which improvements
pay the best returns Money Magazine
consulted a large national real estate appraisal firm.
The appraisal firm evaluated thousands of comparable homes sold over a
three-year period, interviewed dozens of independent appraisers, real
estate agents, builders, architects, and homeowners around the country,
and the consensus of the top ten common home improvements in order of
their return is listed below.
Top 10
Home Improvements
- Remodeled
Kitchen (Average Value: 80-120% of cost)
- Extra
Bathroom (Average Value: 75-100% of cost)
- Fireplace
(Average Value: 70% of cost)
- Deck or Patio
(Average Value: 50-70% of cost)
- Central Air
Conditioning (Average Value: 40-80% of cost)
- Additional
Room (Average Value: 50-70% of cost)
- Basement or
Garage Conversion (Average Value: 30-60% of cost)
- Aluminum
Siding (Average Value: 30-50% of cost)
- Swimming
Pools (Average Value: 20-50% of cost)
- Recreation
Room (Average Value: 30% of cost)
|
