Think Before You Remodel—Tips to Consider Before Changing Your Home

Our market tends to be very competitive. Home owners should remember that when you sell, buyers will be looking at numerous houses. Make yours stand out with a smart, long-lasting remodel, rather than a trendy or too-personal renovation.
1. Always update first. You don’t have to live in a mansion to make your home more desirable on the real estate market. If your home is smaller or older and you’re thinking about a renovation, choose a project that helps update it. For example, replace carpet with new wood flooring, or dated appliances, opting for modern, stainless steel. If your home feels cramped or dark in any areas, consider remodeling to open rooms or add windows. New, energy efficient windows or water-saving systems, are always a great addition. They save you money now, and are a desirable feature to any future buyer.
2. The kitchen is key. One of the most important rooms in a home is the kitchen. It is no longer just the place where meals are made. The kitchen is the hub of the home, and often the room that most strongly attracts or repels potential buyers. The kitchen is the first room that should be considered for a remodel. Guests often congregate at an island or a counter while the hosts cooks the meal. So an open, inviting space is important. As mentioned above, modern appliances, fresh flooring and plenty of light are important elements of a well-used and attractive kitchen.
3. Is the remodel too personal? Are you an avid reader who wants to add wall-to-wall built-in shelves to an extra room to create your own library? Is your garage an ode to the hardware store, complete with benches, cabinets permanent workspaces? While it might seem great to completely customize certain parts of your home, if you plan to sell in the future, think twice. While you may think the library is a good idea, the next homeowner might not agree, wishing they had that empty room for another use. When it comes to anything permanent, keep it simple. Add your own personal flair with removable items, such as bookshelves that can moved to your next home.
4. Don’t overdo the Master Suite. Everyone deserves a place to escape, relax and unwind. But when you start to go over the costs of creating your own slice of heaven, you might find it hard to do any of the above. A luxurious, remodeled master suite might seem like a great selling point (and it probably is), but don’t count on recovering the invested sums from your home’s buyer. According to an article published last month in the Seattle Times, a top-of-the-line master suite addition that adds square footage and uses top-dollar materials can cost upwards of $200,000. For this amount, sellers can only expect to recover about 52.7 percent of the invested sum at resale, resulting in a hefty hit to the wallet.
5. The office is now anywhere. If you’ve walked into a busy coffee shop on any given weekday, chances are you’ve seen the forest of laptops accompanying the double lattes. Working from home no longer means that you actually have to be at home. With smart phones and laptops, professionals can work from virtually anywhere, meaning that a home office is less necessary. According to the Seattle Times article, home office renovations recouped the lowest percentage rate of invested money at resale. Nationally, home office renovations cost an average of $28,888, and only recouped 45.8 percent. If you do need a home office, again, keep things simple. Don’t make any permanent structural changes to the room. This allows the next owner flexibility to use it as they see fit.

Even if you aren’t planning on selling for a long time, it is always smart to think ahead and make choices that will have a positive impact should you decide to move in the future. When considering a remodel, Realtors like myself are willing to provide information and suggestions to help you make the good choices.

- Ken Urman, Ewing and Clark East, Mercer Island