3 Renovations That Cost More Than They Are Worth
Some of the following renovations may add joy and/or personal value to your life, however they may not bring the return on investment that you hope for. Proceed with caution.
REMOVING BEDROOMS
Removing a bedroom to enlarge another one or to enlarge a bathroom can sometimes be a good idea and is sometimes exactly what a home needs; especially if you plan on living in this home for a long time and that is what fits your needs. However, the more bedrooms a house has, usually the more value that adds. Even if they are small bedrooms, you wouldn’t want to take a bedroom away especially if all the best comps nearest you have the same amount of bedrooms. (You especially would not want to get rid of a bedroom if you would be going from 3 bedrooms to 2.) If you are planning to list and move soon, I would skip this renovation.
REMOVING CLOSETS
You may think removing a closet may give you more space in a hall or in a bedroom and that everyone would appreciate you taking it out, but unless it’s an extremely awkwardly placed closet that makings the floor plan completely wacky, and it’s unnecessary because you have ample storage all throughout the home, then I would think again before removing it. Most people tend to like the maximum amount of storage they can get in a home. Removing a closet can be a little costly and you are, more often than not, not going to see a return on the money you spent to remove it.
OVER-IMPROVING THE KITCHEN
The kitchen is definitely the number one place you will see a return on investment if you update and renovate wisely. The mistake some people make when remodeling the kitchen is going way overboard. They completely change the kitchen layout or they buy the most expensive top of the line appliances in a neighborhood with more average kitchens. You don’t need the most expensive top of the line materials if your neighborhood has middle of the line kitchens. Paint goes a long way. So does swapping cabinet hardware, light fixtures, and updating the faucet and maybe the sink. If you are concerned with the value your kitchen is adding versus the cost, plan to remodel your kitchen slightly above what the average kitchen is in your neighborhood. Otherwise, do what you want and don’t worry about it.
