Sellers Tip #8 Home Improvements that pay!
Friday, April 18th, 2008Home improvements that pay!
It’s a common misconception that any and all improvements you do to your home are going to increase the value of the home. It’s very possible that the home improvement project you just spent thousands of dollars on will actually decrease the value of you home. An outdoor swimming pool, for example, might be a great investment in Arizona, not such a great idea in Alaska! Over improving your home for your area or neighborhood can also have a negative effect on your home’s value.
Bonus Tips:
While we don’t have any specific data pertaining to Alaska, we can get some general ideas from the 2007 Cost vs. Value report done in cooperation with the REALTOR® Magazine. The market data is taken from the west coast and should provide us with a very accurate picture of which improvements pay and which ones don’t here in Alaska.
Topping the list at 108% cost recouped is a wood deck addition, next in line is a minor kitchen remodel at 103.5% and rounding out the improvements that will make you more money at 102.9%, is replacing your windows with new wood windows.
Improvements that will bring you the least amount of money back are a sunroom addition at 69.4%, a home office remodel at 68.9% and at the bottom of the barrel is adding a backup power generator. I might have to take a little issue with this one as it pertains to our Alaska market where long periods of time without power are not that unusual. Look at it this way, say your power goes out for 3 days when its -30 degrees out in January and you pipes freeze and break, how much is the remodel job going to cost you? A lot more that the money you paid to put in a backup generator!
If you are thinking about doing some home improvement projects this summer, give us a call at Crane & Associates Realty and we will help you decide if your money will be well spent!
