We talk a lot on this blog about remodels that are both fun to do and that add value to your home. Who doesn’t love an updated kitchen, or a luxury, spa-quality master bathroom? However, if you are only remodeling purely for the sake of upping your home’s value– I’ve got some bad news. There are some projects that will just end up costing you in the long run. Dana Dratch at the Bankrate blog gives us a list of the 6 Worst Home Fixes for the Money:
Home Office Remodel: Nationally, homeowners spent an average of $28,888 and can expect to recoup about 45.8 percent at resale, according to the report.
Backup Power Generator: Average amount of the price recovered at resale time: 48.5 percent.
Sunroom Addition: While it seems simple enough, the national average for a sunroom addition is $75,224, according to the report. Homeowners can expect to recoup about 48.6 percent when they sell.
Upscale Master Suite Addition: The average cost is about $232,062, according to the report– Sellers can expect to recover about 52.7 percent at resale.
Bathroom Addition: You get about the same return: 53 cents on the dollar.
Upscale Garage Addition: You can expect to recover about 53.6 percent of that when you sell.
However, none of this means you should abandon your dream sunroom, or give up on having that backup generator you’ve always wanted (just in case!). If you plan on living in your home instead of selling it, you should absolutely invest on remodels that make you happy. Like Dratch says,
Return on investment doesn’t reflect your enjoyment of the space.