If your goal is to boost the selling price of your home, these home improvement project
won’t move the needle. Here are the projects to skip.
By Terri Williams
August 13, 2021
Unless your home is brand new—and you had it built to specs—you can probably
think of several ways you’d like to upgrade it. Renovation projects can make your
home more functional, comfortable, and attractive. And all of these factors are
important if you ever decide to sell the property.
However, not every renovation project is worth your time or money, and when you
decide to sell your home, you may be disappointed to learn you won’t recoup the
money you spent. Go ahead and craft the home of your dreams with whatever
projects you like, but if your goal is to boost the selling price of your home, these
improvements aren’t the answer.
Extensive Landscaping
Landscaping can definitely improve your home’s curb appeal, but if you get carried
away, you’ll end up wasting your money. “Spending $15,000 on exotic plants, flowers,
and trees won’t add any more value to your house than cleaning around the house
and adding sod to create a well-maintained lawn that looks lush and fabulous,” says
Ula Zucker Williams, a real estate advisor at Compass in Boca Raton, Fla.
Ditto for a waterfall that cascades down into the pool—and that’s because
landscaping choices are a personal preference. “A buyer may care and give the
exotic landscaping value, but the appraiser doesn’t care if your palms are exotic or
not,” she explains.
Her view is shared by Christopher Totaro, an agent at Warburg Realty in New York
City. “Once you go beyond manicuring the yard and adding a few splashes of color,
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you are spending the extra money for your own enjoyment, so don’t plan on making
a profit.” If your lawn is brown, by all means, he says laying sod can improve curb
appeal and help the home to sell faster. “But going much beyond that will be a waste
of funds,” Totaro warns.
Lighting Bling
Buyers love light-filled homes (natural light in particular), but they’re not going to
pay for your expensive lighting upgrades. “Beautiful chandeliers will make people say
‘oooh . . . ahhh,’ but no need to spend tons of money on expensive lighting fixtures
that will not add value to your home,” Williams says.
“State-of-the-art lighting fixtures and fancy chandeliers can be replaced with
inexpensive lighting from places like Home Depot and Lowes—just make sure there
are lights!”
The Latest Electronics
Similar to lighting, installing the latest electronics is another upgrade that doesn’t
pay off. “No matter how new it is, within a year or two, there’s a better, newer
version of what you installed, rendering your upgrade obsolete,” warns June
Gottlieb, a broker at Warburg Realty in New York City. “Remember when everyone
installed the latest phone system, burying their wires behind baseboards? Today no
one even has landlines.”
And she says it’s the same with AV equipment. “TV features and capabilities change
every other year, as do audio components, and while the latest electronics are
enjoyable, I don’t believe this kind of upgrade will pay off when the homeowner
becomes a seller.
A Wine Cellar
If you’re a wine connoisseur, you might find value in a wine cellar. Here’s the
problem: “Many people drink wine, and many do not,” Williams explains. And a wine
cellar is only valuable to a wine-enthusiast. In fact, Williams says she recently visited
a house in which the space underneath the staircase was converted into a wine
cellar. Big mistake. “It was originally a storage space, and most people would rather
it remain as such, since a wine cellar’s only value is the wine inside of it.”
A Chef’s Kitchen
To be clear, if your kitchen is out-of-date, upgrades can add value to your home.
“But if you spend $50,000 on marble countertops and state-of-the-art appliances, it
won’t increase your home’s value by $50,000,” Williams warns. She advises against
going overboard with the most expensive finishes and appliances.
In fact, Bonnie Lindenbaum, an agent at Warburg Realty in New York City, is hesitant
to recommend remodeling kitchens (and bathrooms) at all. “I usually suggest they
sell the home ‘as is’ and include the cost they might incur in the negotiations,” she
says. “This allows the buyer to renovate to their liking, the seller to put it on the
market quicker, and both parties walk away happier.”
Extravagant Upgrades
Any type of opulent or lavish upgrade should be avoided, according to Nicole M.
Christopherson, a broker at NMC Realty in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. “Unique or
ornate light fixtures, fancy hardware on doors or furniture, specialty tile, or water
features like lawn fountains may seem like a great way to spruce up a room or entire
house, but can often have the opposite effect,” she explains. “Adding these upgrades
to an otherwise untouched room could actually decrease their value and make the
room feel awkward and mismatched.” She’s in favor of switching out outdated
fixtures for something more modern, but recommends moderate, universal options.
Vivian Yoon, co-founder and realtor at Highland Premiere Real Estate in Los
Angeles, agrees. “Gold-plated bathtubs, toilets, porcelain tiles, or beyond-expensive
faucets cater to a very specific audience,” she says. “Gilded ornate furnishings and
insanely expensive wallpaper will not attract most mainstream buyers—and your
goal is to appeal to as many buyers as possible.”
Yoon recommends simplifying your style to make your house appealing to the
mainstream buyer. “If your style is too specific, attracting the general consumer will
be more difficult, because they won’t be able to imagine how they would furnish and
decorate your home.”
Wall-to-Wall Carpeting
Who doesn’t love walking on soft, plush carpet? More people than you might think.
“Homeowners might be inclined to put in all-new carpet, as it’s a comfortable and
affordable option to revamp home flooring,” Christopherson says. However, she
warns that too much of it throughout a home can actually date it. “Sellers should
reserve the new carpet flooring for bedrooms and keep something like wood floors
for the higher traffic areas, something the new buyer would generally appreciate,”
she advises.
Maintenance Projects
Maintenance is a necessary part of home ownership that you can’t avoid. However,
don’t expect buyers to pay you back for preserving your own home. “You may need
to upgrade your roof, the outside of your home, septic systems, or appliances—and
this will not increase the value of the home, but rather keep it at the usual comp,”
explains agent Mihal Gartenberg of Warburg Realty in New York City. However, if
you don’t perform routine maintenance, it can come back to haunt you. “Failing to
maintain your home, especially if broken items come up during the inspection, can
cause the closing to be delayed, the buyers to walk away, or the price to be
renegotiated.”
The problem, according to Williams, is that some homeowners see updated
plumbing and electrical as home improvement, but she says it’s really maintenance.
“Someone may pay more for it because they see the value of having these updates;
however, spending $60,000 on updating plumbing and electrical will not bring you
back $60,000,” she explains.
If you are looking at selling and want to know what improvements you might want to do, give me a call.
Mary Cockburn/505-639-2090
