Home Value

Avoid these renovations that can hurt your home’s value

What seems like an upgrade to you now may turn potential future buyers off.

People purchase and move into new homes for many reasons. It’s one thing if the idea is to stay in a house for the rest of your life, but if you think – or know – you’re going to move at some point in the future, it’s another case completely. This could happen if you accept another job in another city where you don’t intend on staying, or if you plan to have a family and will eventually outgrow your starter house.

While it’s important to make yourself at home and comfortable sometimes certain changes can make your house less valuable when you try to sell it in the future. Here are a few renovations that could end up hurting the value of your home.

Removing closets to make a room bigger

Although there is probably a good reason why you want to knock out a closet to make a space bigger, a future buyer might not see it the same way. Having built-in storage like closets is important for most people, but having a slightly bigger office or bedroom may not be.

Combining smaller bedrooms into a larger one

Having a big primary bedroom may be nice, but cutting down the number of bedrooms in a house could mean that potential buyers may not even consider scheduling a showing. Each bedroom can add around 15% to the value of a home.

Difficult to replace personalized decor

You may love the look of a non-traditional tile pattern or textured ceiling, but again, someone considering buying your home may not. In fact, some experts argue that even choosing bright, bold paint colors for walls isn’t a great idea. Although you can paint over it before putting your home on the market, it could take more time and effort to make the walls neutral again.