Resale value can increase due to home improvement projects | Real Estate

When planning to upgrade a home, whether with a large-scale additive project or a simple interior paint job, local real estate experts said that it’s important to consider the importance of what parts of the home need to be improved to increase its resale value.

Andrew Gotlieb, business development director at Keystate Homes in Bedford Heights, said current home additions that tend to deliver the highest return on investment are the addition of a first-floor master bedroom or the addition of a great room.

“If you buy an older home that has a second-floor master, and you add a first-floor master on, that could, as an addition, increase the value of the home,” Gotlieb said. “Especially with the aging population in Cleveland, and the fact that some people want the ability to have that first-floor master so that a relative can live with them.”

However, the addition that will offer the “biggest bang for your buck,” he said, is an expansion of unused space above a garage.

“A no-brainer for adding space is if the garage above is just attic space and there’s no room above your garage,” he said. “Building over that garage is a really good added value because you already have the infrastructure and the foundation. The garage below will support the second floor.”

A common mistake when looking to build an addition is oversizing, according to Gotlieb. Most future buyers won’t be looking at the biggest and most expensive house on the street, so it can sometimes make a home more difficult to eventually sell, he said.

Therefore, if planning to make an expansive addition to a home, Gotlieb said it can be better, at times, to simply start fresh by rebuilding an entire home on its existing lot.

“Sometimes it just makes sense to tear the whole house down instead of building and adding on. When you’re adding old structure with new structure, it has to be underpinned to be tied into the old existing infrastructure,” Gotlieb said. “If you’re going to build twice the square footage, you might as well just build a whole new house to be conforming and unified.”

Another mistake is trying to cut corners to save money on parts of an addition or home improvement project, he said.

“Be aware that if you’re going to cut a corner to save some dollars, you could have issues with parts of the addition or parts of the existing house later on,” Gotlieb said.

An example of this, he added, is people waiting too long to replace the roof on the existing home structure. A leaky roof, he said, can cause mold and lead to bigger issues.

Susie Loparo, a real estate agent at RE/MAX Crossorads in Cleveland Heights, said when potential buyers look at a home, the two “pieces of the puzzle” that they look for are whether or not the home is up to date and if the home in good shape in terms of its inner workings and systems.

“When they do start to take a closer look at the home, they’ll look at how old the roof is – which is often the most expensive thing – and the home’s systems,” Loparo said.

While a larger-scale addition project may be the best way to ensure a home’s resale value increases, it isn’t the only way to upgrade a home for future buyers.

The first thing that a buyer typically notices when looking to purchase a home is the kitchen, flooring and bathrooms, according to Loparo. These are things that are a lot easier to update on their own, she said.

“You have one chance to make a first impression,” Loparo said, and one easy way to upgrade a home in a shorter time frame is to focus on the interior details.

“Paint goes a long way to neutralize a house,” Loparo said. “Choosing a paint color that appeals to the masses goes very far. Cleaning up a house with some paint, luxury vinyl and new carpet makes it visually easier for a buyer to picture themselves in the home.”

“If weather permits, clean up your landscape,” she added. “You can do it yourself if you’re on a budget.”

Not all updates to increase the attractiveness of a home need to be additions, either, Loparo said. Oftentimes, “less is more,” she said, and decluttering or removing outdated or broken fixtures or appliances can make a large difference.