Home Seller's Guide to Money Making Fix-ups part 4

Home Seller's Guide to Money Making Fix-ups part 4

Enclosed Decks And Patios

Most outside improvements don’t fare well from a profit standpoint, but here’s a great way to increase the overall square footage of your home and its value. Consider installing a redwood deck or enclosed patio off a living area.  This not only increases the aesthetics of your home, but its usability. Decks and patios can range in cost between $4,000 to over $8,000, and in most cases recoup at least 90% of their cost in extra home value – especially if you’re going to be living in the home for a few years. Adding An Extra Bathroom According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2003 survey, adding an extra bathroom will, in most cases, pay for itself. The average cost of a bathroom addition is about $11,000, which includes all the trimmings – marble vanity top, molded sink, ceramic bathtub and commode, and custom tiled shower.  Here’s another profit-pointer: a second bath to a home will add more value to a home than a third bath. And when adding baths, make sure you use skylights, windows, and other ways to bring in the natural light.

Functional an Structural Improvements Here’s a sad paradox: Many of the improvements that have the most value for you as a homeowner end up being the worst-performers as far as resale value is concerned. And usually those improvements are from a functional or structural standpoint.

For example, adding a new plumbing system, or putting in a new air conditioning system or furnace will definitely make your life in your home more comfortable, but they’ll fail to recoup their costs in added home value – again, unless you live there for some time. Unfortunately, when certain functional items fail, you have no choice but to fix them. This includes water heaters, HVAC units, plumbing, and foundational problems. But be careful where you spend your hard-earned dollars. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”

Thank you for reading this multi-part series and I hope you have found it useful.  The next part of this series will focus on how to find the right person for the job once you have decided to move forward with your project.


Pamela Efferson, REALTOR
ASR, CSR, GRI, HRC, SRES
Member HAR, NAR, TAR, WCR 2009 Featured REALTOR in Real Estate Executive Magazine
2010 Houston Association of Realtors Top Producer
2010 Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Masters Award Winner
2011 FIVE STAR™ Real Estate Agent Texas Monthly Magazine Better Homes & Garden Real Estate Anderson Properties
Phone: (713) 862-0000
Fax: (713) 490-3550
pamela@SellingHomesInHouston.com
Blog: https://blogs.har.com/Efferson
Web: https://www.har.com/Efferson