Renovations are an exciting way to improve your home and spice up the design, however it’s important to keep in mind that not all changes are good, in fact some have the potential to reduce the value of your house.
So what devalues a house? We’ve put together a list to help you avoid renovations that can harm your home’s value.
Renovations that could decrease a property’s value
1. Making it too personal
2. Loud colours
3. A home office conversion
4. Too much wallpaper
5. Expensive bathroom upgrade
1. Making it too personal
Photo credit: Zastolskiy Victor / Shutterstock
While the home itself is a very personal possession, when selling it’s best to try and keep the main features as neutral as possible. Making it too personal could lead to you investing a lot of money and getting little in return as a potential buyer might not have the same taste as you.
Your idea of a dream home could be someone else’s biggest nightmare. For example, if a property whose owner was very much into shabby chic designs, where pink is a dominate colour and lots of kitsch furniture is used, this could give someone who enjoys a more minimalistic style a migraine. Therefore, if you want to sell your house fast, it’s best not to make it too personal.
A simpler approach could give a potential buyer the freedom of imagining how the house would look if they would own it. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your home a personal touch at all, just try not to go overboard.
2. Loud colour
Image credit: Africa Studio / Shutterstock
Continuing from the first point, if you are looking to sell your property, walls in neutral colours are going to bring more value to your property. If the buyer lacks a bit of vision, he or she will find it hard to imagine owning the house if the design and colours are too much out of his or her comfort zone. Not only this, but neutral, lighter colours are likely to make your room look bigger and brighter than using rich, darker colours.
We’re not saying don’t have your walls any other colour than white or cream, but if you are thinking of selling it will be worth painting them in neutral colours before having potential customers coming over to view the place.
3. A home office conversion
Image credit: jovana veljkovic / Shutterstock
Nowadays more and more people have the opportunity to work from home, therefore it makes sense for them to convert the spare bedroom into an office. However, this can cost you a lot of money if you want to sell your property as most people are looking for an extra bedroom more than anything else.
If you must do the conversion, it would be best to stick to simple furniture that could be easily replaced so the room could be turned back into a bedroom.
4. Too much wallpaper
Image credit: Photographee.eu / Shutterstock
While some wallpaper can give personality to a room and increase its aesthetic appeal, you might want to rethink putting it up, as it can significantly lower the value of your home. Some view wallpapers as outdated and the fact they are so hard to remove could put off potential DIY-shy buyers.
You can achieve interesting and beautiful designs with paint, which you could easily then cover up if you are looking to sell your property and want to make it more neutral for the buyer.
5. Expensive bathroom upgrades
Image credit: John Wollwerth / Shutterstock
While everybody would love a nice and modern bathroom, this is not the selling point of your house. So, if you decide to spend a lot of money updating it, don’t be surprised if you don’t get a great return on investment. Indeed, a conservatory would add more value to your property as many buyers would prefer the budget to be spent on an extension such as a conservatory, rather than a bathroom upgrade.
So, we would advise that you keep your bathroom modern and lovely without spending a massive budget on it.
Feature image credit: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock
