Why Upgrading Might Not Get You More $$$ for your Home

If you plan on renovating your home in anticipation of receiving more money when you sell, you may want to think twice. Most renovations won't actually put more money in your pocket, in fact you might end up losing money especially if you have to use a professional contractor.

If you are planning on doing upgrades to your home for a financial gain consider the Market Value of your area. Market Value is the price an asset would fetch in the marketplace. Decking out your home with upgrade after upgrade may make it superior to the other marketplace homes in the area, but that is not a good thing. Say the homes in an area are selling for $500K and someone wants $700K for their updated home, buyers are going to wonder why and are going to turn down sheerly because the price is so much more than the others.

Visual upgrades are also only worth the personal preference of the person looking at it. One person might love the look of a white Farmhouse sink and see it as a huge bonus and beautiful addition to any home; while others might see it as something that could be easily broken or chipped by their clumsiness or worry about the porcelain staining with their favourite spaghetti sauce.

Upgrading worn or dated things probably won't give you an increase in money but it might make buyers less likely to put in a lower offer thinking about the cost to replace the item. Worn, stained or smelly carpets are a good place to start, as well as broken or damaged items like taps, doors and windows. Although you might not see a complete return on investment you could see a faster selling home, competing offers and a small increase in price. It really depends on the market and your area.

If you are looking to upgrade your home, you may want to take a bit of a house flippers approach to it. Professional house flippers know not to over spend. They look at the neighbourhood they purchased in and do enough fixes that it is equal with other homes in the neighbourhood.

If you are going to Upgrade in hopes of selling for more money, follow these tips:

• Stay away from trendy pieces, these cost more money because they are in style and become outdated quickly (shiplap, anyone?)
• Wait for sales on the items you're looking for or try discount or overstock stores.
• Research your area. Look at homes like yours that are selling near you and don't over do it.
• Ask us for advice on what upgrades would be appropriate and how we feel about the market, we can look at the other homes and see if the upgrades would be worth the time and money.

Do you have any experience in upgrading your home for more money? What worked, or didn't work for you?