Your home is one of your biggest assets, so retaining its value is very important. With the plethora of renovation advice and products on the market, it can be hard to choose which areas of your home to update. Today, we will review the top five renovations that increase your property value, so you will know where to best spend your renovation budget.
1. Structural and Important Repairs: There is no point in cosmetic renovations if you have a leaking roof, damaged building envelope, cracked foundation or structural damage. Not only will expensive tile, built-ins, etc. be destroyed or removed to address foundational and structural problems, ignoring or covering them up is the fastest way to devalue your home. This is especially critical if you are selling your house. Buyers do not look kindly on sellers that bamboozle them with beautiful décor in an attempt to detract from serious issues.
2. The Kitchen: Is there any place in a home that deserves more functionality and beauty than a kitchen? Long gone are the days when the kitchen was tucked away in the back of the home so guests couldn’t see the preparations and the host couldn’t interact with the guests and family. Today’s kitchen are front and centre, functioning as the place to do homework, the place to reconnect after a busy day, the place of inspired family meals and the place to sneak off to in the late hours of the night for a simmering cup of tea and a few minutes with a novel. This multi-functional room provides one of the best returns on investment for any sort of renovations.
3. Bathrooms: Right up there with the kitchen, bathrooms demand full functionality. These private spaces were once regulated to just making sure a working toilet and tub were present, but these days, many are turning bathrooms and powder rooms into a spa-like experience with bowl sinks, imported tile, rain showers and other elements that used to only be found in resorts. Why? Bathrooms are not large spaces, so it’s much easier to upgrade the finishings and décor while staying on budget; and since the bathroom is one of the few places you can go to truly be alone for a few moments, why not make that escape room beautiful too?
4. Outdoor Living Spaces: The fourth spot on our list goes to those spaces that increase the home’s living and entertaining potential – the outdoors. Decks, sun rooms, patios, verandas: these add incredible value to the home by boosting the curb appeal, and greatly increase the home’s overall footprint of useable, liveable space. Even though most climates only allow for seasonal enjoyment of outdoor living spaces, having beautiful, functional ones is worth the time and effort.
5. The Basement: A finished basement can add a lot of value to your home, but only if it is finished properly. If you are selling the home, don’t put in that wet bar and theatre room. You want to create a finished but blank slate for the new homeowners to envision how they want to use the space. If this is your “forever home,” go nuts (within reason and budget)! Have that epic playroom, video arcade, painting studio, teen hangout, man cave or gym. The value of a basement is that it can be made into what you want it to be.
Your home is one of the foundations of your life. It grounds you and gives you somewhere to belong. It’s the hub of the family and the place where you should always feel safe and relaxed. To create the high-value spaces that you will treasure, contact HomeFix today.
