Stupid Upgrades

Author:	Lucas Jones
Source:	Homes Discovered
Date:	August 31, 2006

Many home owners in and around the Hawaii and Kailua areas often think that all upgrades and/or renovations to a home are beneficial to the value of the property.  This is not always true.  There are some renovations or upgrades that can actually take away from the value of a home.  This is especially the case in a buyers market, which is currently the case around Mililani, because sellers don't want to scare off ANY potential buyer.  There are an infinite number of possibilities that could turn away a potential buyer and cost you as the seller money but I will try to touch on the most important ones. In certain areas that tend to get extremely hot, like Florida and Arizona, swimming pools have become a necessity.  In other areas they can be a burden.  Out west, on average, adding a swimming pool adds 11% to the value of the home.  This is not so much the case back east and in the midwest.  In many areas a swimming pool is more of an economic burden rather than a luxury.  The maintinance and upkeep of a pool can be costly and for those living where nice weather is short, it can scare off a buyer.  Not only does the cost of maintaining a pool keep people in the midwest and back east away, but the constant maintinance of keeping it clean is a task many would rather do without.  Could you imagine cleaning the leaves out of a pool in Massachusetts in autumn?  Badly placed additions are harmful to a homes value these days too. Buyers are getting everything they want these days.  There are so many homes for sale they can be choosy.  If you put an addition on the home that doesn't look right from the street, some buyers will just pass your listing up and move to the next.  Many homeowners only focus on how the addition looks and feels from the inside but forget that a poorly designed addition can kill the look of the house from outside. You never want any of the finishing touches of a home to be a trendy style.  Something traditional and moderate will always work better.  If the trend goes out of style, then you have a dated piece of real estate that can turn away buyers fast.  If the finishes are modest, clean, and tasteful you will not offend anyone and they can use their imagination to decide how they would want the look of the home to be. Elaborate landscaping can be breathtaking and make the appearance of the home much improved to a potential buyer.  But after the initial view of the home is tucked away into memory, they will realize what a pain it could be to maintain.  Elaborate landscaping would require lots of maintinance for a homeowner and often people don't want to deal with that.  Also, people like to landscape their property their way.  This means they would have to rip out all the old landscaping and then re-do it.  People don't want that kind of work when they buy a new home so avoid it.  Opt for a cleanly cut and modest lawn.

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