Home Improvements That Over Do It

by Broderick Perkins DeadlineNews.Com Unfortunately, when it comes to home improvements, there's no quick measure to determine what constitutes over doing it. How much your home improvement gets carried away depends a lot on what job you undertake, what’s happening in your neighborhood and, in the end, what's going on with you. Cost vs. value In terms of your home's resale value, the best home improvements are largely cosmetic -- a new roof, painting, carpeting, minor kitchen and bath re-dos, a kitchen sky light to brighten an other wise bleak room and only those alterations and additions that brings your home in line with the others in the neighborhood. Such improvements increase the value of your home virtually dollar-for-dollar. Otherwise, Remodeling Online's annual Cost vs. Value report indicates kitchen, bath, additions and bedroom remodeling jobs provide the most bang for the buck in terms of value returned to the home. Location, location, location Remember, Remodeling Onlines' national report in 60 cities may not account for peculiarities in your neighborhood. Make your home an over achiever in the upgrade department and it could under perform on the resale market depending on the neighborhood. "That means $10,000 spent on a kitchen remodel in a mobile home next to the railroad tracks in a poorly rated school district will not reap the same return as $10,000 spent on a 6-bedroom, hillside home with a view, in a highly rated school district," said Kit Davey, a Redwood City CA-based interior designer and staging specialist. As important as what you do to a house is how you do it, especially if the work is visible from the curb. Any additions should blend in with the home's existing style and design of the homes in your neighborhood. "Improve beyond the market norm and people just will not pay for it," said San Jose, CA appraiser Greg Stephens, chairman of the Silicon Valley (CA) Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. To learn what's typical in your neighborhood, roll up your sleeves and research. • Keep track of the maximum sale price range for your street and immediate neighborhood. These figures are the spending limit buyers put on your area. If they want to spend more, they will go elsewhere. • Monitor the range of selling prices in your local newspaper. See how long unimproved homes stay on the market compared to improved homes. Get the advice of an experienced real estate agent who knows the neighborhood. • "Visit open houses in your neighborhood, keep an eye on the sale price of homes that sell and try to determine why homes sell for more or less than each other in the same neighborhood. Is it the recently remodeled kitchen done in neutral finishes, is it the landscaped back yard, is it the added-on master bath?" Davey said. Once your research is complete, follow these guidelines. • In the best market, where there's room for appreciation, improvements are generally wise if they don't push your home's value beyond 20 to 25 percent above the current value of like homes in the community. • In a tired market where's there's less wiggle room, avoid pushing the remodeled value beyond existing values. • In any market, if your neighborhood's homes have mixed values, keep your improved home's value just below the top value. The high end homes will help buoy your home's value while offsetting pressure from low end homes to sink it. You are what you improve Whether or not you over improve is also relative. If remodeling is a lifestyle choice rather than an investment decision, you can stretch. "If you have no intention of moving, then over improve to your heart's delight. If it puts a smile on your face, if it makes you happy, then it's not money it's quality of life, said Cincinnatti-based Tim Carter, CEO of Ask the Builder. Copyright © 2005 DeadlineNews.Com -- Broderick Perkins, is executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, an editorial content and consulting firm. Perkins has been a consumer and real estate journalist for more than 25 years.