GSP Construction

You may want a home office. You may dream of having a basement that serves as an expansive home theater. You may imagine lazy summer afternoons spent by the side of an in-ground swimming pool.

If these are the home renovations you crave, that’s fine. But know one thing: These particular renovations won’t do much to boost your home’s resale value.

Certain renovations make your home more attractive to buyers. These include transforming an outdated kitchen into a spacious modern one, one with the latest high-end appliances, expensive cabinetry and granite countertops. They also include creating a large and airy master bedroom and spacious bathrooms that come with large whirlpool tubs and dual-bowl sinks.

These renovations will pay off when it’s time to sell your home. First, they’ll bring you a greater number of offers. Secondly, they’ll bring you higher offers. Simply put, buyers want modern master bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens, and they’re willing to spend more on homes that have them.

Home offices, swimming pools and basement renovations, though, simply don’t attract the attention of buyers. In fact, some buyers are turned off by these projects. Families with young children, for instance, often won’t buy homes with in-ground swimming pools, which they consider dangerous. Other buyers will turn their noses up at home offices, wishing they were extra bedrooms instead.

And other buyers will never consider a basement, no matter how snazzy it might look, anything other than a basement.

Does this mean that you should not renovate your basement if you dream of a recreation room or additional kids’ playroom down there? Does it mean that you have to give up on your picture-perfect dreams of sunny afternoons in the pool?

Not at all. You just have to accept the fact that whatever money you pour into these projects you do so because you want to enjoy them. Don’t expect them to give you leeway to raise your home’s selling price by $20,000 when you put your residence on the market. They are simply not that kind of improvement.

Buyers who want to renovate with an eye on their future bottom line, though, should stay from offices, pools and basement remodeling jobs. Instead, they should focus on the proven money-makers: bathrooms, kitchens and master bedrooms. These are the renovations that make the most financial sense. And if you happen to enjoy these updates to your home at the same time? That’s all the better.

Each year, the National Association of Realtors publishes its Costs vs. Value Report, which looks at which home renovations typically offer the most payback when homeowners sell their residences. Year after year, one home renovation routinely sits near the top: the bathroom remodel.

Each year, the survey shows that bathroom remodeling projects show some of the highest returns when owners sell their condominiums and single-family homes. And in even better news, homeowners tend to enjoy their bathroom remodeling jobs more than they do other home-renovation projects. Why wouldn’t they? Who wouldn’t want to trade in a small, cramped and dark bathroom for a larger space filled with natural light, a large soaking tub and a separate shower stall?

However, this doesn’t mean that homeowners don’t have to do their research before commissioning a bathroom renovation since the cost of a bathroom remodel can really add up. First, homeowners have to make sure that adding a large master bathroom won’t price their residence out of their neighborhood. Remember, if all the homes in a neighborhood are selling for $200,000, owners aren’t going to persuade buyers to shell out $300,000 just because they added a top-of-the-line master bathroom to their house.

Secondly, homeowners need to make sure that they’ll actually enjoy their renovated bathroom before selling their homes. To guarantee this, owners should make lists of exactly what features they can’t live without. One owner might insist on a whirlpool tub, while another has always wanted heated-tile floors. Maybe dual-bowl vanities are must for one owner, while a separate shower stall is a must-have for another.

Once homeowners complete these lists, they can go out for bid on their project. They may then have to cross some items off their list. A home bathroom renovation project won’t be cheap. There might be some items that simply push homeowners too far over budget. They’ll have to remove these pricier luxuries if push comes to shove.

Finally, finding the right contractor to take on a bathroom renovation is never an easy task. It’s best for homeowners to talk with their neighbors. They may have used contractors who followed through on their promises and showed up when they said they would. If this is the case, consumers should give those home-improvement specialists a call; It’s never easy to find a reliable, hard-working contractor to take on any job.

A renovated bathroom can add significant value to a home. And those homeowners who do the research beforehand can help increase the odds that they’ll end up with a new bathroom that they love.

It seems that the entire country has caught the home-improvement bug. Your neighbors are building decks, refinishing their living room’s hardwood floors and gut-renovating their bathrooms. You’d like to join them. You’d like to take on a project that will boost the value of your home. There’s just one problem: You’re not handy. Not at all. You can’t swing a hammer without either breaking your thumb or putting a hole in your kitchen wall.

Does this mean that you have to sit out the home-improvement boom? Not at all. In fact, you have several options if you’re interested in taking on a home-improvement project that will boost the value of your residence.

First, you can open your bank account and pay a professional to remodel your kitchen, enlarge your master bedroom or create a recreation room in your basement. Yes, this will be expensive, extremely expensive. But if you do your homework and hire the right contractor, you can be assured that your home-improvement project will be done right.

You might even be able to take out a home equity loan to pay for the work. These loans usually come with reasonable interest rates and affordable monthly payments. You just have to make sure that you have enough equity in your home to qualify for a loan, not a sure thing in these days of falling home values.

If you’d rather not pay for a professional, you might be able to tackle minor home-improvement projects with the help of some handy friends or relatives. These amateurs can often turn in good work. And you can assist them by doing some of the grunt work that doesn’t take much skill: Knocking down drywall, lugging loads of garbage to dumpsters or sweeping and mopping. You might even offer to pay these helpers a modest fee, one far lower than professional contractors would charge.

You might even be able to make a swap arrangement to pay for the renovations. Maybe you’re an accountant; if your brother-in-law helps you renovate your first-floor bathroom you can offer to do his taxes free this year. You might be surprised at how much you can offer a weekend warrior to entice him or her to take on some home improvements in your residence.

Finally, if you can only do a little, do it. Maybe for you, a home-improvement project means giving your house a thorough cleaning. This can make a big difference. It might mean painting your master bedroom with a new color or replacing the hardware on your kitchen cabinets. These are jobs that even the least handy homeowner can complete.

Selling a home has become a true challenge in today’s economy. Home sales are still down from their peak levels in 2004 and 2005. Housing sales prices have dropped, too, and also remain far below their peak levels. Today, buyers hold the power in the real estate transaction.

And this is something that isn’t about to change. Economists predict that the housing market will take several years to recover from its long slump. During this time, sellers will need every advantage that they can get to attract the best offers for their residences.

This begs the question: Is it necessary for sellers to renovate and update their home to land a sale in today’s challenging housing market? The answer is a complicated one: Homeowners who are willing to sell their residences for fewer dollars can list their home without updating its kitchen, bathrooms or master bedroom. Those who hope to nab the best offer possible, though, will have to invest some money in updating their home.

That’s not a satisfying answer for most sellers. Unfortunately, it’s the reality of today’s residential real estate market.

Buyers today want updated kitchens, large and modern master bedrooms and bathrooms filled with dual-bowl vanities, soaking or whirlpool tubs and expensive tile floors. When they find these amenities in a home, they’re willing to pay a solid price for them. When they don’t? They’ll either pass on making an offer or make one that’s far below market value.

Homeowners, then, have a choice to make: If they want to sell their homes quickly and for top dollar, they are going to have to invest in making sure that their kitchens, baths and master bedroom are top-of-the-line. This is costly, but it will pay off in shorter market times and in better offers.

Those who are willing to take less for their homes can get away with listing their homes even if they have outdated kitchens or smaller, old-fashioned bathrooms. They can even list their homes if they lack the presence of a master bedroom. There is a benefit here: Homeowners who have paid off their homes, or who have built up a great deal of equity, can still make a solid profit when they sell, even without having to spend big dollars to update their property. It’s all about finding the right buyer. In this case, it would be someone looking for a bargain, even if that bargain will take some handyman work.

Kitchen renovations are never inexpensive affairs. But of all the renovations that homeowners can take on, the National Association of Realtors ranks them as the ones most likely to bring back the greatest returns when owners sell their residences.

But what about that huge upfront cost? Kitchen renovations can cost as much as $50,000 to $70,000, depending on how extensive they are. Even relatively cheap kitchen projects can cost more than $20,000.

Fortunately, there is one relatively easy way for homeowners to save on the expenses associated with remodeling their kitchens: They can cut costs by refinishing their existing cabinets rather than replacing them.

New kitchen cabinets, even those on the lower end, are extremely pricey. They can quickly add a significant amount of dollars to the final tab of a kitchen remodel. Savvy homeowners, though, know that many older cabinets can be re-used with just a bit of elbow grease on their part.

Take a good look at your existing kitchen cabinets. Are they large enough for your needs? Do they provide enough storage space? Are they solidly built? If so, you might be able to re-use them in your newly remodeled kitchen.

Of course, you’ll have to put some work in them. Often, it’s enough to repaint your kitchen cabinets to a lighter or darker color to make them fit in better with the rest of your newly rejuvenated kitchen. But if painting isn’t enough, you can always fit existing cabinets with new doors. This often adds to the visual appeal of cabinets that have lost some of their luster.

If you’re truly on a budget, you can simply replace the hardware on your existing cabinets. This is an inexpensive way to add some flair to otherwise dull kitchen cabinets.

Homebuyers today consider bright, new kitchens, with all the newest appliances, to be a must-have. Homeowners trying to sell their residences without an updated kitchen will have to either offer their home at a lower price or be prepared to handle few offers. Updated kitchens, like large master bathrooms and bedrooms, have become key points for the majority of today’s homebuyers.

To give your home the best chance to sell, or to enjoy it more fully while you’re living in it, a spacious, bright and fully functional kitchen is a must. If you don’t have one, be prepared to spend some big bucks in creating one. Fortunately, if you’re wise, you’ll be able to shave off at least some of those big dollars by reusing the kitchen cabinets you already own.