4 Pricey Remodels to Avoid and An Alternative

Sometimes our homes need to be upgraded to fit our changing expectations of where we live. There’s always great ways to decorate your home to fit your style, but if you’ve saved the money and are ready to spend on larger renovations there a few a things to consider. If you eventually want to sell your home, whether it be right after your upgrades or in 10 years, here are four renovations to avoid, not only for the price but also for purchase appeal.

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Personalized Details

Since your home is a reflection of you and where you spend most of your time, it may be tempting to make large investments in designs that suit your personal style. However, something that you may consider vital may be useless to others and will cause these potential homebuyers to skip right over your home. Luxury rooms such as converting an empty room to a wine cellar or art studio may not necessarily be desired by the next owner. If you plan on converting a room into something personal, try to make it all removable. That way it can go with you to your next home!

Alternative: If you want to spend a lot of money on a room conversion, perhaps you should finish your basement to make it a living space. This will stand out as functional to the future homeowner and can be decorated to however anyone pleases. It costs about $46,000 to convert a basement, and you can recoup this price 64% when you sell.

High-End Kitchen Redo

Over renovating the heart of the home is a common mistake. Although it’s great to have nice, new appliances, not every home buyer will appreciate the newest technology as it may be overwhelming and not their personal style. Innovative prices are always being updated, so it may only be appealing for a short time as well. Instead, focus on the cabinets, refinishing to make them look new, or adding a new peel and stick backsplash, or new paint. It’s always a good idea to stay on the safer, neutral side in the kitchen and stick to a mid-range price range that homebuyers can feel comfortable with and either see potential in or move in and use.

Alternative: The average kitchen remodel costs $149,079. Save money by updating small things to make your old kitchen seem fresh. An average mid-range kitchen remodel costs $75,571 with a 57.4% return on investment.

Waterfall Counters

A specific kitchen update that will double your price is the waterfall counter top trend. The price per square foot can range between $40 and $100, with about $100 per square feet to install. It may be comparable to other square footage prices for other counter tops, but the upkeep is where the price surpasses tremendously, a cost that future residents will have to carry. About $2,000 in fabrication and up to $1,200 in resealing.

Alternative: Finished cabinet panels are a more flexible option that look just as great, especially when they extend the depth of the overlay. This look also fits more with traditional kitchens rather than fitting into the new trendier style that the rest of the kitchen may not be adopting.

Home Gyms

At the beginning of the pandemic, everyone was scrambling to create or upgrade their home gyms. Not only does this require an empty room or space to designate a the home gym, but it also is costly to get all individual equipment, especially some of the more specific gym-grade machines. This frenzy is starting to calm down, as gyms are opening back up and people are more comfortable with attending them. If you prefer home workouts, there are a few individual supplies that you can invest in and take with you during a move that won’t take as much space. Perhaps a cardio machine like a Peloton, a variety of dumbbells, and other small random things such as mats, bands, and jump rope.

Alternative: The average home gym cost is $2,000. For just $400 more you can get an insulation upgrade and recoup 83% of the price.

Wondering what some good remodel ideas are on the cheaper side? Check this out.

Want to sell your newly remodeled home?