What is the best way to add value to our home?

Question

My husband and I bought a two bedroom, one bath Cape Cod home two years ago as our starter home, with the intention of moving on in 3-4 years. We finished our large basement, which I feel has already added significant value to the home. Now we are thinking of selling, and I would like to make one more improvement to the home as a selling point.

Would we be better renovating the kitchen, or turning our large spacious attic into a third bedroom? The kitchen was "enhanced" slightly before we bought our house (vinyl stick down tiles on the floor, old cabinets painted) but I think we could do so much more for the kitchen. I also think we could add some gyp. board walls and laminate wood flooring to the attic and have a very large master suite. Can anyone make a recommendation as to what would be a better room to renovate?

Answer 1

the two most important selling points in the house are kitchen and bathroom but u will also add money by adding a room and en-suite in the attic

Answer 2

Check out categories on this Home Improvement blog and Clean up site for ideas:

http://www.myhomeimprovementtips.com

http://www.cleanupstuff.com/Articles.asp...

(bookmark / subscribe to this blog & free newsletter!)

[no affil] - -found them on searches with home improvement projects and they are always updated with good articles.

Good luck with your project!

Answer 3

I was always told a white kitcchen and a white bathroom sell

Answer 4

Wow factor the kitchen and then board out the attic at a later date.  Kitchens always feel 'harder' when you are buying.  Only do the attic if it really will be a great room.  

You will also get the pleasure of using the kitchen in the meanwhile.

Answer 5

My sister in law is an estate agent and i asked her the same question some time ago, she told me that putting a new kitchen in would not add value to your house it would only enhance the saleability of the property.  As for renovating the attic it would be quite costly to do and again it is not guaranteed to recoup money spent.  The way the housing market is at the moment i strongly suggest you get a couple of estate agents around to value the property in its current condition and ask how much the house would be valued at with the proposed renovations.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Kitchen, but you dont have to completley gut it out to increase the value, you could do the same again, new appliences, l**k of paint and new sticky down tiles! It convinced you enough when you brought it, so it will be ok for the next lot. Definitly not the attic, people tend to enjoy doing loft conversions themselves after they've bought the property, as a kind of project, especially if the rest of the house is perfect, it gives them somethign to do

Answer 7

Whatever you decide...when househunting, shoppers look at the kitcken and bathrooms as the most important thing and most costly to redo...so start there.

Answer 8

My suggestion would be to sell your house as it is. Having spent 14 years  as a selling agent I can tell you that potential buyers are looking for all sorts of different things. No matter what colour or fittings you use in the Kitchen or Bathroom or anywhere else for that matter. Some will like it and some will hate it. Don't forget if you fit out the attic you will need advice on the strength of the roof with reference to supporting the extra loading. The extra cost and trauma of trying to fix things (for someone Else's taste) is not worth it financially or otherwise. I say re-decorate as much as you can afford and make the place as cosy as you can. There is always someone who will have it as it stands. You did. Don't be downhearted if you hear people's likes and dislikes. Lots of them have little intention of buying but will fill your ears with a lot of rubbish. Whatever you do is likely to be undone by the new owners as they will be keen to put their own stamp on things. The other thing is that if you get the attic conversion wrong the buyers surveyor will have a field day in pointing out any deficiencies and will be asking for a reduction in the price

Patience is the best policy

Good luck

Answer 9

The kitchen would be your best bet.When people go "house hunting" the main points are the kitchen and bathroom.If you decide to do the attic chances are you'll lose money.With the attic you will have to add a big bathroom and walk-in closet since those two things really make a master suite.

Answer 10

With out a doubt - create the extra bedroom.   If you can afford it then create a "Master Suite". There is no doubt in my experience that moving a house from two to three bedrooms will add instant value. if you do it in such a way as to create a "Master Suite" this will take it even higher up the three bedroom bracket.

We have done this three times so far, trading up myself each time, our next move will be to trade down and take some retirement "fun money".

Kitchens, bathrooms, grab the attention of potential buyers  (so spruce them up as best you can!) but they don't add the instant multiplied value of an extra bedroom.

Go for it - good luck.

Answer 11

Stage your house. Hang up art like this.

http://www.capecodphotographyart.com/

Answer 12

The  kitchen  would  be  your  best  bet.  When  couples  go  house hunting , the  woman  always  check  out  the  kitchen  first.  They  look  for  updated  aplliances  such  as  dishwahers  and  stoves.  Also  cabinets  should  be  updated.  I  hope  this  was  helpful.

Answer 13

If I was in your shoes, I would renovate the kitchen and I would also try to get planning permission for a loft conversion.

Doing this would allow the next occupants the flexibility to convert the loft, without the hassle of obtaining planning permission.

I also suggest that you hire a gardener, perhaps once every two weeks; more often than not people judge things from their first impression, so give them  good one.

If you do this it should significantly increase the value of your property, and people will be a little more flexible when paying more money.

Answer 14

When we bought our house one of the first things I did was put a new roof on and reshingle. It needed it but i also thought that I'll have a good roof for 40 years. Maybe something to consider.

I would say of the two choices you offered, another bedroom. Kitchens are kind of a personal choice and if I was to walk into a house with a new kitchen that I didn't like it wouldn't help much in the sale. Another thing you might do too is in the sale (but unknown to the buyer as long as you get your price) is to include a 5 or 10 thousand (or how much you would spend on the new project ) amount in a Home Depot or Lowes credit so they can redo something of their choice. Sales are low right now and I think people are really paying attention to getting what they want if they are spending their hard earned dollars...

Answer 15

Are the rest of the rooms in your house ie. lounge, kitchen, bathroom big enough to handle another bedroom. It is all very well adding a bedroom but if the other rooms are small then the whole house will feel cramped.

Also you need to consider the surrounding area. If your house buyer can afford a three bedroom house, is the area one which they might like to live in. Sometimes it's nice to leave something for the new buyers to do. To this end you could always sell with planning permission to convert the attic.



An important thing to consider if you renovate your kitchen is to not make it too personal. By all means put in nice appliances and good quality flooring etc but keep the colours quite neutral and the styling quite popular/amicable.

I hope this helps.