Not every home project you’ve done helps you sell the home.
The money we put into the home is the cost of the upgrades. But that doesn’t always translate to value for the buyers.
Example: You may love your custom purple and magenta wallpaper put in by professionals for $10,000, but James, a buyer moving from California may not pay $10,000 extra for this house, will probably just see it as something he has to remove and repaint over.
Here are some examples of “upgrades” that don’t always increase the value of your home
This skateboarder themed room may have been expensive to put in. But that doesn’t mean someone will pay extra for it. It’s likely going to be seen as a cost to most buyers.
Same for this red and pink wall.
And this purple fireplace.
These look like custom cabinets and tile counter tops. It was probably expensive to put in, but probably wouldn’t be viewed as upgrades to most buyers nowadays.
Also, tile counters are no longer considered an “upgrade.” They were all the rage in the late 90’s, but most people are looking for granite/corian/quartz counter tops now.
This style of tile flooring was also considered an upgrade at one time. Not anymore~
Although built-in office desks are useful to the person who used it as an office, most home buyers who are looking for a “3 bedroom” really want to be able to use all the rooms as bedrooms. Sometimes they need extra rooms and may put an office in there. But most likely, they have their own office desk and don’t want to pay extra to get rid of an existing one.
Here’s another office desk. It looks nice, but usually doesn’t increase value.
Having shelving in the bedrooms is useful too. But most wall shelving is built to the needs of the person who put them in. These are usually not considered upgrades as well.
The general principle is, if they’re not wanted by most buyers and they’re hard to remove or replace, they just look like another hassle and extra expense to undo.
I hope you got some value out of this article! I don’t like to be a party pooper. But I don’t want people having false expectations assuming that every dollar put into their home translates to a higher selling price.