In the world of home improvements some add value to your home (kitchens and bathrooms), while others may not be such a good idea, at least in the increasing your home’s value department. Here is a list of home improvements you may want to think about before laying out the cash.

Swimming Pools

While some Salt Lake Home buyers like the idea of owning a swimming pool, most of them will steer away from any home with one. They are expensive to build, expensive to maintain and absorb a large chuck of your yard space.

Home Office

Although, an increasing number of people actively want a home office, in should be built with multi- purpose in mind. In order to create an office you have usually have to steal space from somewhere in the house, for example, a spare bedroom or living area. Try and make sure that the area used can be easily converted back to its original use and don’t spend too much on built in furniture and shelves.

Roof Renovations

If your roof needs repair, or even replacing don’t hesitate to have the work done. It will be one less issue you’ll have to deal with when listing your home for sale. But if you think using cedar shakes or clay tiles will add lots of value, you will be very disappointed. Although they have the ability to make your home stand out, they won’t inspire homebuyers to pay more for them or for the home appraiser to add extra when it comes to the home valuation.

Unique Builds

There are lots of ways you can make your home unique, but doing so may limit the number of people who are prepared to buy your home. If buyers don’t like those expensive unique features that you have done, they at best will perceive your modifications has something that will take work (and money) to get rid of and at worst will put them off all together.

Over-the-Top Renovations

Build based on your surrounding market. If you live in an area where the home values average $100,000 don’t be tempted to jam lots of high end finished into your home renovation. While they make your home more attractive, you have to be aware of home values around you, after all that’s what the appraiser is going to use to come up with your home’s value.

The bottom line is that if you are planning on spending a long time in your home, then making the above changes may well be worthwhile (at least from a comfort / beautification point of view), but if you are planning on selling don’t expect to get your money back. Remember when it comes to home appraisal time, at the simplest level the appraiser will calculate the square footage of your home, count the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, pick a level of finish and compare it against similar homes in your neighborhood.

You can find the Home Improvements That May Not Pay Off at my Real Estate Blog.