Think Twice About Improvements

A woman once called me out of the blue to ask if putting in a new pool would increase her new home's resale value. I told her, quite frankly, that she should only get the pool for her family to enjoy but not if she planned on selling the house within a couple of years. I explained to her that the pool, which she said would cost about 40k, might add only 10k in value, so it wasn't the best investment.

Every time I preview homes, I see one or two that I have to put in my "What were they thinking list?" A poorly built (and unpermitted) deck off a master bedroom that had an unfinished and rotting plywood floor; a former closet turned toilet connecting a game room addition to a kitchen; a massive 2-story house where the laundry room had been made into a full bath (without a bedroom) while the washer and dryer were banished to the garage (they'll need to shower after hauling the laundry all that way from the upstairs bedrooms and then running the dryer on 100+ degree days).

An article in Money Magazine examines the pool question and other expensive renovations that don't always pay off when selling down the road. To read the article, click on the link below:
4 Risky Renovations