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Author Topic: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....  (Read 4590 times)

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aboo

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Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« on: September 26, 2012, 04:43:39 PM »
i noticed that many of us do renovations or updates on our homes.  i'm an update fanatic....but i've learned a thing or two.....just thought i would share with you PH folks.  please share your tips too...

did you know....that you've lowered the value of your home

* when you remove that old tub of yours and turn it into a beautiful walk in shower?
*when you tear down those walls in your basement to make it less cluttered, if they were actual bedrooms?
*tear down that wall upstairs and combine those two smaller bedrooms into a bigger room?

i know someone who did all this....only come to find out she no longer has 5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms according to the real estate world.  she couldn't advertised her house as such, even though the renovations made her home 10x better looking.  she only has a 2 bedroom, 1 full bath, and a .5 bath.  her realtor informed her that because the of renovations done, she just lowered the number of potential buyers because now instead of 5 bedrooms....sh e only has 2.

just thought i share :)




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Offline SummerBerry

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2012, 01:02:30 PM »
From what I've seen  it does bring down the value of the house because the house is build to be the way it is instead if transforming it by tearing walls down, changing the layout, etc.  One reason why I keep my house the way it is and would only in the future if I want to invest or not is just change my floor ceremic tile to hardwood and my kitchen counter top to a higher upgrade but leave everything the way it is.  Even what we did to our backyard by doing concrete work already made me concern if we did it right or went overboard. 

I have a uncle and aunt on my husband side who just bought a house in the same price range as our house but they wasted 20k doing a few works around the house but screwed up the most by blocking or adding stucco to the opening view of their bonus room/loft.  It does not look attractive anymore so it just more like a big bedroom while their master bedroom is not even as big as that bonus room. 



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zena

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2012, 04:23:10 PM »
JustMe2, I saw something similar on HGTV a couple of weeks ago.  I believe a couple was trying to sell their house and couldn't.  The value of their house went down pretty low.  They were able to bring the value up just by cleaning the front yard (trimming the bushes) and organizing some of the messier rooms in the house.  I wasn't able to stay up long enough to see if they were able to sell it.  It was really late at night when I saw this.  Btw, I did not know about the tub but based on what you've said and watching House Hunters, a bathtub is important.

SB, why?



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Offline SummerBerry

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2012, 04:39:03 PM »
JustMe2, I saw something similar on HGTV a couple of weeks ago.  I believe a couple was trying to sell their house and couldn't.  The value of their house went down pretty low.  They were able to bring the value up just by cleaning the front yard (trimming the bushes) and organizing some of the messier rooms in the house.  I wasn't able to stay up long enough to see if they were able to sell it.  It was really late at night when I saw this.  Btw, I did not know about the tub but based on what you've said and watching House Hunters, a bathtub is important.

SB, why?

I watched a lot of HGTV but in my uncle and aunt.......... I don't know why they did it to their bonus/loft room.

In most case from what I've seen it always best to leave the house the way it is but just upgrade to higher taste/style instead of tearing wall down to make a bigger Master bedroom/bedroom.  When you try to sell some people may be impress while other would like it to be the original floor plan because home like that is more suitable for family with kids because those bedroom do matter a lot.  If that house already has bonus/loft, fully basement, etc. there then good otherwise it can destroy and make the value go down because what might be suitable for you is not for others.  You bought the house as it is otherwise why buy it and then later decide that you don't like it and want to make change when you can just save those money for a down payment on a new house unless you plan to live there forever or call it home.

Its reason why sometime you look at the listing of home on the market but when you get there to check it out it is missing or they tell you that one of the bedroom wall is tear down to make it a bigger office or play room for their kids.  I went to one house and this couple only had one child but they tear down the wall from the front bedroom to convert it to make it bigger and that boys got toys just like at Barnes & Nobles where you see nice train tracks/Thomas the train, books, toys, etc.  all lay out like a nice place but then the house is no longer 4 bedroom but 3 bedroom so people will turn away because what they like is not what you like.




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zena

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2012, 05:01:28 PM »
I C. 

I believe the value of a home going down is due to the loss of a room.  It's okay to renovate as long as the numbers of rooms don't change.  That's totally understandable .  When we built our home, we chose to go with 3 bedrooms.  Adding a 4th bedroom would cost us more (but we didn't and don't have a need for it), and adding a game/play area over the 2-story ceiling would also cost.  I believe the value of our house would be higher if we had those extra rooms.



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aboo

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2012, 05:07:22 PM »
Btw, I did not know about the tub but based on what you've said and watching House Hunters, a bathtub is important.

Moon, i only stumbled upon this because i was originally going to gut out my lower full bath and turn it into a suave walk in shower haven.....afte r talking to a few folks, including a real estate agent and contractor - i decided against it.  she explained to me that after my renovations, even though the bathroom is brand new and beautiful - it will no longer be considered a full bath as i took out a TUB.  she further advised that taking out a tub (projected at least 10k) will not bring the value of my home up instead it will lower the value by more than the 10K i spend on it.



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zena

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2012, 07:21:34 PM »
JustMe, I C. Your agent and contractor are good.  Did you finish your reno and buy the agent and contractor a bottle of wine each?



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Jesskuv

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2012, 06:59:17 PM »
I didn't know about the bathtub neither. Thanks for sharing the info.

My thoughts:  people want or like sunlight/view, and when your aunt/uncle closed off the opening, they shut out the sunlight/view which dropped the value of the home.

It's also not good to do too much to your property as well because  the neighborhood is not at the same level.



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aboo

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2012, 11:29:38 AM »
My thoughts:  people want or like sunlight/view, and when your aunt/uncle closed off the opening, they shut out the sunlight/view which dropped the value of the home.

It's also not good to do too much to your property as well because  the neighborhood is not at the same level.

You are very right in your bolded statement there, i agree with you 100%!

btw-they didn't reduce any lighting.  they just combined two smaller room together by kocking out the dividing wall.  so although they gained a bigger room size, they eliminated  an actual conforming bedroom and cannot list their property as such.



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Jesskuv

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2012, 02:35:08 PM »
the reduction of natural light comment was meant for Summerberry's aunt/uncle.  Sorry for not being clear

I also learned that if a room does not have closet, can't list as bedroom which devalues the home also cause ppl like extra bedrooms I guess



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aboo

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2012, 02:39:57 PM »
I also learned that if a room does not have closet, can't list as bedroom which devalues the home also cause ppl like extra bedrooms I guess

oh ic :)  usually if you still want to list that as a bedroom - it's usually stated as a non-conforming bedroom (meaning it doesn't have a closet/window)



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Jesskuv

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2012, 03:41:01 PM »
idk.  My realtor said that if no closet, can't be listed as bedroom cause technically it's not. 



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aboo

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #12 on: October 02, 2012, 04:33:36 PM »
well Jess.... i guess when you look at listings and they list " non-conforming" bedroom, then you'll know right away that it doesn't have a closet or window.  i have that on my property and it's also listed as such on the torrens title system.

but your realtor is correct - you can't list that as part of your bedroom # count when you put it up on the MLS listing.



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Offline SummerBerry

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2012, 06:51:25 PM »
Moon, i only stumbled upon this because i was originally going to gut out my lower full bath and turn it into a suave walk in shower haven.....afte r talking to a few folks, including a real estate agent and contractor - i decided against it.  she explained to me that after my renovations, even though the bathroom is brand new and beautiful - it will no longer be considered a full bath as i took out a TUB.  she further advised that taking out a tub (projected at least 10k) will not bring the value of my home up instead it will lower the value by more than the 10K i spend on it.

Its why Master bedroom always have a tub and walk in shower unit separate or both combine as one.  You're better to stick with having the tub and shower head together vs. just getting a nice walk in shower one.  I have not soak myself in our master bedroom tub yet since we lived in this house.  I used the full bath in the hallway to soak up when I was still pregnant. 



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Lavender

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Re: Lowering the value of your home, without realizing it....
« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2012, 08:59:05 AM »
i noticed that many of us do renovations or updates on our homes.  i'm an update fanatic....but i've learned a thing or two.....just thought i would share with you PH folks.  please share your tips too...

did you know....that you've lowered the value of your home

* when you remove that old tub of yours and turn it into a beautiful walk in shower?
*when you tear down those walls in your basement to make it less cluttered, if they were actual bedrooms?
*tear down that wall upstairs and combine those two smaller bedrooms into a bigger room?

i know someone who did all this....only come to find out she no longer has 5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms according to the real estate world.  she couldn't advertised her house as such, even though the renovations made her home 10x better looking.  she only has a 2 bedroom, 1 full bath, and a .5 bath.  her realtor informed her that because the of renovations done, she just lowered the number of potential buyers because now instead of 5 bedrooms....sh e only has 2.

just thought i share :)


I agree.  The value of the house has to do with the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.  Some beautiful house with less rooms will sale for less.



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