Home renovations to increase the value of your asset
At a time when the property market is booming in the US, it may seem tough to acquire an asset that you can renovate, to improve its value by more than what you spend on the project itself. Actually, some experienced decorators and architects make a good living doing this.
It has to be said that renovating a home to make a personal statement and to increase its valuation at the same time can be a subjective matter: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some interior decorators have the touch as they are able to turn normal properties into pieces of art that command a much higher valuation from buyers. But there are also cases where a layperson spends a small fortune without doing much to the property value.
So what are your options to make a home more valuable and beautiful inside? The following ideas can be great additions inside of a home or villa:
1. Renovating the staircase:
A staircase can make a huge statement about your home. It is sometimes such a focal point, both when positioned in a grand entrance hall – or in the way it connects key areas of the home. This is an untapped opportunity in many home projects because people think it is difficult. Actually: It is not. Even a complete remodel of a staircase or moving it and resizing it is not as hard as the average person may think. You can off course keep the same position and simply give the staircase a facelift. Brands like Stairnation is known for providing a wide variety of staircase accessories like iron & wood balusters, handrails, treads and rosettes: adding some of these accessories can quickly make you feel you’re in a different home than before.
2. Changing baths and sinks:
It is not always a question of modernization, but rather one of breaking away from obvious installations that home developers did cheaply and in bulk. For example, a home can maintain a classic look and feel with the addition of a copper sink and bath, or it can be renovated with modern ceramic baths and sinks. Recently, I have seen some wooden homes that looked pretty standard, but following the addition of a copper sink and bath, it had a rustic but expensive look and feel.
3. Adding a Jacuzzi:
Homebuyers typically buy into a “concept” or a dream. Airbnb rentals with an image of a jacuzzi and a view, are constantly able to pull in more views and bookings – and at a higher price, due to this point of differentiation. So if a home has a sea or mountain view, an internally installed jacuzzi that can take advantage of those views can bring out these any amazing features. It can, of course, be placed discreetly or as part of a bigger entertainment area: there are many ways in which designers and architects play with this.
4. The right combination of marble, wood, and tiles:
Subliminally, people associated certain items with luxury – it is the look and feel. A really good interior designer will know how to blend tiles, marble, and wood in a way to maximize value and keep the cost ratio realistic. For example: when matching affordable tiles with the right marble trimmings, it is possible to use 90% tiles and 10% marble to achieve a feeling of total luxury.
5. The kitchen:
Kitchen functionality and aesthetics is critical and can be a deal-breaker if the house does not have other significant features such as location view and so forth. A kitchen needs to be social, yes, but it also needs to wow even the most sophisticated user with functionality and the feel factor when someone walks in. Farmhouse, modern, bar style or classic? Well, this is a question that depends on so many personal factors and the context of the home.
Most real estate agents will agree that we could have started with the kitchen: It is at the top of their list – so to be on the safe side, do not consider these options in any particular order, but rather align them to your personal taste if you will live in the home for a long time.
What else can be done?
Is that all? No! There is a long list of home improvements that can add value. We have only scraped the surface on interior improvements. There is more inside the home that can add value, and then, of course, the outside is critical: in apartments, people are more limited, but with homes and villas there is mostly more freedom to dream up new models and make it a reality.
Final scoop:
It is true that often when the property market is booming, investors load up on more homes as opposed to overspending on any single home. Getting ideas from the best designers (on Houzz and other resources) – or working with one, can help you identify improvement ideas that are the perfect fit for your home.