I was recently asked to contribute to an article about increasing the value of your home.
The Best Home Extensions Revealed by 40 Real Estate Experts
We reached out to 40 real estate experts, realtors and interior designers and we asked them the following question: What home extensions could result in the biggest uplift in property value? The most popular choices are adding an extra bedroom, building an outdoor kitchen, expanding your current kitchen, converting your garage, building a deck, and others. We believe all of these ideas are great so it’s up to you to decide which one fits the best to your specific needs and budget.
Here’s what I shared!
These days everyone is trying to flip a house like they see on TV, so your typical kitchen and bath remodel is not going to go as far on property value as it once did.
I would say right now the biggest gain in property value a homeowner could achieve would be constructing an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit). This is also called a garage conversion, or mother-in-law unit. In many states the barrier to permitting has been lowered, so building one has become much easier than ever before.
That being said, it’s still a construction project with permits, engineering, utility connections and final sign offs from the city. Most homeowners do not want to deal with these steps, leaving a wide open opportunity for those who are willing to take on the challenge.
Due to the increasing costs of construction, an ADU may not give an exact dollar for dollar value increase, especially since appraisers do not have a lot of comparable ADU sales to work with.
However, it does create a very desirable, fully permitted home addition, which can be used as a rental, home office or guest quarters and add considerable value to the home overall.
Read the full article here for more tips from other experts!