Are you content with how your house looks? Are you satisfied with its market price? If you answered “no” to these questions, don’t worry because you’re not alone. According to survey of Americans homeowners, approximately 80 percent of respondents said they were planning on tackling a home improvement project. Meanwhile, 60 percent had already completed major renovations around their home in the past half year.
If you own residential property, you may find it enlightening to know the common reasons for doing major renovations around your property. Planning a big home improvement project can also benefit from identifying the most common types of renovations there are.
Common Reasons for Property Improvement
What are the most common motivations for homeowners to do big projects on their properties? Here are just 4 reasons you may want to bust open your toolkit and call a contractor aside from simply wanting to make their home better.
- Increasing Market Price
If you’re planning on putting your home on the market, renovating it to suit popular trends in the real estate world can help you hitch up the price. For example, if there’s a noticeable lack of storage areas in nearby homes, increasing your house’s closet space and building new storage areas can make your home more appealing to buyers. One danger of renovating for increased market price is the risk of spending too much on the project and not recouping the losses in the sale price. Be wary of expensive and ostentatious home improvement projects and use your best judgement before building them.
- Repairing Property Damage
If your home has recently been gutted by a fire or damaged by a hurricane, you should of course begin rebuilding it as soon as possible. However, rather than just restoring the fire damage to your home, you may wish to improve it as you go along. You may wish to give your kitchen new tiles, put up some new sheetrock after an earthquake or renovate your entire basement after a flood.
- Flipping Property
Some property owners buy up damaged or cheap homes and revitalize them to sell them for a profit. This practice is referred to as flipping a property. Some homes may be below market value because of economic downturns or because they’re old and damaged. This usually requires renovating the entire house and be very costly. Much like increasing the market price, you must be very wary if you want to make a profit when flipping a house. Otherwise, such properties can become an endless money pit rather than a windfall.
Common Types of Home Improvement Projects
Aside from the reasons homeowners may have for undertaking a home renovation, you may find it interesting to note what kind of improvements are most popular. If you’re planning on selling your home or flipping a property, keeping an eye on which areas contractors and property owners pay attention to the most can give you can edge. Here are some of the most popular home improvement projects in the United States.
- Kitchen Remodeling
This can include retiling, installing attachments for heavy equipment like dishwashing units or a new stove range. It may be more construction oriented. For example, you may wish to build a nook where you and your family can enjoy your continental breakfasts. Or it can be purely cosmetic, like a new coat of paint and lighting.
- Bathroom Remodeling
Bathrooms tend to be like bedrooms in that each one reflects the personal tastes of the owner. Therefor, it should come to no surprise that new homeowners may wish to renovate theirs as soon as possible. Bathrooms can also degrade quickly due to the combination of moisture and humidity, necessitating a renovation. Or you could simply be adding new features such as a tankless water heater or a new bathtub.
- Adding a Room
Space is always in high demand, especially near urban centers where they’re at a premium. Boasting a new bedroom or even work room can have a great effect on your property’s market price. Adding a room can be as simple as putting up a partition to divide a larger area or as complex as building it as new addition.
- Enclosing a Porch
Porches are luxury reserved for the country or the suburbs. However, it’s tempting to transform it into a new dining room or studio by simply enclosing the space with some walls. This can add significant square footage to your home and improve its price. However, enclosing a porch depends on the design of the house as some properties look better with an open outdoor deck.
Home renovations are tough, but they don’t have to be if you keep a clear picture of your goal. Understanding why you’re improving your home and keeping track of popular renovations is essential if you want to keep your house in top condition and at peak price.
