Spring is traditionally a popular time for buying and selling homes.
While there are many renovations that may add value to a home, there are some things that may hurt a home's value.
Jasmine Botto has been a real estate agent on the North Shore for 25 years (she sells as a team with her husband Grant), and says the number one change that makes selling a house challenging is work done without a permit.
"That's the biggest one," says Botto.
She explains that it's a risk for the buyer because the municipality can decide that the work has to be removed, and particularly if it's a structural change that could result in a huge cost for the buyer.
Keeping up with maintenance is a simple way to add value to a home, she notes. Making sure items such as the roof, gutters and drainage are in good condition is important.
Staying neutral is also key to selling a home. Any part of the home that is highly personalized may make it difficult to sell, says Botto. That could include highly personalized colour, fixtures or finish.
Changes that differ from the traditional style or use of part of a home may also be a challenge for homebuyers to overlook. For example, converting a garage to a bedroom may turn off some buyers.
Converting back from a bedroom to a garage would be an added expense for a home buyer.
"A garage is a very valuable and marketable thing to a home. It really adds value," says Botto.
If a property doesn't have a garage, it might be worth considering adding one, she notes.
Another change that might not work would be significantly changing the home to be different from those around it.
"Something that really stands out as markedly different from the surrounding neighbourhood would be a challenge," says Botto.
A significantly different shape or roofline, for example, might make a house stand out.
Sometimes a house that is significantly different in style will also stand out, such as a very modern-style re-build in a neighbourhood of original character homes. If a home doesn't fit the neighbourhood it may be more challenging to sell, says Botto.
"If it really stands out as looking out of place then it will be a challenge price-wise," she notes.
It has also sometimes been said that pools detract from the value of a home, but Botto says that definitely depends on the geographical area. Certainly a home with a pool might be more marketable in warmer climates, such as California. But if it's a good-quality pool that is in good condition, maintenance might not be as bad as some people think, says Botto.
That said, maintenance is something potential homeowners tend to consider when they see a pool, as well as loss of space in the backyard. Botto says she currently has a client who is filling in her pool in preparation for selling her home, but it's not necessarily a choice every homeowner needs to make.
So what can homeowners do that might increase their home's value?"Kitchens definitely sell a home," says Botto, adding kitchens and bathrooms are the areas to put your money into if you're looking to add some value. Adding a home office or converting a space into a home office is another option, and often only requires cosmetic changes to make the conversion.
This story originally appeared in the North Shore News special section called At Home, which highlights home and garden stories.
