Let’s be real here, we’ve all seen that one house that has that awful addition that screams the owners just added it on a whim… am I right? No one wants that to happen to them. But how do you prevent becoming the next victim of another bad room add on? You also don’t want to be that couple who thinks they’re going to make their money back tenfold when, frankly, you chose the wrong room to add on. We’ve put together some ideas to help guide you through the process, you know, things to keep in the back of your mind.
Investing
When you are planning on adding on to your home you want to think about how to get the biggest return on your investment. When you’re doing this you want to think long term, not just what you need in that moment…for example, a giant man cave off of your two-bedroom ranch house. Even if you are not selling soon you still want to factor this in. A good way to know whether you’re making a good investment or not is to look at comparables in your own neighborhood, even better if there happens to be an open house down the road. The reason for this is you don’t want to overextend yourself in a neighborhood that only produces a certain price range of homes.
Which room?
Secondly, you want to consider which room is going to help you get your investment back. More than any other room you are likely to see the highest return on adding bathrooms and bedrooms. There is always a need for more bathrooms in a home. Bedrooms are a great investment too, as long as you are not adding on bedroom number four or five in a two-bedroom neighborhood you should be okay. This, again, is a great time to look at the houses in your neighborhood and what they are marketing at.
Transition
Having a seamless transition between your old home and your newly added addition can be hard, but it is possible. An easy way to avoid this is to make sure that your new addition has the same style that your whole house has. You would be silly if you added a new family room with a farmhouse style to a house that is modern everywhere else. Honestly, thinking ahead is the best way to avoid this. So take your time. You’re spending all this money investing in your home, why not do it right?!
