2 Heads Are Better Than One!
When making improvements to a home for increased value and marketability there are a lot of options. One of the most challenging aspects of a home improvement project is knowing where to spend your money. Just because you spend $10K on a deck or $40K on a pool doesn't mean you will see the money translate to an equal increase in the home's market value. Many projects add very little to the actual market value of a home, yet others may add 2 or 3 times their cost in value. Knowing these key places to add value is useful to those thinking of selling their home soon or others rehabbing a house for profit. For many people, a home is their single largest asset and just knowing you're efficiently spending money relative to value on that asset is important. Through years of experience in real estate sales and investing I have come to realize which improvements may offer the best return on your investment.
It's difficult to make hard and fast rules when it comes to what improvements offer the biggest bang for the buck since all homes, neighborhoods, markets and situations are unique. A few of the major areas of focus should be curb appeal, updated mechanicals, kitchens, baths and updated fixtures. For the remainder of this post I am going to focus on the one project that in my opinion may far surpass all others in return on investment.
By the title you may know where I am going with this, but just imagine a family, couple, or home with any more than one person living in it, using one bathroom. Now imagine how much nicer things would be if there was a second bathroom, more specifically a second toilet. Over many years as a real estate sales agent I have come to realize many buyers will not consider a home with one bathroom. So while adding that second bath or even half bath will directly increase market value, more importantly in many cases, it will make the home more sale-able. The home will now be appealing to many buyers that would have never considered it if there was only one bathroom.
I recently had two projects where I ran into this situation. Both were four bedroom homes, but each had unique challenges. The first was a cape cod style house with 2 bedrooms and 1 full bathroom on the first floor and 2 ample sized bedrooms on the second floor. My problem was finding a way to squeeze a bath on the second floor without sacrificing too much space from one of the bedrooms. The sloping roof lines of the second floor made this a bit difficult. My solution was to compromise and settle for a half bath. I was able to save space and still get the toilet and sink in.
The second project is an older 2 1/2 story home I am currently working on. Due to the age of the home, it had an original laundry hook up in the unfinished basement with a very low ceiling. In this situation I felt it was not only important to add the second bathroom but also move the laundry out the basement. Unfortunately the only place that I could fit them was in an existing small rear addition on a concrete slab. Removing the old concrete and running new plumbing in this area would be more difficult and expensive, but I am confident the improvements will pay off. On this project I am also doing many other improvements such as remodeling the existing full bathroom, completely gutting and reworking the kitchen, putting on a new roof, adding all new flooring and more. Even though the additional bathroom may be one of the most expensive improvements in this project, I feel it may be th e most beneficial.
You can follow the progress of this and our other projects at
