Home Improvements Part 3: Personalization
by Michelle Carr-Crowe, Silicon Valley Top 5% Residential Real Estate Agent
When it comes to upgrades and features, Buyers and Sellers see the same items quite differently.
In my prior columns on home improvement, I've touched on maintenance and upgrades and this one is on personalizations.
When it comes to home values, comparables and owner changes, there is often a big disconnect between the seller's and buyer's opinions of value for the same features.
How can either buyers or sellers know if an item qualifies as an Upgrade that translates into a higher market price?
There are two categories of upgrades - upgrades as compared to the original quality level of the home and neighborhood, and upgrades to modern tastes. There is also the fine line between customization and personalization.
For example, well-made and installed outdoor kitchens often cost $5,000 and up, especially if plumbed for gas. In Silicon Valley cities such as Saratoga, Cupertino, San Jose and Palo Alto, they are seen as a custom upgrade. Seen in high-end magazines such as Sunset, Better Homes and Garden and Architectural Digest, it offers a certain value and cachet above the traditional barbeque.
However that same outdoor kitchen may be seen as fun or a novelty, in other words, a personalization, in areas of heavy rain, wind and snow, such as Chicago or rural Vermont. Although charming, the buyer may enjoy and use it, but are not willing to pay more money for it as compared to other homes.
A custom mural painted on the wall is considered a negative-unless perhaps it was done by a well-known artist such as Vincent Van Gogh.
While building a lighted, heated dog house big enough for you to sleep in may be a conversation-starter, again, it's unlikely a new buyer will pay more money for that feature.
Not sure if it's personal? Here are some examples: most sponge-painted walls (too 1990's), a uniquely-colored appliance (think fire engine red or retro aqua), or moving the refrigerator from the kitchen to the family room to make the beer more easily accessible.
Still not sure? If a feature is so unique that people say, "It's so YOU," it's probably personalization. That means unless you find another buyer who is so much like you that they will have the exact same values and tastes, the money you invested into it added to your enjoyment of the home, but not to the market value of the home.
Regardless of how much an item cost, the only part that matters is how much a qualified, motivated buyer is willing to pay for it in today's market.
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