Homeowners Biggest Mistakes: Don't OVER UPGRADE for your neighborhood!

I am starting a series of Homeowners Biggest Mistakes that I will be blogging about. Today I wanted to start with a very common mistake I see in the marketplace. You may be considering making upgrades to your home, and before you do so, I urge you to read my blog. 

You may think:

"THESE GRANITE COUNTERTOPS WILL SET MY HOUSE APART AND ADD SO MUCH VALUE TO MY HOME WHEN I GO TO SELL IT! THEY ARE THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING!" 

In some cases you would be right, but if you live in a neighborhood with a median home price of $100,000 and no other house in your neighborhood has granite counter tops , you are OVER UPGRADING. 

A great rule of thumb is : do at least half of the homes in your neighborhood have granite countertops (or other high end feature you are looking to add)?

If they do not, you are typically overupgrading. Your home will only appraise for what the comps appraise for around it. Yes, it is true some appraisers add value for things like granite countertops , but the majority go strictly by the comparable homes around you and if no other homes in the neighborhood have granite, chances are they will not add value to your appraisal price. 

So while a feature like GRANITE COUNTERTOPS or a JACUZZI TUB in a starter home will definitely add to the saleability of your home, as far as getting your money out of the upgrade you may be disappointed. 

It goes both ways, however. If you are in a higher end home and you do not have the features all the other homes have such as granite countertops you will be HURT big time in resale value and dinged on the appraisal amount. 

It's a tricky balance, but it all comes down to the key point:

"Don't over upgrade, Don't under upgrade. Stay in the middle of the pack!" 

Through my years in Real Estate I have noticed that the majority of appraisers begin to affect the value of the home (negatively and positively) for features such as granite countertops if 50+% of the neighborhood has them. Otherwise, the value stays unaffected. 

If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the Middle Tennessee area, please contact me ! I'd love to talk to you or answer any questions you may have. 

You can check out:

My website here: www.buyfrombianca.com 

My facebook page here: www.facebook.com/biancatinsleyrealestateagent

My client reviews here: www.zillow.com/biancatinsley