There’s no better feeling than putting your own touches on the house you live in. It truly makes it feel like “home” with all of the personalization and creature comforts that make it warm and inviting for your family to enjoy.

I’ve always loved to see the enjoyment our clients feel when they’ve added a patio or a deck and sometimes even do a full home renovation. It can feel great to come home and have dinner on the patio for a quiet evening enjoying the sounds of the outdoors.

Financially, we get a lot of questions about the economic sense it may make in doing additions or improvements. And those are smart questions.

After all, you don’t want to sink $10,000 into your home if you are only going to get an additional $2,000 in resale value right? Believe me, we’ve seen worse. Not too long ago there was a gentleman that invested over $30,000 into renovations that he wanted to put his own “flair” into the property and make it feel like home for him, but it actually DECREASED the overall value because it didn’t appeal to a maximum number of people.

You’ve heard before that when it comes to colors, you want to keep things as neutral as possible. The same is generally true in quality of flooring, countertops, cabinets, landscaping and more.

It’s fine to paint the dining room a bright red or the kids room a fun pink or baby blue, but just know that you’ll need to paint it again (possibly two or three coats) to neutralize it before you’d ever want to sell it sometime down the road. That’s not to say you shouldn’t personalize your home, but know that the things you put your own touches on may need revamped again in order to appeal to the maximum number of people. This is true even if you think you have incredible, unique style that everyone will love the way you do. Trust me, they won’t!

For the bigger projects that require general contractors, electricians, plumbers, landscapers and more, it’s always wise to check with your real estate advisor before you move forward with the work. I can give you my professional opinion as to what it will do for the value and marketability of the home in the long run. Additionally, an additional set of eyes and ears may allow us to forwardly predict any issues that may come up as a result of the improvements or additions.

Being that your house is many times the largest investment of your life, you don’t want to go making major changes without professional real estate advice. A quick chat on the phone is sometimes all it requires, while other times, we may stop out to take a look and get a better feel for what you have in mind. Of course, we always provide this opinion free of charge as a service for our most trusted clients.

Have you considered some additions or changes? Do you need a professional opinion about it? Would you like us to refer you to some good quality professionals that can do a good job for you? Give me a call and let’s chat! That’s what I’m here for!