5 DIY Projects That Can Devalue Your Home

October 19th, 2014  |  Home Insurance

Every homeowner wants to see the value of their home go up. While you can depend on the real estate market and hope your home appreciates over the years, you can also use home improvements and renovations as a means to add more value to your home.

However, you need to be careful with which projects you choose to complete, especially if you are taking DIY approach, or you could actually devalue your home. Here are 5 Home Renovations to Increase the Value of your Home

There is a common misconception that doing a renovation will add value – not necessarily, and this is why you need to stick to renovation and DIY projects that will increase you homes value and help you recoup your investment in the project.

Choosing the right DIY projects is even more important if you plan on selling your home a few years down the road. The last thing you want to do is lessen your homes values over the short term. Check out the Steps to Take Before Making Home Renovations

To prevent this, here are a number of DIY projects that can devalue your home:

1. Low quality upgrades: When it comes time to repair and replace things in your home, avoid low quality upgrades. Low quality fixtures, lighting, plumbing, flooring, and even knobs and door handles can lower the appeal and value of your home.
2. Eliminating a bedroom: One of the biggest mistakes you can make to devalue your home is to get rid of a bedroom. While you can use your bedroom for other purposes, such as an office or study, avoid structurally changing the room.
3. Highly personalized renovations: While there are certain things that you may love, buyers may not. Things like eclectic paint jobs, unique flooring, countertops, and other design pieces could turn off buyers.
4. Too much landscaping: While a nicely landscaped home is an attractive feature, going overboard and having too much landscaping can lower your home’s value. While people may like your home, they can be turned off by excessive landscaping because they know it will take a lot of time, effort and money to maintain it.
5. Low quality renovation work: If you are planning a DIY project, it is very important that you have the skills and abilities to do the job right. Shoddy work that is not completed properly will not only be an eye sore, it will lower you homes value, attract fewer buyers, and you may need to have the work re done by a professional before selling.

Other renovations that can devalue your home include pools, hot tubs, textured walls and surfaces, and wallpaper.

The good news is that if you plan on staying in your home for the long haul, then the renovation projects you choose is less of an issue, even though you still should keep ROI in mind for any project you choose. You never know when your plans could change and you don’t want your latest DIY project to hurt your home’s value and appeal to buyers.

What home features do you think devalue a home the most? What home features do you think is the biggest turn off for potential buyers?