15/10/2024

JBC Design

Comfort At Home

Inexpensive Improvements to Garages Offer Return on Investment

If you are considering selling your home, you are likely thinking about what improvements will increase the home’s value. Upgrading your kitchen to granite countertops and matching stainless appliances are both good investments. Bringing your bathrooms up to date can also increase the house’s selling price. These projects offer a large return on investment but can be expensive up front. If you are on a limited budget for improvements, consider investing in your carport. Garages are a major selling point for buyers and even modest improvements can boost your property’s value.

Garages increase your home’s appraisal by virtue of their existence. These structures count towards your house’s overall square footage. Any square footage translates into added value for your appraisal. Additionally, your property’s appraisal will take into account the other houses in your neighborhood. If a carport is the norm in your neighborhood, you should have one, too. To a professional appraiser, lacking a feature the other homes have means your house has less to offer. This can result in a reduction of value. In this situation, keeping up with the Joneses can actually pay off.

Fortunately, repairs and renovations to garages are relatively inexpensive and offer a large return on investment. In fact, real estate professionals suggest even small changes can make a difference in your home’s value. For example, you can recoup nearly 75 percent of the cost of new doors. Putting up shelving on the walls for more storage will also make the space more attractive. Realtors advise against putting up drywall or cabinets, as these improvements do not offer a return on investment.

Garages can also be a turnoff to a potential buyer. Organization experts say that homeowners parking their cars on the driveway or on the street rather than inside the carport are signaling to prospective buyers that the garage is being used to store things. This suggests that the home is short on storage. Rent a storage facility off-site if you need a place to keep things during your move. Some realtors even suggest parking your cars elsewhere while showing the house so that the carport looks bigger. In this case, you should clean any spills or stains off of the floor.

Additionally, the condition of the carport matters to buyers. If you have a freestanding structure that has fallen into disrepair, realtors advise that you put some money into fixing it. Tearing down the structure means that you have no garage to advertise. Alternatively, you could leave the structure standing so that the new owners can possibly avoid obtaining permits to build a replacement. However, this option will reduce the selling price of your home. If you put a little money into bringing the structure up to par, you can list the property as having a carport and will likely recoup your costs.

Deciding which improvement projects to undertake to prepare your home for sale is an important consideration. Garages have become even more of a selling point, so it is important to make yours useful and practical. If you are on a tight budget, updating your garage is a great way to get a return on your investment.