Addition - worthy investment? (houses, neighborhood, buyers)

[Escapee]

Just wondering if adding/extending the existing house with a few more rooms would yield bigger return in value when the house is sold?

[BobKovacs]

In most cases, you won't recoup 100% of the cost- especially if you sell soon after the work is done. Now, if the house is functionally obsolete, or if it's a 2 br in a neighborhood of 4 br homes, you may not only recoup your investment, but also get a faster sale.

[tahiti]

to add to Bob's post, you also don't want to "overimprove". if you're in an area of 2 bdrm homes, you don't want to have a 5 bdrm - you'll never recoup your costs. remember, you don't want to have the most expensive house on the block.

we recently added a bedroom. I now have a 5 bedroom house in a development of 4 bedroom houses. However, we don't have the largest house of the block, and some of my neighbors have a downstairs office while I don't. It sort of evens out in the end. While I don't think I'll necessarily get a ton more than my neighbors for having this extra bedroom, I think I'd be able to sell faster.

[judithexit]

you want to have the nicest house not the most expensive house on the block.
why do you want to improve it? Is your house smaller then the rest

[DessertRat]

Originally Posted by tahiti

to add to Bob's post, you also don't want to "overimprove". if you're in an area of 2 bdrm homes, you don't want to have a 5 bdrm - you'll never recoup your costs. remember, you don't want to have the most expensive house on the block.

Well, although as a buyer, I don't look at whether the house is the most expensive on the block and expect them to lower their price if so. I look at how many rooms/the square footage, the lot size, the condition, etc. If it's a bigger house, I'll expect to pay proportionately more for it, whether it's far more expensive than the other houses on the block or not.

Surely not all buyers take my view on that, but some do.

[MoorestownResident]

Originally Posted by Escapee

Just wondering if adding/extending the existing house with a few more rooms would yield bigger return in value when the house is sold?

Most additions return anywhere from 60%-85% of their value in resale. You can research the most profitable and least profitable projects. Adding a master bath is at the top of the list.