The words “home improvement” say it all, but while it’s always a good idea to try to improve your home, there are different ways to go about this. Some types of home improvement will make your life at home better and more comfortable. Others, however, can do this, but also add value to your home and increase the sale price if you ever decide to put it on the market. If you’re thinking of remodeling, here are a few of the areas that can increase your investment potential.

The Basement

If you have an unfinished basement, this is a great opportunity to both increase your home’s value and add a huge amount of extra space to your home. Your basement, after all, acts the home’s foundation, and so occupies the same amount of space as your first floor. A finished basement, with proper flooring, lighting, and walls can be anything from a workshop to a home office, to a home theater space.

However, it’s important to remodel a basement right. Don’t just start adding drywall, first check the integrity of your structure. If you need to repair the foundation, or even waterproof it to prevent leaks, do these fixes first before moving on to the cosmetic fixes. Failing to address the fundamentals can lead to water damage to drywall or even cracks in the wall that make it obvious a home needs a major fix.

The Bathrooms

Bathrooms are another popular choice for remodeling and can add a tremendous amount of extra value to a home in cases where a bathroom may be located on the second floor of a home, but there is none on the first. While full bathrooms complete with showers and bathtubs can be costly changes, a “water closet” style bathroom consisting of only a toilet and sink is significantly less expensive.

Additional bathrooms, however, are always valued by home buyers and raise the desirability of a home. If this is combined with an update to bathroom fixtures, like new sinks, toilets, and shower stalls or tubs, it’s a big plus.

The Kitchen

Probably the smartest investment a homeowner can make is remodeling a kitchen. Out of all the rooms in a home, the kitchen is the area that “dates” the fastest, since there are so many permanent fixtures like counters, appliances, sinks, and cabinets that are obvious indicators of how old a home is.

Upgrading a kitchen can be as simple as swapping out older designs on cabinets and appliances for new ones, or it can be as drastic as changing the space, making it an open concept, tearing down walls, and repositioning the locations of appliances like stoves, sinks, and faucets. Be careful with your planning of a kitchen remodel, as this can easily turn into the most expensive facet of remodeling a home if you don’t exercise restraint!

If you’re ready to make your home feel more truly like your own, or you’d like to increase your property value, we can help. Contact Empire Construction Group, and let us assess your needs and come up with a plan of action that suits your budget.