Real Estate FAQs

Answers to your frequently asked questions

• When buying a new home, what upgrades should we consider? What holds the most value? Do we upgrade the lot? Do we increase the square footage? add an extra bedroom?, etc.

  A lot depends on why you are buying the house. Are you buying it mostly as a home or mostly as an investment? There is a difference, as residents don't generally require the latest and greatest upgrades,updates, and appliances; where those items are certainly more important to the marketplace when you eventually sell. For the most part, upgrades are high-profit items for builders when you're buying into a new build neighborhood. They aren't specifically designed to enhance the value of the house per se, but make you happier and more comfortable with the house that you do buy.

  If you are looking at your home as an investment, then you buy from the smaller to medium sized homes within the neighborhood and spend only a minimal amount on upgrades. Certainly anything that would enhance the "Wear & Tear" aspect of the home, for instance more resilient flooring like Tile, LVP or LVT that stand up to the elements and to higher and harder traffic patterns would be a good example. If you're looking at your purchase as a home, then you should select upgrades that will enhance your quality of living. Upgrades on an investment property will help in marketing the property to attract residents sooner, and likely assist in their lease retention and renewals; but may not necessarily result in a significant increase in its rental rate. When it comes time to sell the updated property, it will likely market and show better than its peers that don't feature the same updates, and should command a pricing premium in the marketplace against its "Time Capsule" counterparts.