Reno decisions with an eye toward resale?

[Anonymous]

How many of your remodeling decisions are driven by the potential resale value?

We bought a house that works fine for our needs, but it has the unfortunate feature of one bedroom only being accessible by walking through another bedroom. It does work for us, but I think the value of the house would be higher if we rework the floorplan and give the bedroom a separate entrance. We are about to embark on a major remodel and I wonder if we should tackle the reworking of the floorplan. Overall, reworking the floorplan would not add enough value for our family to justify the extra expense, but it would pay for the remodeling cost (and some) when we sell it down the road.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you should do it then. That’s a major drawback for most long term buyers bc it can only be used as a nursery or a home office or walk-in closet.

[Anonymous]

Most renovations done by homeowners are a losing investment. In fact it is so bad, that contractors talk about ROI when in fact they mean the recuperation percentage.

Converting a room that you need to pass through another room to get to into a bedroom with a private entrance is the type of home improvement that can have a positive ROI. If all you needed to do was close up a doorway and cut a new one, it is a no brainier. Reworking the floor plan to create the entrance means it probably will not have a positive ROI.