If you're considering selling your home in the future, the main goal should be maximizing your property's value to gain the most profits. While there are many factors affecting the value of a home, its design plays one of the biggest roles.
To help your home from losing value, and to better attract potential buyers, here are five designs to avoid.
Outdated Floor Plan
Many older homes have closed-off floor plans that don't allow natural light to spread more easily. Closed-off floor plans may also make a space look small, cramped, and isolated. As such, it will pay off to consider removing walls or raising the ceilings to create more open spaces. In addition, you could also consider removing popcorn ceilings or stipple ceilings.
Not Enough Bathrooms or Bedrooms
If your target market is large families or people interested in shared living spaces, a home with only one bathroom or a lack of bedrooms would not be their ideal property of choice. One solution is sacrificing space in another area of the house or expanding the overall footprint of the house and adding another bathroom or bedroom.
Having said that, be careful not to take away space from the home's existing bedrooms or bathrooms in the process of adding a new one. Retrofitting a home may end up decreasing your property's value.
Outdated Systems
Older electrical and plumbing systems are not only inefficient, but they can also be potentially dangerous to prospective tenants or buyers. While updating your home's systems can be expensive, they are necessary to ensure the safety and sustainability of your property, which could interest more buyers.
Poor Lighting
Dark or dimly lit rooms can be off-putting for many buyers. As such, we recommend spending an entire afternoon reviewing your lighting to identify the rooms where you might need to replace bulbs or windows to improve the space.
Personal Touches
Modifying a home to fit your unique needs may seem great at first, but it won't necessarily translate to added value when selling your home. Some of these unique touches may include an indoor basketball court, an indoor pool, heated floors, or extensive DIYs.
READ MORE: Michael Jordan's Chicago Mansion Is Unsellable -- Here's Why