Are you looking to put in some DIY time to increase your home’s value? You might want to think twice before you get started. Investing your time and money into your home won’t always mean a return on your investment. In fact, not only will some projects not result in a decent return on your investment, but they might decrease your property value.

Here are 10 DIY home projects that might not be worth your while.

1. Water Features

Your new pool or in-built might dazzle your friends and family, but buyers will only see costs.

Water features mean upkeep, which any potential buyer will subtract from their overall budget.

2. Home Office

A home office might be great for your needs but is a sure-fire way to decrease resale value [1]. On the other hand, of course, an office might be essential to you in a world where many now work from home.

The trick is to not go overboard with your refurbishing so that you or a new owner can easily change the office back into a bedroom. You’ll not only save yourself some money, but you’ll broaden your home’s appeal.

3. Garage renovation

While you might prefer a game room or gym to a garage, buyers are unlikely to share your enthusiasm.

Garages left as they are add a lot to a house value [2], as families are always in need of storage and parking space. As such, it’s always best to leave them be and let new buyers decide what they want to do with the area instead.

4. Removing a bath

Prefer a shower over a bath? Most families are unlikely to agree with you. If you’ve got two bathtubs, then you can probably get away with removing one [3], but otherwise, you should probably leave the bath where it is.

5. Luxury Landscaping

Everyone loves an attractive garden full of flowers and vegetables, right? Well, not necessarily.

While you might have a green thumb for garden work, all your buyers see is upkeep. As a result, it’s best to keep things simple when it comes to the garden if you’re looking to sell.

6. Carpets

Placing new carpet throughout your house might seem like a sound idea at first. But, unfortunately, you’d be wrong.

While a carpet isn’t going to decimate your house value by any means, you’d be much better off going with hardwood for most of your rooms. You’ll likely see a 10% increase in your house value by making this one switch [4].

7. Bold Colors

You might see your walls as a canvas to express your personality. But, boring as it may seem, you should opt to keep to neutral and light colours when it comes to increasing your homes’ resell value.

As country living [4] points out, colours such as citrus green and black, though daring, are likely to decrease your home’s value.

8. Converting a Bedroom into Something Else

Just because you think it is essential for people to have a small office room for most people the number of bedrooms is way more important and if you don’t count a room as one of those said bedrooms you could be knocking off thousands of pounds off your property value. But oddly the reverse of this can be an issue as well…

9. Converting 1 Bedroom into 2

If you have a big family and convert a small bedroom into 2 with a divider wall you might be hiding the true size and potential of that room which can also be an issue. Even if you want to call it a 5 bedroom when it is really a 4 people could even see it as a 3 because they can’t see the true size of the room. In a house buying study in 2019 15% of people said they were put off by houses converting rooms into half rooms.

10. Extensions Without Planning Permission

It doesn’t matter how small, or how big the extension is, without the proper planning permissions and proper building regulations being followed it is nothing more than a blot on your home’s true value. People will research all of them, especially local estate agents who are more cut-throat than ever these days. So make sure you have dotted the eyes and crossed the T’s on anything you have added or extended to your home.

[1] https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/home-office-remodel
[2] https://www.handymanjoes.com/garage-decrease-value-home/
[3] https://www.highcraft.net/master-bathroom-remodel-tub-shower-resale/
[4] https://www.homelight.com/blog/what-flooring-increases-home-value/