Renovation and upgrades will increase anybody’s Portland area home value, right?

Maybe…but not so fast! Believe it or not, some projects can actually diminish a Portland property’s home values. In other words, you could potentially lose more than the cost of the project: you could lower your home’s ultimate resale value as well!

One of the most common examples is the overly ambitious landscaping project. Who doesn’t love a well-tailored garden or a perfectly maintained backyard? Yet, as HGTV’s Sabrina Soto, host of “The High/Low Project” points out, overdoing it can be counterproductive. To some potential buyers, too much landscaping could equal increased maintenance (meaning more work and expense). When the balance isn’t right, turned-off prospective buyers can bring lower offers. When it comes to landscaping, the idea is to keep up with the Joneses, not outdo them. Another potential trouble spot comes when a remodeling effort goes into converting a spare bedroom. Especially because local property records can record a home’s structural description over the course of the years, a change in the number of bedrooms from four to […]