You’ve heard of home improvement, but have you ever heard of home disimprovement?

Home disimprovement happens when owners or residents make or allow to happen changes that reduce the value and / or usability of the home. Some examples:

• Remodeling or making other changes to the property such that most future potential owners will not want it (it will be harder to sell and thus it is likely to sell for less).
• Neglecting a home, allowing it’s condition to degrade over time.
• Damage intentionally inflicted, which can happen to vacant homes if squatters move in.

Mistakes Leading to Home Disimprovement

While we have seen some wild choices for remodels, there are a few that we see repeated surprisingly often that many homeowners may not be aware are reducing the value or functionality of their home – and often they’re done purely for the purpose of improving a home to sell!

Mistake # 1 is not checking the space requirements

We see remodeling or appliance replacement, frequently in the kitchen, that backfires a surprising number of times over the course of a year. The ones we see most often are upgrades that cause a dishwasher or other component of the home to not be able to open fully. Many times I’ve seen kitchen cabinets “upgraded” with handles or pulls that weren’t in the original layout lead to disastrous results. That’s the case with this photo – the dishwasher had no trouble clearing the drawers until the handles were added. Now with the cabinet handles, the dishwasher couldn’t even open a foot wide!

Similarly, we have seen an oven replaced that was longer than the one there before, and it, also, prevented the dishwasher from opening. I’ve also seen an oven that could not open because the fridge was too close (the fridge was moved for the home sale), and fridges that couldn’t open fully because they didn’t fit the fridge enclosure. We’ve even seen cabinet doors prevent you from opening other cabinet doors! But it’s not just in the kitchen. We’ve seen homes where they added new plush carpeting, but forgot to plane the doors to fit the new floor height, so you needed to put your back into it to open or close the bedroom doors.

Needless to say, home buyers want to use the appliances and other features of the homes that they see, so before making any changes, it’s essential to check clearances and space requirements before spending money on a new appliance or laboring to install cute hardware and put holes in your cabinetry.

Mistake # 2 is removing or reducing things that most future buyers will want

Everyone wants to put their personal touch on their home, and they should, but sometimes those personal design choices can negatively impact the resale value of a home, even with a high-end remodel. This is true home disimprovement! A few examples of significant features remodeled out of homes that we’ve seen:

1. An oven – it was a very expensive, beautiful, large kitchen with everything except an oven. They didn’t use ovens and didn’t see the point.
2. A front door – it had siding over it from the front. Visitors entering the house had to walk around to the back and enter through the kitchen? I don’t know what they were thinking, but that house got bulldozed by the next owner.
3. A bedroom – sometimes with a lot of bedrooms, homeowners will get rid of one to enlarge the primary bedroom or maybe also the en suite bath. Bedroom count matters, though. See our article: How much is a bedroom worth?
4. A garage – this isn’t too uncommon, but the vast majority of home buyers do want a garage, and sometimes they want 2 or more covered car spaces.
5. A bathroom – we’ve seen ground floor bathrooms converted into wine cellars, or otherwise removed to make way for something else. But we’ve also seen bathrooms where they tried to squeeze too much into a small space, such as removing the sink in a half bath to install a stacking washer and drier, or converting a half bath into a full bath by putting the toilet into a custom shower stall like the image below. Most buyers would prefer a normal configuration, even if it’s less one wine cellar, stacking w/d, or shower stall, and will often remodel it back. (See image below)

Those are just a few examples.

Mistake # 3 – cutting corners or remodeling in a way that no one else will love

Poor remodeling jobs, from cutting corners or possibly thinking a little too far outside of the box, are another form of home disimprovement.

There are several ways to remove a pool, but it can be a serious home disimprovement if not done well, as is the case when the outline of the pool and its coping cannot be missed. In this case, it was also a tripping hazard as the fill had settled leaving more than an inch drop along the edge in some areas. It does cost more to knock down the first couple of feet or so of the pool, and invest in relandscaping, but when it’s finished the backyard can look quite polished with no trace of any former pool.

 

Here’s another example of cutting corners, as it would have cost more to raise the electrical outlet. But hey, that would have been safer around water! Home buyers look at this and see an expensive fix is needed for health and safety reasons.

 

 

KEY POINT: Before embarking on a big remodel, ask your real estate agent or appraiser what she or he thinks of  your ideas and be open to getting talked off of the idea. This could save you a lot of headaches and expense later!  Get feedback who know what values are like and what home buyers want.

 

Mistake # 4 – delayed repairs and neglect

Sadly, we do also see homes riddled with problems due to neglect.

Exterior paint typically needs to be reapplied every 10 years for stucco and every 5 for wood, perhaps more on the south facing side of the home which gets the most heat and UV from sun exposure. If paint is not kept up, water and pests can easily penetrate the exterior of the home and it can get very expensive to remedy. Paint is not that expensive, but time can pass and homeowners may not notice or mind the wear, and don’t always understand why it matters.

We have seen small roof leaks do tremendous harm as interiors become ruined with mold, soggy sheetrock, damaged hardwood floors, and more. And it can all start because nobody cleared the gutters!

Water allowed to pool up at the base of the foundation can cause the rebar to get wet, rust, and then expand causing horizontal cracks in the foundation which are expensive to fix.

Many of the worst results from neglect are related to water. When caring for the home, water is a bigger problem than termites in most cases, and water management will keep the home safer and healthier for all.

Mistake # 5, not protecting vacant homes

Even in the best neighborhoods, empty houses can invite trouble. Sometimes people get the idea that a long vacant home would be a great place to party (that happened to two houses in my neighborhood!). We’ve also encountered longer term, unauthorized residents (aka squatters) in homes that were vacant and unprotected for a long time. And vacant homes can be a target for theft, as well. We’ve heard of burglars stealing refrigerators, televisions, and other appliances out of vacant homes for sale.

If you’re going on vacation and your home is furnished, or you’re vacating to professionally stage your home it’s not so hard to make the home look lived in by adding lights and sound on timers. Set up security cameras (Eufy, Ring, take your pick!). Have a friend park in your driveway and make sure mail isn’t piling up in your absence. Let your neighbors know when you’ll be out and if you’re expecting vendors or showings so they can keep an eye out for you. You can even get electronically controlled blinds or curtains to open and close to provide an ongoing sense of someone being there. You could even hire house sitters, though not if the home is professionally staged.

Harder is the vacant, empty house with nothing inside. These homes can become uninsurable as many policies limit what they’ll cover if it’s completely unoccupied. I would strongly encourage people to not keep their real estate in a completely vacant and empty state because this is what squatters will be attracted to, and if they move in they won’t be earning awards from Good Housekeeping.

A nicely staged home will also help buyers visualize how the space is used, and increases the odds of a good sale. Since around 2019 there has been a massive increase in the number of homes that are put on the market vacant and staged, and many buyers expect it, so if you plan to vacate to sell, do consider going that route.

If there are home disimprovements present, it will be important to factor that in when pricing the home to sell.  Don’t rely on price per square foot or the idea that your home is remodeled, since not everyone likes the same wallpaper or overly vibrant decor.  Better still is avoiding any home disimprovement at all!