What’s up? Hey, let’s get going. Today, we’re talking about the five best upgrades of the four worst upgrades financially that you can put in your new construction home. And it starts right now. I’m Jonathan, and this is my lovely wife, Rachel, and we are local real estate brokers here in Hampton Roads. And today we’re talking about one of our very favorite subjects because we’ve done this a few times and it’s building a new home. New construction is what we’re talking about.
Upgrades to Get
So quick caveat this video is strictly about what makes sense in terms of an ROI or return on investment for your upgrade budget. So we’re giving you our recommendations on what we believe will add value once you place it in the home. This is it to say there aren’t certain upgrades that you might, should do, but they are going to be a little more frivolous. So there is room for that based on what you want in your home and what your family values as a as a lifestyle. So for now, we’re talking about just ROI. So Rachel, where should we start?
1: The Kitchen
Well, the kitchen, of course. Yep, the kitchen is the focal point of your home and it needs to be a functional showpiece. It’s one of the rooms that you’re going to spend the most time in, and if you ever decide to sell, it’s going to be the first place that a potential buyer is going to look at and to determine if they like the home or if they love the home. The difference between like and love comes with increased demand and by default, increased value.
The kitchen is almost one of the rooms where upgrades are almost limitless. Spend a lot of money in there, and getting creative can really make a big impact. You don’t want to upgrade every single little aspect of your kitchen right away, but definitely consider upgrading details like taller cabinets, raised panel cabinets, a kitchen island with maybe a different countertop than the rest of the countertops under mount lighting under your cabinets and consider decorative tray ceiling above your island. That’s a really cool thing that we did in our last house. Maybe you’ll want to go for that gourmet kitchen you’ve always sweated in HGTV and get fancy restaurant grade hood.
These are things that are difficult and more costly to add later in the process, so we always recommend people to consider doing these kind of things upfront. It’s a great place to invest your upgrade budget, for sure. Absolutely. I totally agree. Yeah.
2: Lighting
Number two, I think would be lighting and we mean this both in terms of lighting fixtures like your lighting package as well as natural light. So starting on the natural light front, be sure that your plan has lots of glass doors and windows in the larger rooms. Don’t let there be any like long stretches of walls or large rooms that don’t have windows because you don’t want to feel like you’re living in the Batcave. This is actually one of the mistakes that we made at our last home.
There just wasn’t enough natural light. We didn’t. We simply didn’t have enough windows in our house plan and we didn’t notice it till it was too late. So be sure that you have a lot of natural light. The second thing is, when it comes to lighting packages, you’re going to have probably options to add more lights, better lights and prettier lights. I recommend you do all three as long as it’s in your budget, because it’s really, really hard to have too much light and everybody loves a well lit home. Make your money count by focusing on rooms where lighting is most necessary, which is the kitchen, the bathrooms and your main hosting areas.
Lighting not only adds brightness to a space, but it also adds warmth as well, and it makes it just feel a little more homey. So while an abundance of lighting may not be super notable to a potential home buyer, the lack of light most certainly is notable, and it’s much easier to run the wiring while you’re building the home than to go back behind and fish wires behind drywall. It’s messy, it’s more expensive. You have to get electricians to come out and use fancy tools, so just do it upfront. Think through your lighting plan. Plan it out, invest smartly and get the lighting package and even the lighting fixtures that you want.
A lot of times builders will let you cherry pick a lighting fixture from Amazon or from Lowe’s. So if you have certain special feature rooms that you want to buy your own lighting fixtures for, like this girl, that’s usually an option as well. So just think it through and make a good plan.
3: Energy Efficiency
And number three is energy efficiency. Energy savings are upgrades where the gift just keeps on giving. Exactly! If you’re provided with this option, invest in things like energy efficient windows, probably an upgrade energy star rated appliances, your HVAC system as well, maybe upgrade your insulation.
Those things will really help your home be more efficient and will save you money on your utilities month to month for the whole time that you’re owning that home and your home will do more work for you. Naturally, staying cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, and as a bonus, you’ll be doing right by the environment, which we’re all trying to do these days. It’s always a big win right.
4: Storage
Number four is storage, and perhaps this is this is sort of my thing, but maybe a bigger garage alright, listen, and working with like hundreds of new construction clients, we’ve never had someone stop us and be like, Boy, I really hate how big my garage is. Or I really hate how much storage I have, and this never happens. The opposite complaint is always true. We hear people all the time. Gosh, I wish we had more storage or gosh, I wish the attic had more storage space. Or Gosh, I wish we had a bigger garage, so definitely something to think about. It pays off in droves. Matter of fact, any time you can put plywood in a storage attic or a storage space, it’s so cheap in comparison to the functionality you get back out of it.
So this was also a mistake we made in our first house was not having enough storage. So now as far as the garage, that’s it can be a little bit of a different subject because that is a bigger upgrade. And it can get complicated because the plan itself has to have the capacity for a larger garage or you have to have the ability to redraw the garage and then you’ve got to think about what’s above the garage.
It might affect the second story as well if it’s a two storey home. However, if it is doable and you have the budget, I say go for it. Garages can be expanded, both in terms of width to accommodate more vehicles, which is handy or depth to fit things like lawnmowers and rakes and bikes. Exercise equipment. We have a home gym in our part of our garage, so it’s an upgrade that’s both guaranteed to be functional and it’s very sound. And as an investment, every guy that walks into a big garage almost without hedge appreciates it and would pay more for the same house if one has a bigger garage. So something to think about. If you can go bigger with the garage, go big or go home. Totally.
5: Carpet
Number five and this is assuming that you’re getting some carpet. We only opted for carbon a couple of bedrooms, but we did opt for carpet, so this one would be carpet padding. It’s a really cheap upgrade. It can make you feel like you’re walking on clouds rather than like a padded sheet of wood. So upgraded padding is just worth it. It’s only a few hundred bucks if you’re doing a couple of bedrooms, so it can get tough if you have pets.
So if you’re worried about pets or kids spilling things and making it stinky, then you might want to think twice about a hard surface. But other than that, an upgraded carpet pet, even if you don’t upgrade the carpet itself is a very worthwhile investment, both in terms of functionality, and it just feels better if you sell a house a couple of years from now. The carpet probably could easily be replaced and you keep the pad. So now let’s transition to the things that you want to avoid in terms of ROI. So here are the four upgrades that you’re going to want to think twice about in terms of your return on investment.
Upgrades to Avoid
So Rachel what do you want to start with number one, and this is debatable, but I’m going to say it’s real hardwood floors. I know what you might be thinking. No way you’re crazy, Rachel. So I’m aware this may not be a popular opinion of ours, but stick with me here for just a minute.
1: Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors are extremely expensive and post-COVID. They’ve gotten even more expensive. They’re very much prone to scratches and even water damage, and they’re very labor intensive to install. We put beautiful pecan hardwood floors in our old home, which tested very high on the wood density scale, but still single handedly our children destroyed them over the five years we lived there in the dog and the dog. Yes. So now of course, you can resurface them, but basically you have to move out of your home to do so.
So something to think about. You can keep essentially the same look for a little bit less money by going with a nice engineered wood product or a luxury vinyl plank in the wet areas. It’s significantly more affordable and also a lot more scratch proof and water resistant. This means that your floors have a significantly longer lifespan for less money more for less. All without having to sacrifice the look of what you’re going for in your space. So if you just absolutely want hardwood floors, or should I say soft wood floors by all means, go for it. Don’t let us stop you, but I’m encouraging you to consider that it might not be ideal investment down the road.
2: Bedroom Space
Yeah, totally agree. Number two, we feel strongly about this one, especially from experience. Be sure that you know exactly how you want your primary bedroom suite to layout and what you want in it. And be sure your plan doesn’t have wasted space.
It’s become extremely en vogue to have huge primary suites and bump outs and sitting areas and a TV area and just generally huge dimensions, which is totally fine if that’s how you plan to use it, and that’s what you want.
But even just a small bump out will usually cost you upwards of $10,000 and a lot more if it’s a large bump out. So be sure that you’re adding space, how you want it and where you want it. And here’s the actual advice of our to boil it down. Make sure your bedroom is an oversize and your closet is undersized. We see a lot of people making this mistake, and it bites you in the rear twice because number one, you have to live in a house where your primary closet is just too small and it’s filled with your wife’s shoes and she takes up 80% of it. And then when you go to sell it, you’re actually going to have to overcome that as an objection because it’s going to be painfully obvious when people walk through your home that your closet is too small because it’s overflowing.
So just be sure that you know how you want that space to lay out and don’t waste your money on this huge room in this small closet. It just doesn’t fit functionally and doesn’t fit with the amount of clothes that you have in your closet.
3: Marble Countertops
So number three, marble countertops. This has also become a trend as of late for some time now, but actually a pretty poor investment in terms of dollars and cents. And I’ll tell you why it’s tell us, Rachel. It’s incredibly porous, meaning it ships easily and it stains easily also. So in a space like your kitchen, where spills are super common not just with kids but adults too, it can be more of a headache than it’s worth. So if you really love that, look, guys go with quartz. It’s the same look, and it’s a super hard surface. It’s manmade. It’s a little bit more expensive, but it’s nearly indestructible. Yeah, it’s a good tip.
4: Crown Molding
Number four is crown molding. Again, remember, this is just strictly return on investment. It’s a really cool look, but it may not yield you the dollars that you spend on it. We did it in a few of our rooms because we wanted to have a showpiece in certain areas. But generally speaking, neither buyers nor appraisers are going to give you value for upgraded trim.
And relatively speaking, it’s an expensive upgrade. Wood, in general is super expensive, and it takes specialized like trim carpenters that are good and worth their salt are actually expensive as well. So if you’re looking to get the most value out of your upgrade budget, you’re going to want to think twice and maybe even pushed aside the crown molding thing or kick it down the road. That’s always easy to do later, especially if you have a friend that’s in the carpentry or family member. It’s not super sophisticated, but it’s something to think about. Just know that you’re paying because you want it. It’s a luxury. It’s not a necessity. So. So overall, don’t be too practical about the situation. God knows Rachel wasn’t. We have a 40,000 dollar porch, for goodness sake, so it’s totally fine to spend money, invest money on things that don’t necessarily matter in terms of upgrades or return on investment.
This is your home. It’s where are you going to live? It needs to be reflective of what you want in the way that your family lives. So kudos to the porch. But because we love it. We do love it. Absolutely. We spent how many fires out there in the last few weeks every night. That’s beautiful. one last bit of advice. Just this is a practical thing. Don’t go to a builder’s showroom by yourself. We recommend you get some representation.
Bonus: DON’T GO INTO A SHOWROOM ALONE!
If you’re truly thinking about building a home, it would behoove you to find an agent or a broker that has a lot of experience in new construction. It’s easy for people to assume that all agents are created equal by the same way, you wouldn’t want a foot surgeon to work on your neck. t’s a very specialized niche, and if your agent doesn’t know what they don’t know, it will cost you a lot of time and money and heartache. So definitely engage an experienced broker. We’ve been doing this for 16 years now. We absolutely would love the opportunity to help you build a dream home. So what we do? We’ve done it several times. We’ve helped hundreds of clients do it. We absolutely just enjoy it. And it’s our passion.
So I’m Jonathan. This is Rachel Beasley. We are That Fit Team professionals in real estate and passionate about people passionate about helping you build a home. See you next week!
