Text size:

Five things to improve your home's value

BY DANIEL VAN BENTHUYSEN | Special to Newsday

September 26, 2008

Improve the curb appeal of a home with a more upscale and durable siding.

When Syosset resident Ellyn Finkelstein, 50, decided to put her home on the market, she realized she had three obstacles to making a timely sale. First, she had water leakage in her basement walls. Second, she had a central air-conditioning system that did not work. And third, she had rooms that needed repainting and decluttering.

She handled each problem in a different manner.

For the water leakage, she decided to spend thousands of dollars to correct a largely invisible problem that left telltale water stains on the basement walls and floor. For her air-conditioning problem, she decided she will offer a price reduction equivalent to the cost of a repair. And for the clutter and room repainting - well - she's tackling that herself.

Finkelstein is one of the many home sellers who have wrestled with whether to spend money on a home improvement in order to sell a home. Her decision to spend or not spend is undoubtedly influenced by her five years' experience at Coach Realtors, where she works as an agent in the East Norwich office.

"People see water damage and assume the worst," she says.

So she hired Ishay Stadok, who owns House Management Services, a Hicksville home improvement company, to excavate around the outside of the home's foundation and construct four French drains two months ago.

The job cost $5,387. And Finkelstein says that recent heavy rains have left the basement refreshingly dry.

Every year for the past two decades, Remodeling magazine has issued its "Cost vs. Value Report," a detailed analysis of key projects, what they cost and what they typically recoup in value when a home is sold. The report provides figures adjusted by region, along with detailed descriptions of projects they deem midrange and upscale.

The study may surprise some: In 2003, the average home improvement project returned 82.5 percent of the money spent. In 2007, that figure had dropped to 70 percent. Part of the decline can be attributed to the troubled real estate market.

Sal Alfano, editorial director of Remodeling magazine, says, "We've seen a shift. As the housing market has cooled, we've seen fewer of the upscale projects and more of the projects that play to curb appeal. Decks, siding, windows and roofing remain solid projects that will help sell a home. On the interior, kitchens and baths, although subject to fashion and bigger budgets, are still popular improvements. What we're not seeing is so many big-budget projects."

Here are five typical projects included in the survey, along with advice from Long Island real estate experts and other professionals. While projects tend to recoup less than 100 percent of the money invested when the home is sold, experts point out that projects like these can mean the difference between a timely sale and a home that lingers on the market.

NOTE: Project totals and descriptions come from Remodeling magazine, which calculated the costs based on the price of labor and materials in the mid-Atlantic region of the country.

DECK

Project: Add a 16-by-20-foot deck supported by 4-by-4 posts on concrete piers. Include a built-in bench and planter, three-step stairway and railing with posts and balusters.

Cost: $10,676

Amount recouped on resale: 83 percent

What the experts say: Surprisingly, although a deck is one of the cheapest home- improvement projects, a number of Long Island real estate agents are of the opinion that it's often not worth the effort. "If a deck is old or rotting, you're better off just tearing it down," says Mark Malsky, owner of Babylon-based RE/MAX Signature Real Estate. "No deck is just as good as a new deck, even if everyone else in the neighborhood has a deck. Most buyers can imagine what a deck would look like and cost."

SIDING

Project: Replace 1,250 square feet of existing siding with new fiber-cement siding - a more upscale and durable siding. It should be factory- primed and -painted. Include all 4/4 and 5/4 trim, using either fiber-cement boards or cellular PVC.

Cost: $13,359