Not too long ago, I found out that one of the homes our Long Beach architecture firm had remodeled a couple of years ago was on the market. Of course, I was interested to see what would happen with it. When it sold, I was pleased to see that the owners (my former clients) got a very good price for their home. I’m no real estate agent, but as far as I can tell, it appears that this particular home in Los Alamitos sold for about 35% more than similarly-sized homes in the same neighborhood! That’s quite a bit more, especially considering their budget for the improvements was relatively conservative (about 8% of the home’s value).
One of the most important things we did in this particular home, which I believe helped it garner a higher price, was to improve the home’s exterior. Curb appeal is so important when it comes to selling your house. It doesn’t matter how nice your home is on the inside if the potential buyers won’t even get out of their car to take a look! This home lacked a clear point of entry, so we added a stone clad entry tower, as well as a front porch, from which the owners could watch their children play in the front yard.
We also corrected some of the odd interior elements near the front of the home that were the result of at least one previous remodel. We improved storage and redesigned an oddly-shaped powder room. Finally, we created a mother-in-law space so that visitors could have their own space, as well as separate access, for extended stays.
All of these changes made the house more livable and enjoyable for my clients, but they also made it more marketable when they decided to sell. As architects, we always stress to our clients that as we are meeting their additional space and design requirements, we also want to be constantly evaluating the marketability of the design to make sure it will push up the value of the home in a seller’s market and help it to hold its value and be the “home to beat” in a buyer’s market.
Having said that, however, not all of our home remodel clients care about marketability. For some clients, the home we are designing is their “forever home,” and they want what they want and don’t care to think about things like future resale value or how well their home will appeal to buyers. This is also a perfectly fine approach, and our architecture firm is always happy to work with homeowners to give them their version of their dream home. But for those homeowners who don’t see themselves in their home long term, we can guide them toward improvements that will give them a good return on their investment, while still meeting all of their design goals.
Our architecture firm loves working with clients of all types, and we love to involve our clients in their architectural design process. If you’re in the Long Beach area, and are considering a home remodel, give us a call or contact our Long Beach office through our website. We hope to hear from you soon!
