Real Estate Blog June Archive

If your house has a basement, no doubt you've thought about finishing it into livable space. It can be costly, but worth far more in property appreciation, under the right circumstances.

• Make sure you have enough head room. A low ceiling may be a big turn off to future buyers, and even yourself.
• Make sure it's a dry basement. If it's not, there are affordable ways to punch a drain field under the floor, but it's a huge hassle.
• If there aren't windows, consider adding them. It makes a big, big difference.
• A bonus room is nice, but a bedroom adds a ton of value. If you take your house from two-bedrooms to four, it can add $50-$100,000 in value overnight, but make sure you give them closets and windows you can climb out of in case of emergency, or they may not count.
• Do your best to make the work look professional. If it looks like "handyman work", it may be something that people won't want to buy.
• Make the stairs as nice and natural as possible. Steep, awkward, dangerous stairs make it feel like a basement, not more living space.
• If you can add a bathroom, kitchen and outside door, you'll have an apartment down there you can rent out.
• Include plenty out lights and outlets.
• Get all the necessary permits whenever possible.

If your unfinished basement meets these criteria, you can entirely change the actual value of your house by far more than it costs to do the work. Plan on mess, fuss and hassle, but know that it's worth it in the end.