When it comes to selling your home, it’s easy to get caught up in all the ways you can upgrade to make it more appealing to buyers. Plenty of advice focuses on ways to add value to your home in hopes of netting a substantial profit. However, not all upgrades are worth the hassle. In fact, some may even lower the value of your home once you place it on the market.

We spoke with real estate experts about which renovations are more likely to hurt your resale value.

Converting or Removing A Bedroom

One major renovation all our experts agreed on to avoid: removing or converting bedrooms into another space.

“One renovation I always caution sellers about is permanently eliminating a bedroom,” says Jim Gruler, co-founder of Seeking Agents. “Turning a bedroom into a huge closet, gym, or dedicated office may work perfectly for the current owner, but you’ve potentially eliminated every buyer who needs that additional bedroom.”

In some cases, you may be tempted to convert a smaller bedroom into a walk-in closet to enhance a larger bedroom, but experts like Dell Jeanty, a realtor with Dell Residential Group, advise against this, too.

“Walk-in closets are a luxury, not the norm,” Jeanty says. “With the same square footage, a buyer would choose a three-bedroom with a normal closet over a two-bedroom with a walk-in closet, where the other room has been converted into a walk-in closet.”

In most cases, prospective buyers are far more inclined to purchase a space with more bedrooms than a space that changed a bedroom into something else, even if you feel you’ve “improved” the room through the conversion.

Christina Rordam, a real estate agent based in Orlando, Florida, shared how a client of hers fared after removing a bedroom from their property.

“Although they had improved the home, the loss of the third bedroom, which they had converted into more space for the primary bedroom and a walk-in closet, made their pool of buyers smaller,” Rordam says. “Ultimately, this caused the home to sell about $15,000 less than what they had purchased it for.”

Converting The Garage

Another popular renovation involves changing the garage into a living space, such as a bedroom, office, or game room. However, real estate experts note that eliminating a garage is far more likely to hurt your resale value than help it.

“A potential hit to a property’s market value is converting a garage into interior space,” Rordam says. “Rarely is this done well, and even when it is, you still lose a functional garage.”

Renovations That are Overpriced for The Neighborhood

An important factor to keep in mind is that market value isn’t just about your home; it’s about the neighborhood as well. While adding tons of luxurious improvements may seem like it would increase value, that’s not always the case.

“I’ve seen homeowners assume that because they put $75,000 into a kitchen, they’ve added $75,000 to the home’s value,” Gruler days. “It just doesn’t work that way. Buyers are still going to compare that house with what else has sold in the neighborhood.”

It’s worth looking into what other properties in your area are selling for before making any extravagant additions. You may find you’ve overpriced yourself out of the neighborhood with major, expensive changes that won’t appeal to a buyer in your area.

DIY Renovations Without Permits

If you fashion yourself as a handy DIY-er and believe you can simultaneously save a little cash and add major resale value, realtors note you should proceed with caution, especially without the right permits.

“Another deadly home improvement sin is the dreaded DIY without proper permits,” Rordam says. “A highly caffeinated weekend warrior can do more harm than good by tackling a bathroom reno themselves or, worse yet, adding to a structure without pulling the needed permits.”

Rordam notes that not all renovations require a permit, but certain changes, like electrical work, a new roof, or adding a bedroom or bathroom, are best done with the required permissions and inspections.

If you’re unsure which renovations need a permit, Jeanty says a quick web search can easily let you find out whether the city has permitted a renovation.

“While you may save money by not hiring a professional to get the job done right, that can easily reduce your home’s value when it is time to sell,” Jeanty says.

Highly Personalized Upgrades

Finally, our experts advise being mindful of investing in highly personalized renovations, especially those that are tough to undo. While you may personally feel a unique addition or concept makes a house worth more, it may not translate the same to a future buyer.

“Buyers have a tendency to walk through a house and mentally put a price on everything they want to change,” Gruler says. “A renovation the seller spent a fortune installing can actually become something the buyer is deducting from their offer because they want to tear it out.”

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get personal with your home for fear it won’t sell down the line. In the end, it’s all about what your end goal is.

“My advice is pretty simple: If you’re renovating for yourself, do what you love. If you’re renovating for resale, think about what the largest number of buyers will want.” Gruler says.

5 Renovations That Could Make Your Home Harder to Sell in 2027 – and Potentially Lower Its Value by Lacey Ramburger | The Spruce