Updating Your Bahamas Home - What's the Return?

If you plan to remodel or update before selling your Bahamas home, you have to find the balance between what's appropriate and what becaomes "too much house" for the location.

If you're in a mid-range neighbourhood and install granite countertops, you're unlikely to recoup your costs. But if you're in a higher-end community, such as Port New Providence in Nassau, granite counter tops and a pool are a must.

So what will always work? Painting, inside or out, is one of the most affordable ways to increase your resale value. If you've got wood floors, refinish them to bring out the beauty of the wood.

If you have tile floors, make sure to keep the grout clean! There's nothing as nasty as dirty grout.

Old light fixtures in the kitchen, bath and hallways should be updated to popular styles with stainless steel or brushed nickel finishes. And be sure to make a good first impression outdoors with a well maintained yard, doorknobs and possibly a flowering plant at your front door.

A back yard deck is always a good investment, even if small.

Before you plan your updates, visit some of our Bahamas residential communities where you can see the latest styles, and update your home's features accordingly. Just remember to keep your improvements clean, neutral and timeless.

Improve your chances for a quicker sale at a higher price by discussing with your Bahamas Real Estate agent which improvements provide the greatest return.

Out of interest, a fairly recent study done in the U.S. relating to the percentage of the recovery cost of various types of improvements showed the following: Room addition (70-90%), major kitchen remodeling (45-70%), bathroom remodeling (60-80%), reroofing (10-30%), new bath (75-100%), garage (30-50%), landscaping (45-65%), and master suite (60-80%). I believe the level of recovery here is somewhere in those ranges as well.