How Luxury Outdoor Touches Are Upping Property Values

If you’re like many others this past year, the feeling of luxury could be hard to come by. Visiting exotic places and enjoying the high life was harder to do safely than in the past. However, many people turned to improving their homes as a way to bring the luxury into their own private property.

If you followed the trends you very well may have added one of the following luxury features to your home. If you haven’t done it yet, you might be looking for the right contractor as you read this!

• An outdoor living room, complete with a permanent fire pit, weather-proof furniture, and a great dining table.
• An outdoor kitchen adds oomph to the entire house. You can check rtaoutdoorliving.com for the best outdoor kitchen solutions.
• An inground hot tub for the full spa effect and the ability to enjoy both summer and winter nights outdoors.
• A deck or patio to create more outdoor living space for entertaining or just spending time with your immediate family. Gutter guards to protect your foundation and landscaping from damage caused by errant rainfall. Contact a reputable contractor who knows how to install gutter guards properly. This will ensure that all the channels and drains are adequately covered and that your home gets the best protection from rain possible.

In most parts of the country, people who have added these features aren’t just getting to enjoy their own backyard oasis. Rather, these features are in such high demand that they are getting higher value premiums when they go to the sell the house than in the past. Homelight’s top real estate insights survey showed these impressive growth numbers:

• Outdoor kitchens used to add $6,156 to the value of a home pre-pandemic, and are now fetching $9,751.
• Inground hot tubs used to add $4,052 to the sales price, and now are boosting it closer to $6,925.
• Freestanding hot tubs, which must be sold as a separate sale from the house sale, rate a higher price too, $1,999 up from $1,202.
• Backyard decks used to add $4,252 pre-pandemic and are getting a $7,014 premium now.

In many cases, luxury additions to your home will cost substantially more than even these inflated numbers - average ROI on these kinds of additions range from 25% to 97%, so your mileage will vary when you sell your house. The best strategy for getting the most out of a luxury home upgrade, however, has always been to pick upgrades that fit your own family’s needs. This means:

• Really go for it if you have the funds to do so. Why get the cheapest in-ground hot tub just for the ROI when you could pick something that really makes you and your family feel like you’re relaxing and comfortable for a bit more money?
• Pick features mostly because of your family’s needs, not just the idea of a prospective buyer. If your family LOVES grilling out but wouldn’t really get much use out of an outdoor bar, focus your budget for your outdoor kitchen on that grilling station, not on adding a bar just in case some future buyer wants one.
• Work together as a family to make a commitment to using your new home upgrades. It’s your family using and enjoying it that will be the most reliable ROI.