An empty room can add value to a home, according to a real estate expert

An empty room can add value to your home. Sound too good to be true? In this case, it really isn't, as a real estate expert has told us. 

Most sellers keen to take advantage of a hot housing market look for features to add to their home that will make them more attractive to buyers. And yet, it turns out that you don't always have to do anything particular or expensive to a room in your property for it to add value – you just need to make sure the room has a specific kind of potential. 

An empty room can add value to a home – here's how

We spoke to Volodymyr Barabakh, the Co-Founder and Project Director of real estate company Fortress Home. As Volodymyr explains, it's not always necessary to add a lot to each room of your home to attract buyers who will be willing to pay more. He especially points out that while many sellers are aware of the popularity of home offices during the pandemic, what buyers want is not a fully finished home office, but the possibility of converting a room into one. He said: 'Given that remote working will become a regular arrangement for many Americans from now on, there is still a huge demand for homes that have spare rooms that can conceivably become a home office.'

Because of the lack of certainty about the future, most buyers would like to have options. 'These rooms are most likely to be used for additional storage space when
they are not being used for work', Volodymyr explains. When buyers do decide to convert a storage room into a home office, they'll bring their own home office ideas to it. 

However, for a room to have that potential, it needs to have the following key elements:

• A North or East facing window (to let in light in the morning)
• Enough space for home office furniture – a desk, chair and bookcase at a minimum
• At least 3 plug sockets
• Sufficient distance away from noisy rooms such as lounges and kids bedrooms

Leaving a room with all of these characteristics empty and ready to be used however the new owner choose will give you pretty good rewards, says Volodymyr: 'If you have a spare or utility room that has these characteristics, then this can add an extra $2,000 to your home sale value, particularly if you live in an area popular with young professionals.' 

Considering that the effort on your part is limited to decluttering and maybe repainting, if the room needs it, this is a substantial return on a near-zero spend.