Home Office
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If you work from home, converting a bedroom into a home office may be a necessity. But you won’t add value to your home by installing custom cabinets, adding a laminate desktop and wiring for telecommunications equipment, according to the National Association of Home Builder’s Cost vs. Value survey.

The average home office remodel costs $13,143 nationally and recoups $9,569 at resale, returning 72.8 percent. Still, if you divide the loss over the 260 work days a year you’re sitting in that home office, it’s only about $13.75 a day – less if you keep the house more than a year.

Garage to Family Room
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Converting a garage into a family room can backfire when it’s time to sell your home. "I’ve had clients turn down houses that are good deals and otherwise perfect for them because they had only a one-car garage," says Susan Huerta, a Realtor with Long & Foster Real Estate, Clarksville, Maryland. "People want three-car garages now, so a home where the garage has been converted can be a tough sell."

If you do a conversion, be sure to pull the proper building permits. "Buyers have been known to back-out if remodels are not done to code," warns Lynn Anderson of ZipRealty, East Bay, California.

The only time a garage conversion makes sense for future return if when you have room to build a detached garage, adds Mark P. Riley of Mark P. Riley Luxury Real Estate Group, Sarasota, Florida.

-Dona DeZube, a serial renovator and freelance writer, lives in Clarksville, Md.