Written by Anthony Clark
One of the most common questions customers have is ‘how much does a screen enclosure increase the value of my house?’ While the short answer is however much more someone pays for it, the long answer is exactly just that; the long term valuation of the ‘investment’ in question. Today we will be talking about the average amount your home’s value increases when initially adding a screen enclosure, if your home’s value increases more than the enclosure costs, and how long it typically takes to recoup the difference if it does not.
We will first examine how much a home’s value increases when a screen enclosure is added, versus what it costs to build. If adding a roofed screen enclosure over a pool you will likely be paying 11- 15 dollars per square foot, and they average 1,000- 2,000 square feet in size. That’s an $11,000- 30,000 price tag that must be recouped before you can even think of calling it an investment! ‘How much does it increase the value of my home?’, is probably what you’re thinking, and that depends chiefly on the amount of time between the addition and the valuation. On average, if you sold your house on the day your screen enclosure is built, you would recoup about 40- 70% of your costs. If you look 1 year, 3 years and 5 years out those numbers will be closer to 50- 100%, 85- 175%, and 155- 370% respectively. Therefore, if you plan to live in your house for 5 or more years, a pool screen enclosure is by far worth the investment and out-paces the stock market by more than double!
If you are just closing in your porch with an under-truss screen enclosure the numbers are even better, as they too cost between 11-15 dollars per square foot, but average lower and consist of considerably less square footage. Initial home value increase averages between 55- 100%, which is possibly more than double a pool enclosure right out of the gate! When looking 1 year, 3 years and 5 years out, the numbers are closer to 70- 140%, 120- 245%, and 220- 520% respectively. That means if you sell your house just 3 years after the addition, you’re almost guaranteed to double your investment!
We will now take a look at factors other than time, that can affect your home value increase when adding a screen enclosure and put you on the higher or lower end of the price line. The number two factor that affects your home value increase after your addition is the housing market. An average market tends to yield the largest home value increase when adding most additions to your home, as this is when people can most afford home amenities. On the other hand, during a stagnant market people likely can’t afford home luxuries, and during a white hot market homes sell no matter what, with little care toward amenities or minor repairs. The other major factor that affects your home value increase after your addition is the neighborhood trend. If every house that is visible from your backyard has a screened-in porch, adding one to your home is going to increase the home value more than if you’re the trendsetter on your block.
It must be stated, we obtained our figures by interviewing the appraisal departments of local Lee County realty companies Schooner Bay and Encore Realty, and local realty expert Paula Hellenbrand. We averaged all data collected and we believe these figures to be an accurate representation of Southwest Florida and we also believe they would scale well to other areas of Florida as well. The main takeaway is the longer you own your home the more return you’ll get out of your screen enclosure investment. As always, I sincerely hope I helped anyone reading this article and I wish all of Southwest Florida well this summer. Stay cool out there!
