8 New Construction Upgrades That Are Worth the Money (and 5 That Aren’t)

When you’re building new construction, you’re tasked with making a lot of decisions. The base price of your home is the cost of the structure plus all the standard finishes. If you’re planning to customize (and if you’re building a new home, you probably are), then you have to also factor in the cost of upgrades. Staying in your budget when there are so many options to choose from can be difficult, but if you prioritize correctly, you can spend your money on the things that add the most value to your home—both for when you live in it and when you’re ready to sell it—and skip the things that are either not worth their price tag or can be done more cheaply on your own later on. You just have to know which new construction upgrades give you the most bang for your buck and which don’t.

Before getting in to the specifics, consider what gives value to upgrades. Aesthetics matter, but only you will know if it’s worth spending an extra $2,000 for the fancier banister or splurging on that apron sink. When choosing which new construction upgrades to add and which to pass on, think more in terms of overall value; namely: functionality and a return on investment. Here’s what adds value, and equally important, what doesn’t.

Worth it

The kitchen

Deeper basement

Roughed-in plumbing for a future full or half bath

More lighting

Energy savers

Bigger garage

Innovative storage options

Carpet padding

Skip it

Wood floors

Light fixtures

Master bedroom bump out

Marble countertops

Crown molding

By being smart about how you spend your budget for your new construction home you can stretch the value of your dollars and only incur costs in areas where you’ll also get a return. You don’t have to be overly pragmatic about it—it’s totally fine to spend money on things that don’t matter in terms of functionality or return on investment but are just really important to making your house seem like a home to you—but when in doubt, err on the side of the new construction upgrades that will pay for themselves over time.