Does a Skylight Add to Your Property Value?

Q:  My wife and I are having a, er, disagreement.  We want to put in a skylight.  She says that it will add to our property value, I disagree.  We both want a skylight for the sake of having a freaking skylight.  That much is certain.  It’s just this stupid detail about adding value to the house that we can’t get past.  Help.  What you think, Mr. Expert-Dude?

A:  Hold it there.  Before you two start a wresting match, I’m going to put on my referee stripes.  Sit back in your respective corners and listen up.

Whenever you read sales materials for skylights, they say stuff like “adds value to your property.”  Agreed.  Light:  valued.  Especially if you live in Godforsaken outposts like Seattle, Washington.

Light is a value.  Skylights look great.  They are impressive.

But when we turn “adds value to your property” around and make it “property value,” we’re talking a whole ‘nother thing.  Property value is a real estate idea, in which adding or modifying aspects of your house will cause your property to be valued higher in the event of an appraisal or sale.  It’s a kind of “credit and debit” system that doesn’t yield to subjectivity.  Add an addition, get $120,000 lumped into your “credit” side.  Replace shag with hardwood flooring, get $5,000.  These are imaginary examples, but the core truth remains:  add something, get more property value.

Does it translate to skylights?

If so, only so negligibly as to not be worth it.  You need to make major changes to see any kind of property value uptick.  For example, replacing all of your 27 decades-old aluminum-framed windows with double-paned low-e windows–that will effect a change.

But once you have those 27 new windows, adding a 28th or 29th window will not cause anyone to bat an eye.  And a skylight, guess what?  It’s considered a window.  A nice one, a cool one, but a window nonetheless.

While you’re at it, check out this Velux Daylight Simulator.  It gives you a nice idea of how the transit of the sun affects inside lighting through your windows and skylights.

Image:  (c) Velux