Real Estate Rules

5 ways to maximize your DFW home's value — and 5 features that'll cost you

Carpet is a no-no.

Photo courtesy of Opendoor

When it comes to selling a home, one thing is certain: homeowners always want to get top dollar. To boost their home's value, many embark on renovation projects hoping, but not knowing, that those upgrades will significantly increase their bottom line when it comes time to sell. Questions like, "Will I see my money back from that bathroom facelift?" or "Is installing quartz countertops in my kitchen worth it?" abound.

As we head into the slower fall real estate season, when many homeowners opt to stay put and contemplate selling next year, the list of potential projects might be top of mind. So what should you focus on? If you want to tackle just one project this year, what should it be?

Local real estate company Opendoor just launched a Home Improvement Value Calculator that eliminates the mystery by enabling homeowners to see how much certain upgrades can increase their overall home value.

Looking at Opendoor data for homes valued around $300,000 in Dallas-Fort Worth (close to the current median price), here are the five upgrades that typically provide the biggest boost, along with the average increase in value:

Add a pool: $21,350 (7.12 percent increase)
Add 150 square feet of interior living space: $14,850 (4.95 percent)
Add a second or third bedroom: $14,750 (4.92 percent)
Add hardwood flooring: $13,550 (4.52 percent)
Convert existing living space to a second or third bedroom: $8,600 (2.87 percent)

Opendoor also looked at data from the past year to identify which existing home features could be costing homeowners thousands. Here are the top five offenders, along with the average reduction in value for each:

Carpet as a primary floor type: -$5,400
Formica or tile kitchen counters: -$5,000
Carpet in the master bedroom: -$4,100
Located on a busy street: -$2,800
Low-quality cabinetry: -$2,700

As the largest acquirer of single-family homes throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, Opendoor is able to analyze individual home features and understand how they add to (or detract from) the overall value of a home. The company has been keeping Dallas buyers and sellers in the loop on real local estate trends since 2015, and has served over 10,000 local customers.

For sellers not interested in undertaking stressful, pricey renovation projects to get their home "open-house ready," Opendoor is a dream come true. Homeowners can go to opendoor.com to begin the no-obligation process today and Opendoor will provide a competitive, all-cash offer within 24 hours, regardless of whether or not a home has been remodeled.

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Opendoor's calculator is offered for educational purposes and is not a guarantee of return on investment. Individual results may vary.

home-for-sale promoted reports

Going Down

This Dallas suburb saw 5th biggest drop in home prices in U.S. in 2026

Photo courtesy of City of Plano

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Good news for potential Dallas-area homebuyers: Housing prices in Plano have come down nearly $30,000 since last year.

Typical home values in Plano have fallen 5.1 percent since February 2025, now standing at $501,564, down from $528,510.

The new housing study from SmartAsset analyzed home values across the 100 biggest metro areas using Zillow’s Home Value Index tool for single-family homes, condos, and co-ops. Home value data was sourced for the month of February in 2021, 2025, and 2026.

Plano is joined by Oakland, California (No. 1); Saint Petersburg (No. 2); Naples, Florida (No. 3); and Austin (No. 4) as the top five U.S. cities with the biggest one-year home price reductions in the U.S.

Housing prices in Dallas-Fort Worth have been on the decline since 2024, a separate study found, but SmartAsset said they're still a whopping 32.4 percent higher than they were in 2021. And compared to Plano's pre-pandemic housing market in 2019, prices have ballooned by 44.1 percent.

Here's how much cheaper housing prices are in other North Texas cities:

Dallas:

One year change: -3.79 percent
Typical home value in 2025: $317,550
Typical home value in 2026: $305,523

Arlington:

One year change: -3.41 percent
Typical home value in 2025: $318,649
Typical home value in 2026: $307,792

Fort Worth:

One year change: -3.08 percent
Typical home value in 2025: $305,236
Typical home value in 2026: $295,822

DFW homeowners are also entering the best time of the year to sell their houses, which could add a sudden sense of competitiveness for buyers.

Home prices elsewhere around the U.S. have seen varying changes, according to the report.

"Between 2025 and 2026, the typical home value in large U.S. cities actually declined by 1.04 percent, with values dropping in 70 percent of cities," the report's author wrote. "But the full range of changes from market to market ran the gamut from -9.1 percent to +5.01 percent, putting both hopeful buyers and homeowners in starkly different environments across the nation."

The top three U.S. cities where home prices increased the most since 2025 are Toledo, Ohio (No. 2); Lincoln, Nebraska (No. 2); and San Francisco (No. 3).

The 10 cities with the biggest one-year decreases in home values are:

No. 1 – Oakland, California
No. 2 – Saint Petersburg, Florida
No. 3 – Naples, Florida
No. 4 – Austin
No. 5 – Plano
No. 6 – Aurora, Colorado
No. 7 – Denver
No. 8 – Atlanta
No. 9 – Stockton, California
No. 10 – Tampa

housing prices housing market real estate smartasset reports plano dallas arlington fort worth