How HGTV's Marcus Lemonis Added $100k To A Home's Value Without Changing Its Size

Perhaps you've seen Marcus Lemonis on The Profit, a CNBC show that supported small businesses. Or, maybe you know him as the CEO of Camping World, a retailer that sells vehicles and camping equipment. However, he's recently taken on another role, and it's in the real estate world: He's the host of a new HGTV show called The Renovator, which began airing in October 2022.

While real estate may seem out of businessman Lemonis's field of expertise, he explains that it's actually right in line with his core desire, which is to help individuals. According to Realtor, he said, "For years, people have known me as someone who works on improving businesses... But in reality, I work on improving people. Now, I'll use my own life experiences and my passion for design to create a stronger foundation for home and family." On the show, he helps homeowners increase the value of their houses exponentially, using various techniques.

When starting to get involved in real estate, Marcus Lemonis's main concern was to provide families with generational wealth. According to MarcusLemonis.com, he says, "for many of us, a home or property is the single biggest asset that will move from one generation to the next. This is why I'm so passionate about home ownership, as well as taking proper care of your home."

While things like location, curb appeal, and appliances are all important in determining the value of your property, another important factor to consider is the amount of space it has. In another article on his website, Lemonis shares that "adding more space with a new addition to your home can also help to drastically boost its overall value. Adding a new bathroom, bedroom, or even expanding the space of your current living room or kitchen can greatly impact and influence worth and increase value." This is why, when renovating a home, including more space is almost always his main concern.

However, while an addition will always benefit the resale amount, in one episode of The Renovator, Lemonis manages to increase the value of a home without adding any square footage. When he first walks into the family's home, he knows that the current setup isn't benefiting them, as some of the areas aren't being used as much as they could be, like their screened-in porch. Because of this, Lemonis decides to do something drastic — he converts the family room into a primary bedroom and bathroom, then makes their porch the new family room and opens the living room into the kitchen. The result? He turns the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home into a four-bedroom, three-bathroom property without adding any space, and he still provides the family with plenty of room to spend time together. 

Once the renovations are complete, which cost the homeowners $83,000 — $2,000 under budget — an appraiser says that they've increased the value of the home by a staggering $373,000. By doing so, Lemonis proves that what you do with your available space is sometimes more important than making a home larger.