Effective ways to renovate your home for resale

Buying a house, renovating it for resale (home flipping) is a very attractive job for many investors and even non-professionals. It’s great when the house after renovation has increased in value significantly and brought you a high profit. However, renovating which items to have the best resale value compared to the investment amount is not easy. It requires you to know about the needs and preferences of potential buyers, know about construction/architecture basics, materials. This article aims to provide you with effective ways to help you renovate your home effectively and profitably.

Cost for renovatting a house

The average cost of a complete home renovation is $50,000-90,000. This average is based on costs starting at around $20,000 and ranging up to $90,000. In general, you should expect to spend around $15 to $150 per square foot to renovate your entire home.

Bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms are more expensive to renovate than bedrooms, living rooms and office spaces because of the plumbing and electrical systems involved. Below is a breakdown of the average cost to remodel each room during a whole house renovation:

The purpose of home renovators

There are big differences between investors and owners when it comes to home renovation.

For real estate investors, they focus on one goal: “Buy low, sell high”. When they buy run-down homes at bargain prices, they know that a little equity goes a long way in making profitable real estate investments. Investors choose remodeling options that meet the needs of potential buyers with the least amount of effort and expense. An important step for a successful investor is to evaluate the post-renovation potential of a potential home and compare it to other homes in the neighborhood to increase the likelihood of a sale.

Meanwhile, owners often have other ways to renovate. If owners want to rent out, they tend to renovate the house in a basic way. If they want to stay in that house, they renovate the house according to their preferences rather than financial efficiency. They can put significantly more money into a project.

Strategies of Home Renovation

There are four types of renovation projects: the basics, curb appeal, best bang for the buck, and passion projects. Not all of them provide a high return on investment.

Basic project

Basic renovation is to ensure the basic operation of the house. The renovation that can be applied is to ensure the basic operation of the house and take care of basic appearance such as painting, replacing faucets and light bulbs. Basic renovations to a home will not add value. It simply offers a standard home, priced comparable to homes in the area.

If you want to resell at a competitive price, you shouldn’t make upgrades that exceed neighborhood standards. That will make your home’s resaleability good without spending too much money on home improvements.

Beauty project

The goal of this project is to make the property look good to attract potential buyers. While these projects may not bring significant monetary value, they will help your home sell faster — and you can do a lot of the work yourself to save money and time.

This project is very effective by doing the following: new paint inside and out, landscaping (planting grass, trees, flowers…), replacing new carpets, hanging more delicate paintings and statues and renewing the interior. the seventh. Installing a lighting system makes the house more modern, brighter and more attractive. Decorate tastefully to attract a wider audience. You should consult a specialist to improve your aesthetics at an inexpensive price.

Effective project

The projects that bring in the most value at resale are favorites of fix-it-and-flip pros — and they should be high on a homeowner’s list, too. Although these upgrades have the highest return on investment (ROI). In this project, the items that can be done are as follows: renovating the kitchen, bathroom, new windows. According to NAR, wood floor upgrades, insulation upgrades, basement conversions, and closets have the highest return on investment. Some exterior renovations like new roofing, garage doors and siding are also very profitable when reselling

Passionate project

In this project, homeowners carry out renovations to their liking without considering costs. These items can range from media rooms, wine cellars, entertainment rooms, children’s playrooms and even sauna/Jacuzzi rooms. These amenities and costs may be great for homeowners but may not be suitable for most potential buyers. Potential buyers may not spend extra money on amenities that don’t suit them.

Other conversions that may not recoup their investment upon resale include:

  • Turn your bedroom into a studio
  • Remove walls to open up space (Unless there is a practical purpose, such as creating a flow between the dining room and kitchen)
  • Eliminate the bedroom to open up the room
  • Renovate the basement for entertaining (Unless it is a complete conversion to living or rental space)

Renovation projects that offer high ROI

Completing the basement

The basement has a large area, so if you complete the basement, you will have more room to live or rent. In the basement you can also add a bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, bedroom, entertainment, etc. This renovation is well worth the investment because it adds space or money from rentals, which in the long run results in a significant increase in property.

Kitchen renovation

The kitchen has great significance in the house, so upgrading the kitchen will increase the experience and quality of life. It also helps increase property value and attract potential future buyers.

Bathroom renovation

Your daily life can be improved by renovating your bathroom. Renovating the bathroom not only makes the space look new and cleaner, but it also increases comfort and enjoyment. Bathrooms also help increase appeal to buyers.

Room addition

Additional rooms can be added in unused or ineffective areas. It’s great to have more living space as well as add value to your home.

Garage addition

Add a garage to add convenience to your daily life. The garage will help keep your car from getting hot during the driving season and covered with snow in the winter. Furthermore, the garage is also a very large place to have more storage space for the family.

Paint

Although it doesn’t cost much, a simple paint job can dramatically change the look and feel of a room. Paint also increases buyer interest, especially in trending paint colors.

Floor

Old floors can make unpleasant noises as well as old colors that significantly reduce the feeling of living. Upgrading the floor not only brings a new and solid feeling, but it also brings neatness and continuity.

Door

Upgrading will give your home a new look while also bringing high efficiency. The new main door not only helps save energy but also makes the house more luxurious. In addition, the large main door also makes living more comfortable, and moving things in and out of the house is also easier.

Windows

Old windows are often small and lose energy. Upgrading to larger windows or adding new windows will make the house more airy and light. Modern windows are also significantly more energy efficient, so upgrading them is valuable.

HVAC

New HVAC will solve humidity problems, as well as save on energy bills. The HVAC of some houses is not in a suitable location to complete the house, so when upgrading the HVAC, it is an opportunity for you to relocate the HVAC system to be able to arrange more rooms, optimizing the area. when completing the basement.

Sliding

Changing your home’s siding will give it a more modern look, be better maintained, and be more energy efficient. So it also attracts more buyers.

Insulation / sound proofing

Over time, heat and sound insulation decrease significantly. Upgrading insulation and sound insulation makes the house warmer and soundproof for better living.

Roof

Roofing is one of the most important elements of your home! In addition to causing up to 30% energy loss, with poor maintenance, water can easily enter your home and mold can form.

Renovations with Low ROI Potential

Some renovations may seem exciting but actually go against the design trend or don’t match the potential buyer’s preferences. The following are investment categories that have low ROI.

Landscapes

Everyone likes beautiful landscapes. However, in areas with unfavorable weather, after only a few months of use, the landscape becomes ineffective. In addition, maintenance, watering, planting… take considerable time, cost and effort, so buyers are quite cautious when buying a house with elaborate landscape.

Smart Homes

Making your home a ‘smart’ home may be tempting, but homeowners will invest heavily in technology for the home. However, in actual use, all functions are not used, and maintenance costs are quite large. That’s why some people are afraid of smart homes.

Home theater

Many people are excited to invest in a home theater, it’s a place to make money, but in reality, the frequency of use is not much and it may not suit the needs and preferences of many people and their needs are not. still higher.

Wine cellar

A wine cellar seems like a good idea, but it is not necessarily suitable for some people (who do not drink alcohol) and more and more people want to completely stop drinking alcohol, so equipping a wine cellar in the house is very expensive but ineffective when reselling the house.

Hot tub, swimming pool

Bathtubs and pools may seem fun, but not everyone enjoys hot tubs or pools. Heating a pool or hot tub also increases water and electric bills. So potential buyers really don’t like it.

The Bottom Line

If you plan to live there for many years, add amenities you’d like to have, regardless of their impact on resale. But when it’s time to sell, get the basics done to make your property attractive to buyers. It’s best to make renovations that will be valuable to potential buyers without costing too much.

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