Property Renovation: Tips to Get a Great Resale Value

Are you a home owner looking forward to selling your house? Potential buyers always consider the resale value of a home before deciding to make a purchase. 

It is always a good idea to renovate the house before sale so you can get a better deal. However, when you want to renovate, you are faced with the hard choice of what to renovate and what not to. So, unless you have an unlimited budget, here are some helpful tips that should assist you when making a decision to renovate.
 

Make a Tight Budget

First determine all the costs of the renovation and determine the price you hope to sell for after renovation. Determine exactly what you can afford and allow yourself 10% of your total for contingencies – this might cover price rises, having to change suppliers and other issues that may lead to increased prices. You should also consider in determining your budget what you can conceivably do yourself or what you can purchase and supply directly to the trades people. It is highly advisable that you don’t do anything yourself that you are not skilled or practiced in. As an example, a bad paint job might save you money in the short term, but ruin the appearance of the house. Most of us can create a good garden presentation, but we may need a reticulation expert to get this right.

Decide on The Sort of Renovation

It is important to understand the demographic of the area, is the majority of the market looking for 4 bedrooms, 2 bathroom homes or are 2 or 3 bedroom homes more popular? Determine who you are trying to sell to. This will help you decide how you renovate and the colours you use will it be bland/neutral/bright colours etc. You should look through the house and decide room by room what you are going to do. Things like painting, fixing and recovering kitchen cupboards, fixing and redoing wet areas are also very noticeable. It’s a good idea to look for items people expect to find in modern houses

Getting the Renovation Done

You should get three quotes for all projects, all the time. Set dates for start and finish when booking jobs and offer incentives for early completion. Meet with the Site supervisor/Engineer/workers before they start, be available and approachable during the process. Reconfirm with all your workers two days before they are due to turn up. Pay your workers and pay them on time. Thank your worker for the work they do for you, and don’t change your mind during the job – this will cost you money and agitate your workers.

Listen to their advice, as they will probably know more about what they are doing than you do.

No Cosmetic Renovation
Never proceed with a cosmetic renovation when there are structural, plumbing or electrical defects with the home. For example, do not use paint to cover cracks on a wall when you know the house has foundational defects. This is a sign of bad faith and if the buyer discovers this, he will most likely decide not to purchase the house anymore. Fix the defects or disclose the defects to the buyer.
Avoid Renovation Disconnects
This is one mistake that is common in most renovations, an example being installing granite countertops on 20-year old kitchen cabinets. You may consider this as an upgrade but to the potential buyer, this might just seem like putting “lipstick on a pig”. An improper renovation is money gone down the drain because no buyer will pay for poor renovations especially when they have to be redone completely.
Take Special Note of the Kitchen
Renovating a kitchen cost considerately more in comparison to other rooms in a home. Thus, special care should be given to it so potential buyers don’t get cold feet about purchasing that property. Always do a kitchen renovation that you can afford and ensure you make the kitchen look nice and appealing to potential buyers.Choose Styles The Have a General Appeal
When making a choice of fixtures and fittings, always consider the demand prospective buyer. Do not do a renovation based on your personal preferences alone. Thus, using neutral colours and styles that will appeal to a wide range of people irrespective of their unique preferences.

Get a Good Real Estate Agent

Be prepared to pay more than market rates for the best, most effective and most helpful real estate agent. Look for agent that has the ability to negotiate the best deals and create the best marketing plan to sell your house. If they understand your need to renovate for profit they will actively search for properties that fit your requirements. Obviously if they can sell you the house that you make money from, you are more likely to let them sell the house when you are ready to put your property on the market and realise your investment.

Make sure you don’t get emotionally involved in the buying and selling process of your homes. Remember you are doing this to make a profit and the best results will be achieved by people that stick to their budgets. Hopefully this has given you a quick snapshot about renovating for profit.

COURTERSY OF PROPERTY AFFAIRS NG
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