Celebrities who perform dramatic home makeovers on TV and the average homeowner on Main Street live in two very different worlds. One has the budget of a reality show to foot the bill for materials and labor, and the other has whatever’s in their bank account and tight profit margins.
Investing big bucks in fixing everything isn’t the smart move if you want to see the highest return on your investment (ROI). Let’s take a look at some of the most popular pricey projects that have the lowest ROI and the wiser, low-cost upgrades that offer a bigger bang for your buck.
Check out a summary of the results below in Homelight’s custom infographic:
Cleaning and Decluttering Is Your best Project To Increase Your Home Value
You’re better off spending less money on smaller scale projects than trying to recoup your spend on bigger renovations base on the HomeLight survey conducted in the first and second quarter of 2019.
1. DON’T: Drop big bucks on a full kitchen renovation
According to HomeAdvisor website, A kitchen remodel averages in Canada at $21,999 with the typical range being $12,560 to $33,282.
According to data from HomeLight, top real estate professionals estimate that on the average smaller-scale $23,140 kitchen upgrade, sellers would recoup $23,122 at resale, for a -0.08% ROI. So… better, but you still don’t break even.
2. DON’T: Completely renovate the bathroom
As arguably the grungiest place in the house, on the one hand completely remodeling the bathroom makes sense. And at an average cost of $9,627 with the typical range being $5,923 to $14,010, it’s cheaper than redoing the kitchen.
Unfortunately, while it’s technically cheaper, the ROI for a bathroom model is worse. HomeLight’s survey data indicates that if you spent smaller-scale $10,284 bathroom upgrade, you’d get back $10,180, for a -1.00 % ROI.
Spend less on renovations to make more money back
There’s no need to spend big bucks on one major renovation when a handful of minor upgrades throughout the home will actually net you a bigger ROI.
“A good agent will not let a seller spend $20,000 to get $20,000 back, because that doesn’t make any sense. You’re better off just selling the house as-is,” says Gaddis. “The best agents work to help clients get two to three dollars back for every dollar spent. And those agents won’t be guessing. When you sell a lot of houses, you get pretty good at the science behind ROI.”
So when you’re prepping your home for sale, pick up the phone and consult me before you spend a single penny on home improvements.