Investing your money into a property that you intend to resell can potentially earn you a nice profit. However, not all home improvements will guarantee you a profit. It’s crucial that you know where to invest your money so that it will increase the resale value of the home when you go to sell it. Throughout the years, I’ve rehabbed 300+ Orlando homes and through my own experiences both as an investor as well as an Orlando real estate agent, I’ve compiled a list of home renovations which have given me the best return on my investment dollars.
Here are the top renovations that you can add to an investment property that will get you the highest return on your money.
The Kitchen- The kitchen is the most used room in the house and should be one of the main focal points of a re-model. Quality cabinetry, counter tops and appliances are a must in a kitchen. No home buyer will want to buy a home and have to remodel their kitchen when they move in so I suggest not cutting any corners when it comes to the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that you should get gold plated fixtures and top of the line appliances. However, you shouldn’t buy the cheapest materials either. Try to stay somewhere in the middle price range. I like to go to the large hardware chains and see what’s on clearance [usually at the front of the store]. By doing this, you should be able to get some high end materials for mid range prices.
The Bathrooms- Bathroom remodels come in at a close second to remodeling the kitchen. They are the second most used room in the house and should be updated on any remodel. A new vanity, toilet and fixtures are a must unless the existing ones are in “like new” condition. There’s no bigger turnoff to a potential buyer than a dirty and out dated bathroom. It doesn’t have to cost you a fortune especially if you do some shopping around just like you should do for the kitchen. Any money that you can save on a remodel means more money in your pocket when it’s time to sell.
The Floors- The floors of a home is usually the first thing a potential buyer will notice as soon as they walk in. If the house has tiled floors and they look half way decent, then I will usually just have them cleaned by a tile cleaning company. A good tile cleaning company will clean the tile as well as the grout joints leaving the floor looking like new. However, if the tiles are in bad shape or they look tacky then you have no choice but to remove and replace them. If there’s carpeting, then 99% of the time it should be replaced with either new carpeting or tile. There’s a myth that tile is much more expensive than ceramic tile but this isn’t always the case. And even if it is a bit more expensive than carpeting, it might be worth the extra expense to have tile instead of carpeting. In my experience buyers will always prefer tile over carpet.
Paint- There’s nothing that will yield a higher return on your money than a fresh paint job. A new paint job will brighten the entire house as well as hide minor imperfections on the walls. It’s important to stick to neutral colors when painting a house that you intend to sell. Some investors make the mistake of using too many colors thinking that it will somehow impress a potential buyer but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Just because you think that you have great taste in interior design, it doesn’t mean that it’s true. Not only that, but if a potential buyer doesn’t like the colors on the walls this could be enough reason for them to not make an offer. My suggestion is to stick to one or 2 colors for the entire interior of the house. I like to paint the walls off white and the trim pure white. By using only one or two colors throughout the whole interior the house will look new, elegant and best of all… it’s much cheaper for labor as well as materials.
