What are the best remodeling projects?
A: With respect to where to spend your hard-earned dollars on remodeling projects, there are a couple of rules to bear in mind:
1. Adding all the bells and whistles to a project is going to increase your budget considerably and may prove to be loss leaders in the end. Additions like warming drawers, wine refrigerators and fancy builtin espresso machines are trendy, to be sure, but may not return the dollars you’ve invested in them. Stick to classic, timeless design when it comes to the kitchen and bathrooms, and these choices are far more likely to pay for themselves in increased value when it is time to sell.
2. Fresh paint, new lighting and updated hardware are easy and fairly inexpensive fixes that immediately change the tenor of your home and help make it feel more current.
3. If you’ve overlooked your garden, think again. While hardscapes and decks don’t come cheap, trees, blooming shrubs and flowers truly deliver the biggest bang for the buck and will pay you back in spades when tended. In my experience, the most surprising sales results always come from properties that treat their yards as extensions of the homes themselves, creating outdoor rooms and gardens that cheerfully beckon and set dreams in motion. Julie Gardner,
Grubb Co., (510) 326-0840, jgardner@grubbco.com. A: The majority of sellers in our Bay Area market find it to their advantage to spend time and money preparing their home for sale to achieve maximum value. Potential buyers will determine a home’s value by its location, size, condition and level of updates.
Sellers prepare a complete disclosure package that includes a home and pest inspection. It is a good idea to review these reports with your real estate professional and decide whether or not it is in your best interest to repair any action items. Most buyers will accept some minor items that are common on all non-new homes, however, if there are any safety or structural issues, you may want to consider repairing these or getting a bid from a contractor that will enable the buyer to quantify the extent of the repair.
We have an older base housing stock in our area, and most buyers will plan on investing more in these types of homes in the future However, they may want to live in the home or rent it out in the short term, so presenting it in the most positive light makes sense. It is important to gauge the level of improvements to the overall condition and targeted buyer profile of your home. Consult with your real estate professional who has experience in your local market to get it right and make sure you are spending money in areas that will achieve the highest return when you launch your marketing effort. Tom LeMieux, Pacific Union Real Estate,
(650) 465-7459, tom@tomlemieux.com. A: The return on investment is always a part of the remodeling conversation. That question can sometimes be answered by how long you plan on living in your home — the longer you’ll live there, the longer the personalized improvements prove their worth. Having said that, bathrooms and kitchen are everyone’s favorite, and they fortunately provide very good value and returns.
Creating an open floor plan also provides great value and is a crowd pleaser. Buyers love homes tastefully done and ready to move into, and they are willing to pay a premium for these improvements.
Here’s good news for Bay Area homeowners. Based on a recent survey, San Francisco remodel projects actually return an average 113 percent of the cost of the remodel, substantially more than national averages. According to the same survey, adding a second floor also provides a great return. I personally have listed, marketed and sold many remodeled homes and agree with these findings.
Working with qualified contractors and agents who understand the market will be crucial in maximizing your return on investment and it will also spare you stress, headaches and wasted money. If you personalize the home too much — say with unpopular colors, materials or floor plans — the return on investment will suffer. My advice is to get good advice and follow it. Frank Castaldini, Coldwell Banker, (415)
846-1899, frankcastaldini@gmail.com.