Tag Archives: remodeling

How to Spend Those Big Bucks to Make the Greatest Impact on Your Home’s Marketability

Posted on April 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

When Jim Holland bought his current house, the former engineer and do-it-yourselfer quickly made a mental list of the home-improvement projects he wanted to tackle.

At the top was a new garage door.

That might not be as flashy as a remodeled kitchen or a new deck — you’re unlikely to see a photo spread on garage doors in the next issue of Better Homes and Gardens — but Holland, as a longtime Realtor and broker in La Jolla, knows the value of curb appeal.

Is there a difference between curb appeal and “value?” To appraiser there sure is. Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

First, he wanted his new home to look good, and pulling into the driveway each day just felt better once the new door was up. But second, Holland has learned that improving the home’s exterior is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to increase its value.

“It made a major, dramatic change to the front of the house, and I got comments all the time from people,” says Holland of the neighbors he soon met. “ ‘Oh, you’re the guy with the nice garage door, right?’ They didn’t know my name, but I was known.”

Holland estimates the custom garage door cost about $5,000, which he says “is a lot of money to spend.” But he calls it a great investment when combined with a later re-stuccoing project to the front of the house that gave it a complete makeover and a significant upgrade in value.

To Holland and others with experience in San Diego real estate, it’s sometimes the smaller projects, a few cans of paint or an upgrade in appliances and landscaping that make homes not only more livable but also more valuable in the long run.

“Granite countertops, brand new cabinets, new fixtures, that sort of stuff is great, and it absolutely helps your property sell quicker and for more money,” says Seth O’Byrne, a San Diego Realtor. “But as far as bang for your buck, it’s really hard to compete with the value of improving the paint and flooring and staging the property well.”

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Renovating for Profit

Posted on March 26, 2013 | Leave a comment

If there was ever a lesson that renovating is a mugs’ game – it was in the bitter disappointment of Mark and Duncan at The Block All Stars auction.

Despite six weeks of hard work – and stress – the buyers just didn’t fall in love with the fellas’ quirky ideas.

There was the fish tank (beautiful but requiring effort to maintain it) in the fireplace. The kid’s bedroom – a great idea, well-executed but limiting the buyer pool to someone with children (boys in particular), or a purchaser prepared to redecorate or rip out the room and start again.

And the “silent” talking birds in the backyard – although admittedly you could easily remove the bird cage if it wasn’t your thing.

There were plenty of elements that those on the hunt for a property could either love – or hate – at Mark and Duncan’s.

Even the animal-print splashback in the kitchen was different enough to potentially divide the market.

And while the backyard was gorgeous, its multiple levels and fish pond almost certainly would have put off families with babies and toddlers who wanted a safe, easy garden (like Phil and Amity’s) and investors desiring a property that had broad appeal to renters. The boys’ garden design was also somewhat at odds with the kids’ room inside (although admittedly the bedroom was designed for older kids).

Will your renovations add value to your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

Is the lesson that when you’re renovating with the intention of selling you should keep it safe, go mainstream and some might even say, a little boring?

In some ways, yes.

Remodeling is Making a Comeback Reports NAHB

Posted on February 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

Reports are showing that the housing market is coming ever-so-slowly back from a four-year coma, and it’s bringing the remodeling market along with it.

Builder confidence is the highest it’s been in 6.5 years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo survey.

Will your remodeling project add value to your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

Meanwhile, home construction is nearly 22 percent higher than this time last year, and builders are on track to do more work on homes this year since than they have in the past four.