Real Estate Blog June Archive

If you're going to do some subtle improvements to your house, there are good, bad, ugly and outright dumb investments you can make. Here's quick run-down of the dos and donts of making your new, old house more valuable.

- Start by painting the place, inside and out. It's easy, and if you've got the time, just take it and do it, and it will sparkle like new.

- Assuming you can't afford a total, electrical overhaul, so just replace all of the outlets, light switches and fixtures. On the surface it looks every bit as good.

- Replace everything broken, but don't go crazy with upgrades. Fix broken windows, but don't go with thermal windows unless you can afford it and it makes sense for your budget and climate.

- Install new smoke detectors, unless the ones you have are very new. Replace batteries with every daylight savings time, for safety's sake.

- Put stoppers behind doors to keep them from banging. It's a buck or two a piece, and it adds more than that in the appearance of care and appreciation.

- If you have wood floors, even very old and abused ones, tear up the carpet, wash them clean, and give them two coats of varnish. Everyone knows the floors are old, even if a bit paint-spattered, but you won't have to tell them there's wood, they'll just see it, and this improvement costs less than $30, even with all new brushes, but it can add $10,000.

- Replace the carpets. If you can't afford it, steam clean them instead.

- If you have a funky stench, rent an industrial ionizer. It's what the Ionic Breeze air filter is based on, and it's what the property fixer guys use to remove any trace of smoke smell after a fire. It neutralizes the air, and everything else, and it kills every last scent. Pets, mold, smoke, it doesn't matter, it kills it, and it's a single day's rental (but rent it in the morning, and return it the following evening, which makes it 30-hours for the price of only 12.)

- Add a fire extinguisher to your kitchen. Whether you need it for yourself, you're renting the house out, or just flipping it on a sale, no two ways about it; it's a sign of care and value.

- Use "painter's caulk" to fill every last nail hole and trim gap. It's like a buck a tube, but it covers just about everything between a quick squirt and a finger to wipe it down. - If you can find one of those "Magic Wand" paint rollers, the kind where you suck up a bunch of paint in the handle, you should do it. It will cut your painting time by easily 75%.

- If you don't have window treatments, just go cheap and buy the bottom-of-the-line Venetians for $5 a window. They hang quick, once you master them, which is easy, and they look great too. If you break them or otherwise have to replace them, throw them out and go buy another $5 worth.

- If you really want to do the yard, do it, but don't go too big right off the bat. Get the lawn up to speed, but don't go crazy building fences or planting maintenance-intensive flowers and bulbs.

- Clean up the kitchen, but don't bring in those over-priced cabinet guys to gussy it up. It will take years to get your money back, and you'll only be a tad happier. Put the money in other things.

- If you need a roof, go for it, but don't opt for the tear-off if you don't absolutely need it, nor the 40-year roof when a 25 or 30-year version is available cheaper... if it isn't cheaper, find another roofer, because you're getting robbed.

Why You Should Never Convert Your Garage

If you have a garage you don't use to park your car, which is a real scourge on suburban society, since so very many just waste the space on needless storage, you may have thought about converting the old two-car to living space. It's easy, since it's already got windows and a solid, dry floor, but the step down into the garage is beyond conspicuously obvious, it's the sign of the times, and these times are that it's just not time to convert your garage. I had a client back in the day who bought a three-bedroom house with a two-car garage, and converted it to a four-bedroom, with a zero-car garage. When it came time to refinance, he just couldn't believe that his value had gone down. "But I improved the house and spent a bunch of money, how could my house go down in value?" It's easy. What he added was an ugly, uncomfortable bedroom that obviously used to be a garage. What he lost was a garage. The addition of the bedroom only added $8,000 in value, but the loss of the garage reduced the value by $20,000. Every other house in the development had a garage, but not this one. It was a bummer, but come on, who defiles their garage like this? Consider a basement or attic remodel, or even the addition of all-new space, but don't consider converting the garage. Unless you're running a slum property, it just won't pay off in the runs long or short. Tags: convert garage • real estate values • 0 Comments. - Permalink

Should You Finish Your Attic? By Brian White at 06/11/07 20:18 If your house has an attic, you may have wondered if (and how) to finish it into living space. More space is always a good thing, so here are a few pointers to make it work out the best all around. Make sure that finishing the space won't compromise the integrity of the house overall. Not valuable if the house comes down. Make sure the floor is properly supported to bear the weight of people and furniture. Put the stairs up there in a smart place, and don't make them too steep or forbidding. If you can open a section to the downstairs, like the living room, that makes it feel really great. Add plenty of lights and outlets, and make sure it's up to code. No sense creating a fire hazard. Add windows if possible, preferably the kinds that protrude with little roofs over them. Extra space is nice, but a bedroom adds more value. If you don't want a bedroom, just put a closet up there and it will still technically pass on an appraisal. An extra bathroom and/or kitchen adds a ton of value, and can make it a whole apartment or sorts, but can be very expensive. Skylights that open look nice, but can really keep the temperature reasonable in hot summer months. Tags: finish attic • real estate values • 0 Comments. - Permalink Should You Finish Your Basement? By Brian White at 06/11/07 20:17 If your house has a basement, no doubt you've thought about finishing it into livable space. It can be costly, but worth far more in property appreciation, under the right circumstances. Make sure you have enough head room. A low ceiling may be a big turn off to future buyers, and even yourself. Make sure it's a dry basement. If it's not, there are affordable ways to punch a drain field under the floor, but it's a huge hassle. If there aren't windows, consider adding them. It makes a big, big difference. A bonus room is nice, but a bedroom adds a ton of value. If you take your house from two-bedrooms to four, it can add $50-$100,000 in value overnight, but make sure you give them closets and windows you can climb out of in case of emergency, or they may not count. Do your best to make the work look professional. If it looks like "handyman work", it may be something that people won't want to buy. Make the stairs as nice and natural as possible. Steep, awkward, dangerous stairs make it feel like a basement, not more living space. If you can add a bathroom, kitchen and outside door, you'll have an apartment down there you can rent out. Include plenty out lights and outlets. Get all the necessary permits whenever possible. If your unfinished basement meets these criteria, you can entirely change the actual value of your house by far more than it costs to do the work. Plan on mess, fuss and hassle, but know that it's worth it in the end. Tags: finish basement • real estate values • 0 Comments. - Permalink real estate values Archives: • June, 2007 • 0

Privacy Policy
real estate values tags Real Estate Blog June Archive