When homebuyers and renters tour a residence, they tend to focus on kitchens and bathrooms more than any other areas. Eventually, structural details, flooring, and other items will catch their eye, but if you have great kitchen and bathroom spaces, you’ll win their hearts.
“The kitchen and bathroom sell a house,” says Ken Perrin, president of Artistic Renovations in Cleveland. “And most people buy the most expensive home they can afford. So, they don’t want to buy a house with a kitchen or bathroom that need to be worked on. That emotional tie is with the house where the kitchen and bathroom are in good condition.”
If you’re an investor, landlord, or home seller, you must grasp the effect your bathroom will have on potential buyers and renters because that can influence your rent or purchase price. A kitchen renovation can be expensive, and the return isn’t necessarily great.
“I tell clients if you do a complete gut of a bathroom down to the studs and rebuild from the ground up, you are going to spend $14,000 to $20,000, depending on what [features] you put into it,” Perrin explains. According to Remodeling.net, a bathroom remodel generates a 70 percent return on investment when you sell your home.
This means you won’t make money on your remodel if you aren’t smart in your planning and design. If you’re renovating a bathroom for the sole purpose of raising resale value and making a profit, here are five projects you could tackle.
A large house that has just one bathroom can be a huge turn-off for buyers. “When you’ve got over three bedrooms and you’re all sharing one shower, that’s really tough in a resale market,” says Jason Shepherd, a real estate broker in Denver.
Another bathroom will add significant value, particularly if you install a master ensuite. Adding a bathroom raises your home value, primarily because it appeals to more buyers.
That being said, you can easily get carried away with renovation costs if you’re not careful. You’ll increase the value of your home, but the average bathroom addition might recoup only 54 percent if you don’t do it smartly.
There’s usually no need to purchase top-of-the-line products to sell a house. A functioning, conservatively styled bathroom will appraise for not much less than a lavishly decorated bathroom, so don’t overspend.
Start with a word of caution: Tackling projects with which you lack experience can mean disaster, especially with a bathroom. Brian Johnson, an architectural designer from Montana, strongly advises hiring a plumber to handle the plumbing facets.
“If you screw up the plumbing, you will cause other problems in your house,” he says in an HGTV article. However, you can do certain things yourself to save money and increase overall home value.
Certain kinds of flooring can easily be installed without a professional, but hardwoods, laminate, and heavy tile are usually best left to experts if you don’t have experience. The same may be said for a tile shower and backsplash.
You might be able to install your own vanity, paint the room, add crown molding, or install new fixtures. These can save you a few hundred on your remodel and set up more profit for your efforts.
When you’re designing a bathroom you plan to use for the next decade, you may install the trendiest fixtures, wallpaper, and flooring with no qualms. It can be flamboyant or plain because you’re the one who will use and enjoy it.
But if you’re trying to raise the resale value of your home, you’ll want a bathroom that can stand the test of time. That means ignoring trends and going for a timeless style instead.
Typically, timeless bathrooms are painted a neutral color. They have clean lines and basic features that can be accessorized according to the current resident’s tastes.
Before purchasing a vanity, shower tile, or flooring, think about how it will all look in 10 years. Will it be easy and affordable to update with new fixtures and a fresh coat of paint? If the answer is no, your resale value will suffer.
In almost every remodeling project, you can recoup value with small items, especially if your bathroom was previously designed with timeless features. According to a report from Zillow, paint colors are a key factor to raise resale value.
Although painting the bathroom alone isn’t likely to be the deciding factor for a homebuyer, it can make the rest of your bathroom updates pop. Kerrie Kelly, a home designer and contributor to the Zillow report, says: “If a seller decides to repaint before listing, she should consider shades that may be more likely to boost the closing price.”
For the bathroom, she recommends tans such as oatmeal or beige. According to the report, bathrooms painted in these colors can raise the home sale price by about $283, while ill-fitting colors (such as dark brown) can decrease in value by an average of $469.
Other small details here and there can bring your renovation alive. Think about putting crown molding on the ceiling, changing the fixtures, replacing handles on your vanity drawers, and similar updates that could increase buyer interest in the space.
You’ve been warned about overspending on your bathroom remodel, but that doesn’t mean a little luxury can’t be used to your advantage. This is especially worthwhile if you’re updating the master ensuite, since that’s a key item on many buyers’ wish list.
Rather than planning your dream bathroom (remember, you won’t be using it!), design your luxury remodel with sale price in mind. If your local home outfitter is having a sale on bathroom fixtures, choose a jetted tub from their sales section. Do the same for your tiling and vanity.
The key here is to infuse as much luxury as possible without going over budget. You can raise the value of your home and pique the interest of potential buyers and renters without spending a lot.
Whether you’re planning to rent, sell, or flip your current property, we can help you recoup the most value. Listing with the right Realtors and hiring the best property managers can make all the difference.
Our flat-rate realty and property management fees can sell your property for a premium price and increase your resale value significantly without committing hefty Realtor fees. For more information about what we offer, contact us today!
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