Copyright 2008 Profitable Partnerships USA, LLC
As you become more experienced with your renovations and rehab projects, it becomes more advantageous for you to evaluate and examine the particular properties you buy to see what small ways you can add value without increasing your renovation budget substantially.
Particular things to pay attention to and look for that you will find as you walk through the various comparable properties in the neighborhood include salable metrics you can install into the property to make it more attractive than it is now.
One thing we want to emphasize with this particular case is to try to maximize value by changing what is already currently there. This means not to necessarily add new structures, but reconfigure or add some small improved touches to the current structure that already exists today.
Here are some things to consider and some ideas you may want to add to your different tier checklists depending on if the neighborhood sales will support it.
Keep in mind that these are things that do not require a lot of additional cost, but they do add a lot of value to the property and make it that much more attractive relative to the other comparable properties in the neighborhood.
Add a half bath to the main level of the house. In a lot of older homes, you typically find one full bathroom upstairs as the only bathroom on the property.
Consider adding a full bathroom in the basement or upstairs level in what might be the master bathroom. If you can arrange and design it so that the new additional bathroom comes very close to either the kitchen or the existing bathroom pipes, it makes it easy to minimize the expense you need to plumb it. Don’t run long lines of plumbing if you can avoid it.
In a lot of older homes, the design and layout of the floor plan is considered “broken up” and “choppy”.
By simply demolishing a few walls and opening up the living space of the home, you can make a tremendous impact on how people feel when they walk through the home.
Doing this generally adds a more open feeling, allows you to make certain rooms larger, and in some cases also allow more light into the rooms of the house. This goes a long way in adding value to the property.
Something else to consider is actually finishing the basement.
A lot of townhomes and single-family homes come with full, unfinished basements. Finished basements go a long way to attract buyers. They add a tremendous amount of value and do not generally require a lot of expense to finish.
Another area in which you can look to improve on a property and add significant value without undergoing a ton of expense is a patio, porch or back deck.
These add a lot of character to homes. Retail buyers generally like to see these as they walk through and decide upon a home.
In some areas parking is a premium element of a property.
Some properties you acquire may have the ability to add off-street parking (OSP) to the lot or even a garage or carport.
In these cases, it is smart to examine the cost of doing so. Many times, with little effort, you can make a big difference to the attractiveness and the value of a property by simply adding parking or a garage.
These are just a few elementary things you can consider to add value to your property.
Examine the comparables in your neighborhood. Take notice of the small things that realtors point out that help sell houses. Pay close attention to what people comment on. It could be built-in storage, opening up rooms or carving out particular areas of the house.
You want to consider what these different things cost and see if the return on the investment in this work is worthwhile. We can tell you from experience that it generally is. It will allow you sell your house faster and for more money.
Take special note of what sells in today’s marketplace. Whenever you acquire a property and are deciding what ways to maximize your property’s value during the walk through with your contractor, you should pose yourself the question: “If you were the one buying this property, what would make you want to live in it?”
See how you answer that question and perhaps how some of your friends, family, peers, and realtors answer that question. Once you have those answers, decide on which suggestions resonate with you and make the most sense for the house and your budget.
Small adjustments such as these can go a long way to help attract more buyers.
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Tom Zeeb and Will Lansing are active real estate investors, national speakers and mentors who coach students how to make BIG profits so they can live the lives of their dreams. They are the authors of the highly acclaimed home-study course the “Profitable Partnerships Success Library”. For information on having Tom & Will speak to your real estate group or for home study course and other Profitable Partnerships product information, please visit www.profitable-partnerships.com email mentor@profitable-partnerships.com or call 877-COACH-50.
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