How do you know

renonewbie · Aug 07, 2014 11:16 pm

Hey everyone

I was just wondering how do you know when to renovate or whether its a good idea? We have to sell our house that were currently living in due to family things but I don't know whether its worth renovating or just 'selling for the land' kind of thing.

It was valued at $265,000 about 2-3 years ago but the median price for a house in my area is $435,000. I can understand the loss of value because it is on a main road with alot of traffic and being across from a church/cemetery probably wouldn't help either.

It's a old house with if i'm being honest a bit of a weird floor plan (I'm pretty sure it was built in the 50's) It is covered in ghastly wallpaper and carpets and to be honest seems like it would need a lot of work before it became sellable.

Is there someone you call to figure out if something is worth renovating or what? It's a big decision and i want to be informed beforehand :)

qebtel · Aug 08, 2014 1:28 pm

IS the market in your area rising? If so , it might be worth renovating. Otherise, no.

Ari · Aug 08, 2014 1:55 pm

Go into a few real estate agents in the area and ask their opinion. Generally they have a good idea of the local market.

travelbug · Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm

Look at similar houses with a reno and without a reno and find the difference in price.
Then work out how much it will cost you to get yours to the reno'd house level. If it is the same amount forget it.

Eg your house is worth $300K. A reno'd one is $400K.
So if it's going to cost $80K then it's not worth it.

If you can do a reno for $50K to get it like the $400K then it's worth your time.
It also depends how much work you personally want to do. Removing wallpaper and painting is cheap and can make a huge difference. Also look at whether it will sell as is. If it won't then yo don't have much choice.

If you can do anything yourself I would make the effort. Even decluttering makes a huge difference.