I just bought my house for 95k. There are very similiar house in my area listed for 139-155. The biggest difference is a very small one car gargage (the 155k house). These are all cookie cutter houses.
I want to update the kitchen and bathroom. Only if I can get out more than what I put in. Both of these rooms are not in bad shape, they just are out dated or have half done upgrades.
Is it possible to remodel these rooms and get a good amount back on the investment?
Those are the two rooms that bring the highest returns on money invested.
Keith
Thank you.
you need to know and understand what your potential buyer will be looking for and expecting as well as what the average comparable house in that price range will have/look like.
yes, fixing up those areas can delivery a high return, but the materials can add up in a hurry. You can drop $5k in a kitchen in a blink of an eye even doing the work yourself. The point being don’t gut these rooms unless they need it, but don’t cut corners. If it looks old and dated, then it needs to be made looking fresh. Maybe that means paint, maybe it means refacing the cabinets or maybe it means ripping everything out and starting fresh.
as for your other post, yes, add a dishwasher. its only a couple of hundred dollars and you might turn off a potential buyer by not having it (who wants to wash dishing by hand??? I still get grief from my wife about a house I rented 8 yrs ago that did not have a dishwasher.)
I see. Well the rooms are fine as is. Maybe I should not remodel them. I may only get out what I put in.
The person that eventually buys your house is going to buy your house or the one down the street. What you want to do is make sure that he chooses your house as opposed to the one down the street. Don’t remodel based on your taste, but on the market that you are in. I make sure my place is as nice as the ones around it and I add some special feature. That feature depends on what I can find on sale. If I am looking for bathroom sinks and I find one of those designer faucets (like the one on the TV commercial that the woman tells the architect to design a house around) I put that in. I found granite tile for about the same price as the tile I was going to use ($1/sqft) so I put in granite. That kind of special feature is what I use. Instead of stopping by the local bar on your way home from work, you need to stop by Lowe’s and Home Depot every day on your way home to see what they have out on the clearance table. When you see some upgraded item for not much money, buy it and put it away for this type of feature.
selling real estate is a beauty contest; however, if your already good lookin’, you don’t need $8k in plastic surgery enhancements to win at the county fair. some lipstick and make-up will go a long way… 
I think not. It is my personal residence, not a flip. I don’t have the money to rehab. I am going to live in it for a few years then either sell or refi and rent. I got it for 95k a week ago and could put it on the market for 120k today. I am just trying make it a gem over the next three years and am trying to learn about putting money into a house and gettting it back.
Ohh yeah, thanks for your helpful answer :
On your personal residence you always put into it what you want. It is only there to help you live the lifestyle that you most enjoy. Don’t put things into it that make it easy to sell unless they also enhance your lifestyle. If you want a cat room for your 12 cats put it in, or a snake run through out the hose for your 50 snakes. It is only there for you. These things may make it impossible to sell, but you live in a house because it suites your lifestyle. We can’t tell you what your lifestyle should be.
I understand or at least I think I do. I bought the house of of my girlfriends mother. My son and girlfriend already lived there. This has been my son’s home and I did not want to interupt his life, that and I got the house for 20k under retail.
I was buying th house regardless of whether I came up with a number a rehab cost before purchase.
It does not need a rehab at all. It is very noce on the inside. I have just seen nicer. The same type of house’s are going for 135k-139k right now. I have not been inside them but I figure the must have a nice kitchen and bathroom becuase these houses are al the same on the inside.
Sell it to your Son… Offer him a equity gift to the family fact and get out of the house… Why not Great tax write off for you and he owns his own home,
He is 4 and his credit is not so good ;D
Is it judgements or mostly collections?
Sorry about that I took it wrong with the whole Son and Girlfriend I thought it was his girlfriend let me guess that is not the case either?
Robb
i’m confused. i understand the whole, it’s your girlfriend’s house, who has your son, and they live there. you bought it from her and it’s the house that your son has lived in…so it’s like an emotional thing.
i don’t see this situation as a investment in the strictest sense. this is a personal situation that involves personal ownership of a home and some personal feelings impacting your decision making.
that is not investing.
i’m curious as to why your girlfriend has sold you her home for that much under value? are the two of you splitting that money? i’m really confused.
the more confusing it gets, the worse the picture becomes. and i don’t mean to be mean, i’m simply stating my opinion, so don’t take offense, but it doesn’t seem like you had/have much of an idea of what you plan to do with this “project”.
lack of planning is the kiss of death. to me, it takes DISCIPLINE, to buy a home, live in it, fix it up and still keep an objective mindset when rehabbing little things here and there. it’s your home…not an investment per se. that’s where the discipline comes in. my uncle is great at this. he buys homes, lives in them for about 3 to 4 years - and he is STRICT with his budget. he lives a certain way, does rehabs slowly and makes them fit exactly into a plan and budget that he works out, long before he buys. he’s methodical. it almost makes me sick - but he knows what he’s doing, cuz after 15 years of doing it, he’s pretty darn close to being a millionaire from it.
throw in a kid, throw in a wife/girlfriend, who doesn’t necessarily fully understand such an investment strategy or lacks the investment mind-set - and you’re building up toward stress and problems.
my uncle is not married. he does exactly what he wants. and loves doing it. but that’s his strategy and it works for him. he would tell you, cuz he tells me, practice discipline with your money and your business, and you’ll be much better off.
good luck man.
Like I said, your personal residence is about your chose lifestyle. We have no dog in that fight.
If you want to live in a van down by the river or a mansion up on the hill. It is not our business
Nope. My girlfriend.
Kitchens and Baths are the #1 selling point. The only thing that Really hurts (was going to use another word there) is if you do Cherry cabinets the next buyer is going to like oak if you do tile counter tops the next guy will like granite. So if you are planning to stay for awhile do it up and get-r-done. If you are planning on selling I would not make it to elaborate
(HEY LOOK I USED A BIG WORD DO I GET EXTRA POINTS FOR THAT?)
Robb
Here is a good Rule of thumb that I use.
If you are flipping the property take off your left sock if the house smells worse then the sock FIX IT if not Good enough for them good enough for me…
My son lived int he house with my girlfiend and her mother (my son’s grandmother, my future mother in law).
My future mother in law sold me the house under value because I was going to buy a duplex and she did not want her daughter and her grandson to be uprooted from a nice house they call home and move into a duplex.
It needs no work. I can post pics . It has hardwood floors and was rehabbed 2 years ago.
It is a investment, not a great one. I got a atleast 120k house for 95k, money down, $1000 cash back and a 5-7/8 interest rate. If I put it one the market today I could walk away with 10k. 10k in two weeks is not bad.
I also got it completely furnished. I mean everything from couches, tvs, dvds all the way down to forksand spoons.
Her mom just gave me the keys and walked out.
I talked to a guy yesterday who specialises in flipping these exact houses. (there are about 200 of them built by DU pont about 70 years ago for its workers) He told me I did good when I told him what I paid. Him being a full time investor and knowing more than I do would have paid 10k less, he said. He markets these houses from 130-145k.
Nothing is wrong with my kitchen or bathroom. I was just under the impression that if you put in a really nice kitchen and bathroom it will add to the value of your house and give you more on your return.
This sounds stupid but when I watch “Flip This House” they usually put in a really nice kitchen as opposed to an average one.
There are listings on the web right now that are the same exact house as mine but listed for 132k,135k, and one for 139k the onse with a small garage are 144k and 155k.
I have to find out what is in those houses like mine that are listed for 135k. I am going to an open house this weekend to see the inside of a house that listed for 144k.
I just want to be able to get a 5-10k HELOC out of it in a year or two.
Sorry for the confusion.