Thread: Resources or advice for renovating property

Originally Posted by ajctennis

I’m looking to learn more about renovating property. Potentially flipping or at least renovating property to raise price and or rents.

I don’t have an issue with finding properties to invest in markets that will do well in the future.

I would like the ability to walk into a property and assess what needs to be fixed on the interior/exterior to add the most value. If anyone knows of any resources or has any advice, I would appreciate it.

My wife watches a fukload of design shows n shyt. Paint helps if colors are bad/faded. Yard matters if it looks dingy- just needs to be clean kept and trim. Main sellers are the bathrooms and kitchens in terms of layout and finishes. Floors to an extent matter- but literally everyone just wants hardwood as a rule of thumb. This advice mostly sums up every flip show ever unless you wanna start opening up walls to make the layout more open.

The best way to get this experience would be to work for a while with some tradesmen or someone who knows a lot about renovations and DIY, and you'll pick it up really fast. Learning from books/videos is extremely inefficient.

Not sure how to help because it's such a broad and vague question tbh. I guess I would suggest looking into , and questioning yourself (because some answers will lead to additional questions:

1) YOU won't be able to assess anything aside from aesthetics until you do this for a long long time. This is where having a detailed home inspection is crucial.

2) General rule of thumb for renovation costs is $30 (rental) - $50 (personal)/sqft

3) There are 3 levels of renovations depending on your goals

i. Rental - you want to a "lip stick on a pig" as far as quality and depth of renovation. You want it to be visually appealing, but affordable, cheap but not flimsy

ii. Flip - Nicer isn't always better. Do enough to make it seem like there's value, but not so much that you turn people off with an obvious flip. Also, your taste may not be theirs. This is a goldie locks thing where you can't leave it as is, but you can't go overboard, but in the middle will be perfect because a prospective buyer will see it and say think "This home isn't seeing a crazy mark up because of the upgrades, and there's still enough value in it for me to remodel down the line but it's nice enough to live in right away!" There's a lot of psychology in this play.

iii. Your personal home - Stay away from trends/fads. YOU will be living there for a long time. Do YOU think you will still like a trendy element in 5 years? Look at trends from 5-10 years and see how you feel about them. Spend your money on quality upgrades, and bring it all to life with controllable features (bold paint colors can bring whole new life to various spaces, cabinets can be painted, window treatments are one of the MOST under appreciated home elements)

I feel like I could go on and on, but won't incase I head down a path of I dont give a chitsville, but feel free to ask anything specific.

OP, depends on your area. Too many people watch HGTV and think they need to completely gut a house and put the nicest finishes in it. Does that make it easier to sell? Sure, but it doesn't work in all areas.

The market is so hot right now, that making the house look presentable is really what matters. Paint, flooring, new countertops (laminate, no need for granite or quartz). If you can make the house look good and stage it well, it'll sell.