If you just bought a new home or are selling your current residence, you may be thinking about remodeling. Regardless of whether you are buying or selling, you need to consider getting the best return on the dollars you invest in your remodel. A good real estate agent with a lot of experience in your area should be pretty good at advising you on which remodel will give you the best return on your investment.
The Quickie, 3-5 days: Sometimes it just makes sense to do a quick cleaning of surfaces in a house, I call it the quickie. It should take just a few days to complete. Paint Everything – If you have any old cabinets from the 1970s or anything else dating from the property, paint those as well. Shampoo the carpets. If you can’t remove the stains, change them. If you own a property with foul pet odors, you’ll want to seal any cement or plywood floors. Soils like this are porous. If you replace the carpet without sealing the floor, the odors will return. Not many houses on the west side of Los Angeles have old oak hardwood floors. If so, you can restore them or, depending on cost, replace them or put down some carpeting.
After painting and cleaning the carpet situation, replace all old knobs and hinges (don’t forget to do the hinges) with brushed nickel/stainless steel or chrome hardware. Try not to keep any old hardware that has paint on it. It seems cheap and rent. And lastly, replace all the old sockets and switches with new white plastic ones. You will be amazed at how much better your property will look. About a month ago I put a condo for sale that was in terrible condition, very bad. We did a “quickie” and the place sold within the first few days for 10% ($60,000) more than half a dozen other realtors thought it was worth. People commented on how well the vendor had maintained the place. Cost $2,000-6,000 (with exterior paint it will be more)
The Moderate, 7-12 days – This includes everything I wrote in the “fast” with just a few more taps. You keep your cabinets but replace the kitchen counters with granite. There are pre-made granite counters that are made in places like China in 8 x 2′ pieces with rounded edges and six inch backsplashes that are very inexpensive. You keep the cabinets in the bathrooms, but replace the old outdated tiles, linoleum, or carpet on the floors with travertine tiles. At one time travertine was around $10 per square foot. You can now find very good quality travertine tile for around $3.50 per square foot. Remove your old shower/bath combo doors and replace them with a new frameless door available at Home Depot for under $400. You can also use a fancy curtain. Anything is better than a dirty old shower door from the 1960s or 1970s. Cost $6,000-15,000
The Complete, 1-24 months – If you’re doing a complete remodel, it’s best not to skimp on quality. In other words, avoid doing any of the things recommended in Moderate and Fast. On the west side of Los Angeles, you’ll do much better in a complete remodel if it’s done upscale. This means quality, upscale finishes like Caesarstone quartz countertops, exotic hardwoods, expensive tile, high-end brand name appliances like Viking, and working with a designer or using your own well-developed aesthetic. Of course, it’s all relative, you probably wouldn’t put a Viking stove in a 600 square foot condo, but you certainly should put one in a 2500 square foot home. It’s the difference between a polo shirt without a logo and with a logo: people pay more for the logo. $35,000-200,000
As a real estate agent I have seen many remodeled properties. One person will have spent $150,000 on a remodel that doesn’t look as good as another person who spent $60,000. I am not exaggerating. There are ways of doing things that will save you a lot of money. In two weeks I’ll be running a column on saving money, not skimping, but avoiding common mistakes people make when remodeling.