Ottawa Real Estate: 9 Tips to Maximize Renovation ROI
Do you know that around 50% of Canadians claim that they don't know ANYTHING about enhancing renovation ROI, according to a Legger survey? Consequently, when these people plan a home renovation, they end up spending more money than they could ever recoup through a sale.
If this is you, don’t worry! We’re here to help. This article will give you a few tips for choosing the most innovative home renovations as well as list some important renovation projects -and we’ll only cite statistics from reliable sources like the Canadian Appraisal Institute so that you can plan with confidence.
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Tips For Choosing the Smartest Home Renovations
When it comes to real estate, we all want to make the most of our investments. Whereas poor planning or DIY home improvement projects often fail to improve your home’s resale value.
Let us share the story of our Ontario-based clients, Jimmy and Rebecca White, to prove the point. The couple were teachers by profession and wanted to renovate their home before selling it out. They installed a swimming pool which cost them $12,000. The pool also required maintenance charges of around $400 a month.
Jimmy and Rebeca were not into swimming, plus they lived in a place where it snowed a lot, and the pool could be used only for six months a year.
When the home was finally listed for sale, they discovered that adding a pool could only increase the value of their home up to 7%. They also discovered that some buyers considered the pool a liability and didn’t want to invest time and money in maintaining it. Others considered it a safety hazard for their small kids.
Their story is a classic example of how a poorly planned home renovation project can be a total waste of money. Meanwhile, an intelligent renovation project can boost the value of your home.
Are you looking forward to planning an intelligent renovation for improved ROI?
Here are some tips, according to the Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC):
1. The Bigger Picture: Long-Lasting Improvements
You might be tempted by shiny new appliances or a fancy new kitchen faucet-but those are short-term investments at best. What about when something goes wrong with an appliance? Or when that faucet starts leaking?
It’s not worth taking on high-maintenance projects unless they can give you years of worry-free living.
Want to invest in long-lasting home improvements? Energy-efficient heating and cooling systems and windows are excellent choices, but the best way to invest in your home is through the roof.
Roof repairs are one of the most expensive types of home repairs. The good news: a new roof will last for 10 to 15 years! So if you plan on staying put for that long, this is an intelligent choice. But remember! Regular maintenance is as necessary as the initial investment.
2. Update Your High-Traffic Areas
When it comes to updating the core rooms of your home, you don’t have to go all-in on a complete renovation. In fact, even small changes can make a big difference! All it takes is a little creativity and some elbow grease-and before you know it, those core rooms will be looking like new!
Here are a few tips for updating the core rooms during a home improvement project:
- The kitchen is one of the most popular rooms in any home, according to a recent survey by The Home Depot. Similarly, bathrooms are often the first place people look when they’re looking to renovate their homes. Plan small changes in these rooms to make a big difference.
- Consider purchasing modern light fixtures for high-traffic areas such as hallways or stairways that aren’t getting much natural light during the day (but still need some style). They’ll help illuminate these areas without taking up too much space or adding too much expense. Potential buyers love a well-lit room.
- Changing door knobs, resurfacing cabinets, or replacing fixtures and countertops often result in a great return on investment.
These small renovations can improve the overall look of your house.
3. Save your wallet and your home with quick, low-cost updates.
We’ve all been there: you’re ready to sell your house, but it’s just not showing its best side. Maybe the paint is peeling, or maybe it’s just starting to look a little dated. You know there are little things you can do to make your home more appealing-but does that mean you need to spend a fortune?
We’re here to tell you: no! There are tons of inexpensive updates that will give your house an instant facelift (and make it more attractive to buyers). A fresh coat of paint, modern lighting fixtures, light landscaping or gardening, or upgraded door handles can give your home an updated look and feel – and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money!
Take our advice: start small with one or two projects and see how it goes. It might be the difference between selling your home quickly or having it sit on the market for months before someone comes along who’s willing to put in the work themselves.
4. Prioritize Energy-Efficient Renovations
Ditch the old, inefficient appliances and replace them with modern, energy-efficient models.
If you’re looking for a return on your investment, then you’ll want to consider energy-efficient renovations that have a high return relative to cost. Energy efficiency translates into reduced operating costs over time, which means your bottom line will thank you.
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5. Be Careful about Over-Improvement.
Over-improvement is a real thing. It’s when you invest too much money in a home, and the investment doesn’t pay off to the point where it recoups your costs.
We’ve seen this happen with kitchen renovations when a homeowner decides to replace all their cabinets but ends up with an outdated look that doesn’t match the rest of the house. Or when they spend $10,000 on new lighting fixtures but end up with an ugly chandelier that looks like it belongs in a museum. Carefully plan all the expenses according to the budget and implement them with care.
6. Prioritize Your Personal Needs
If you’re thinking about making home improvements, think about what you’ll get out of them in the long run. It’s important to consider how long you plan to live in your home. Next, think about whether the home will fit your lifestyle.
Will it have enough space for all of your family members? Do you have pets? How many people do you think will live in the home with you? These are all things to consider when planning a renovation.
Lastly, make sure that the house can make life easier for everyone involved! It’s essential to keep everyone happy and comfortable so that everyone can enjoy living together!
7. Don't Forget to Get a Permit!
If you’re planning on renovating a building, it’s crucial to obtain the proper building permits from your municipality or appropriate authority. This is an excellent step to ensure that the renovation work complies with the building codes.
8. Hire a Professional Architect
We know you’re a DIY kind of person. But when it comes to renovations, it’s best to leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.
It’s true: an architect sees the bigger picture. They have the expertise, and they know the ins and outs of designing a home.
But that’s just part of the story. An architect also understands local business codes and ensures that your building meets all the municipal requirements. An architect also works with other contractors and ensures that the whole renovation project is completed smoothly. Depending on your project, you can hire either a designer or an architect, or both.
9. Unique Features
You know the saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? Well, here’s the corollary: one man’s floor-to-ceiling windows are another man’s “oh god, what have I done?”
That’s why it’s important to consider unique features with care. Unique designs or improvements that are uncommon for a particular market may impact the resale value of a home. This is where the expert advice of a real property appraiser can provide an objective perspective on the marketability of the property.
If you’re considering making a significant change to your home, it pays to get some outside opinions before committing to it.
buy or sell your home?
Top 5 Renovations to Improve the Return on Investment
The following are the top 5 Renovations with the highest return on investment, according to the Appraisal Institute of Canada.
1. Kitchen Renovation
When you’re renovating a kitchen, update it with quality materials and workmanship consistent with the area.
The kitchen might be the most important room in your house. It’s where you do everything from cooking to eating to entertaining guests to daydreaming about what you’ll make for dinner tomorrow night (and then actually making it). You want it to be beautiful and functional, but you also want it to last a long time, and that means investing in quality materials and good craftsmanship.
It’s easy enough to go cheap on a few things here or there, but when you buy cheap appliances, they won’t last nearly as long as a high-quality appliance would.
The same goes for cabinets and countertops: If they’re cheaply made or are done by an inexperienced contractor who ignores details like colour matching and sealing cracks between cabinet doors where water can get in, they won’t hold up over time. Instead of spending thousands of dollars fixing them later down the road (or spending even more money getting new ones installed), just spend a little bit more now on something that will last for decades!
2. Bathroom
The bathroom is the most essential room in the house. It’s where you get to be you and no one else. The best way to ensure high quality in bathroom renovation is by hiring a professional contractor who will walk you through all of your options and help you pick out just the right fixtures for your space-from sinks, tubs, and everything in between.
3. Repainting Interior / Exterior
Painting your interior or exterior is one of the best ways to increase the value of your home, and it’s one of the most economical ways to do it.
If you’re living in a two-story home with lots of windows, we recommend going for a lighter color on the outside and a darker tone on the inside. This will make your house appear more prominent, which will appeal to potential buyers and make them more likely to want to see inside!
For smaller homes with fewer windows, we recommend sticking with neutral tones on both sides so that your house doesn’t feel too big or small when potential buyers come by.
4. Updating Décor
Updating decor is the easiest way to improve the value of your home. It includes but is not limited to lighting and plumbing fixtures, countertops, replacing worn flooring (vinyl or carpets), or refinishing hardwood floors.
Lighting fixtures can make a massive difference in the look of a space, especially if you are hoping to sell your house. An outdated light fixture can make a room look dingy, while an updated fixture can help create a more modern and attractive space.
If you don’t have enough time to do all of these things yourself, hire a professional who can do the job quickly and efficiently so that you don’t have to invest too much time or money into it!
Similarly, plumbing is an essential part of your home. It’s what keeps your home running smoothly, and it’s a great way to enhance the ROI of your home. It doesn’t matter if you live in a small apartment or a mansion-you need plumbing.
However, plumbing can be tricky to manage, especially if you’re not a professional plumber. This is why it’s important to think about improving your plumbing. Improving plumbing can help make sure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
Here are some tips for improving your plumbing:
–Focus on efficiency: Make sure your pipes aren’t leaking or clogged up with debris! That way, when you turn on the water, it will flow where it needs to go without any problems or issues getting in the way!
–Focus on safety: Make sure that all of your pipes are adequately insulated so they don’t cause any damage to the surrounding area during cold weather months! Also, make sure that there are no exposed wires near any hot water sources such as dishwashers or washing machines.
Clean and polish your floors. If you’re not willing to replace your flooring, there are still a lot of ways you can make it look better. One of the most important things to remember when cleaning your floors is that you should always use a soft cloth or brush.
If you use anything else, you’ll end up scratching your floors and making them look worse than before. You also want to make sure that whatever product you’re using is non-toxic so that it doesn’t damage any of your furniture or walls when it inevitably drips while cleaning.
5. Decluttering
Decluttering is a great way to spruce up your space and make it feel fresh. It can also help you get rid of old clutter that’s been collecting dust in your cabinets or closets, which can be tough to do when you’re not sure what to get rid of. Here are some tips for decluttering your home:
- Start with one room at a time, like the bedroom or bathroom.
- Start with the most accessible items to declutter, like papers on your desk or junk mail in your mailbox.
- Make sure the item gets donated if it’s still usable and valuable (or recyclable) or thrown away if it’s old and not worth keeping around anymore!
Conclusion
If you plan to live in your home for five or more years, you should feel free to make upgrades that fit your preferences and lifestyle; however, if you want to turn a profit when you sell, try increasing your home improvements ROI. The top home improvements for increasing ROI can simultaneously improve demand and value. Therefore, homeowners can’t simply make any upgrades they want; they need to make the right upgrades. The highest ROI home improvements will prove more efficient and worthwhile than all others.
FAQS
Yes, they will. Innovative renovations, according to the demands of buyers, often result in a very high ROI.
The Green Home Program offers loans to homeowners who want to renovate their homes to improve their energy efficiency. If your home renovation project qualifies for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Green Home Program, you can get a 15% to 25% refund on mortgage loan insurance. Besides this, certain other options for getting a loan are available in each province.
Updating the bathroom and kitchen often results in a better return on investment.
Return on investment is a metric that measures the cost of an investment relative to the return on investment.
Long-lasting and low-cost renovations are often the best upgrades to increase your home’s value.
