Fixer-Uppers: What To Fix
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Article by: Steven Gillman You've bought a house, , Why Stock Home Plans Are Perfect For Your Dream Home a fixer-upper you can make some money on. What improvements , Top Five Reasons To Use Bamboo Flooring and repairs , Why Stock Home Plans Are Perfect For Your Dream Home should you make? First of all, you need to know this before you buy, as I explained in another article. Before and after you buy, though, you need to have some simple rules with which to start analyzing possible fixes. Return On Investment A young couple was very disappointed when I told them there house , Vinyl Kitchen Flooring: Why you Should Install Vinyl Floors in your Kitchen was worth $110,000. "We just put $40,000 into remodeling the kitchen! , Grandfather Clocks - A time honored tradition " they told me. I looked at the kitchen. , Computer Desks - How To Make The Most Of Your Workspace It was nice. They had added $10,000 in value to the house , Natural Gas Grills by spending $40,000. This is a classic example of a bad return on investment. With fixer-uppers, you have do things which give the most "bang for the buck." Aim for a three-to-one return on improvements. , Marble Countertops If you're going to resurface the driveway for $1000, it better raise the value of the home , Metal Carports: Steel Carport Guide by $3,000. Even when you're just guessing, keep this three-to-one formula in your head, if you want to invest safely. How To Fix A Fixer-Upper With things like new curtains, you can't really estimate the increase in value. What you can do, though, is group together the many small repairs , What a Tempermental Floor! and improvements , So You've Put an Offer on a Home. What's Next? you are considering, and imagine how the house , Choosing the Right Cabinet for Your Needs will look when you are done. Then you can estimate whether you will have increased the value enough to justify the cost. It often is in the small details that you'll get the best return on investment, so look at these first. A new mailbox, flowers , Feng Shui Interprets Homes in the Hills on the porch, , Asphalt Shingles a raked yard , How to Make Freezer Blocking Work for You and trimmed trees , Bathroom Winter Warmers - $30 total if you do the work yourself , Grandfather Clocks - A time honored tradition - can make a big difference in the first impression potential buyers have. First impressions are important. Other small investments that pay big include shiny new switch covers (less than $1 each), shelves, a birdhouse, new doorknobs, new light , Grandfather Clocks - A time honored tradition fixtures, curtains, new rocks or wood , Asian decoration chips on outdoor paths, , Professional Tips for Crown Molding Installation new faucets, new woodstain on decks, , How To Break Up a Large Family Room and general cleaning. Stand in front of the house , Do the Norwalk Juicer Rip And Squash and imagine what it might look like with various small improvements , Asian decoration (flowers, wood-rail fence, birdbath, etc.). The Big Fixes Obviously, there are things that just have to be repaired. The basic systems must function. Improvements, , Engineered Wood Flooring though, should be subject to the three-to-one rule. You may have to get creative here. An investor friend of mine once had a wall , Vinyl Kitchen Flooring: Why you Should Install Vinyl Floors in your Kitchen put up, and for less than $1000 created a new bedroom, probably raising the value of the house , Professional Tips for Crown Molding Installation by $8,000. Now that's a good return on investment. Bathrooms and kitchens , Hurricanes, Appliances and Back Up Power are important. A $1000 updating of a bathroom , Ceramic Tile - Tips for Using Ceramic Custom Tile can add $4000 in value to a home. , No Competition For Siding Spend $2000 wisely in the kitchen , Asian decoration (New fridge, re-finish the cupboards, add a garbage disposal, etc.), and you can add $8000 to the sales price of the house. , Decorating a Mis-Matched Dining Room Look for changes , Choosing Great Pool Table Lights which are most universally valued (don't paint , Clean Your Gutters for Spring the kitchen pink , Metal Carports: Steel Carport Guide because YOU like that color), and be sure you get a decent return on investment. Depending on the fixer-upper, there are many potential improvements , Aluminum Pool Fences that can be worth doing. These include adding a carport, new doors, , Green Building: The Time is Now! fences, gazebos, sheds, , Bathroom Ceramic Tile - Tips for Using Ceramic Custom Tile painting, , Clean Your Gutters for Spring carpet, , Decorating a Mis-Matched Dining Room benches, , Top Five Reasons To Use Bamboo Flooring a new closet, a new toilet, a new stove, a shower/tub surround, and trees , So You've Put an Offer on a Home. What's Next? or bushes. The bottom line is the bottom line: be sure anything you do returns more than you spend, preferably three times as much.Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house , Classic home decorating with empire furniture he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com |
  
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