Are you planning to put $50,000 into a renovation? You should look through all of your options first. Some of your plans could cost you less than you think while others may have less of an impact on your sales price.
The average homeowner spends $10,000 on their new home right after purchasing it. Rather than making several waves of renovations on your home, new homeowners are better off taking the time to determine all of the things they want to fix and planning and budgeting. For $50,000, you can perform some major renovations on your home.
Whether an experienced, local agent helped you to get a deal of a lifetime or you’ve been in the same home for years, here are five things you should consider fixing with $50,000.
1. Fix Your HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing ($25,000)
The cost of this fix will depend on how big your home is and how modern your system is. In some cases, keeping an older system intact can be just as big of a cost as installing a new one.
When you’re selling a house, these are going to be the biggest ticket items that appraisers and inspectors are looking at. With the combined costs of supplies, labor, and any new installation that needs to be done, the numbers will add up fast.
For this price, you’ll be able to remove the old system, install new ones, and have new drywall and paint put on any walls that you had to tear out to access the system. The heater alone will cost around $5,000 to heat a space that’s about 1,200 square feet.
2. Landscaping, Garden, Drainage ($5,000)
While renovating a home, it’s important to remember to do work on the exterior of your home. Not only will it make you love your home more, but it can really raise the value of it. Although few people will want to spend as much as $10,000 on a fish pond, expect to pay $1,000 or more for resodding and more for adding plants and trees.
If you’ve got a strong drainage system for your basement and rooftop, you’re doing well by your home. But overall, you need to make sure you’re draining your lawn as well to keep it from turning into a swamp. Landscaping can help to leech some of that water and to direct excess water away from your property.
Adding a garden space allows you to grow your own vegetable or a flower patch. Expect to pay a few hundred dollars for each raised bed you add.
3. Kitchen Counters, Cabinets, and Flooring ($15,000)
Kitchens are notoriously one of the parts of your home that yield the highest return in value. For every dollar you spend on a renovation, you can recoup around 90 cents back in how much more your home will be worth.
You get what you pay for in terms of quality in your kitchen. Buying marble or quartz countertops is a great way to invest in a long-lasting material that will hold up for decades. Stainless steel appliances are also a good choice for their durability and the ease of cleaning them.
Spending less than $1,000 each on an oven and dishwasher can still provide a wide variety of options. Spend the money on a tile backsplash and you’ll be rewarded with an attractive section of your kitchen that’s also easy to clean.
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4. Shower Tiles, Bathroom Fixtures, Vanity ($1,500)
The bathroom is another room where renovation brings up the value of your home along with it. For very little money, you can get a high-end faucet fixture and new shower tiles. Renovating your shower also gives you the chance to see the state of the wall behind your current tiles and clues you into potential water damage.
A bathroom vanity can cost from $300 to $3,000 but anything over $500 should provide the quality that you need. Decide in advance whether you want your bathroom to look modern or have a classic style. A classic style allows you to add more components later on and makes it easy to match them up.
5. Open Up Spaces ($3,500)
If you find that you’d prefer an open floor plan for your family, knocking down walls is a great way to make your space more flexible. With an open floor plan, your home can be more utilitarian and you may even communicate better with one another.
Expect to pay over $3,000 for an interior wall demolition, along with rebuilding and repainting. Load-bearing walls can be removed but it may cost you more and it’s advisable that you work with a skilled contractor on that kind of project.
If you’ve just gone to the edge of your budget on a new home, it’s hard to imagine how you could afford to put any more money into it. Working with a Clever Partner Agent gives you access to a top-rated agent who is committed to saving you money along the buying process. In some states, they even qualify you for Clever Cash Back to ensure that you can put that extra money back into shaping your dream home.
Contact Clever and we’ll pair you with a Partner Agent who can find you a great deal on a home worth investing in.