Which home improvements give the best return on your investments? Here are some tips

1. Home
Owners
often ask:
'Which
home
renovations increase the value of my house,
and assure that I get 'top-dollar' when
selling?' While there is no hard-and-fast rule,
here is a sobering statistic from the Appraisal
Institute of Canada:
The Appraisal Institute of Canada compared
typical costs for renovations versus the impact
on a home’s selling price to come up with a
“payback range” for common projects.
Bathroom reno: 75% to 100%
Kitchen reno: 75% to 100%
Installing a deck: 25% to 75%
Exterior siding: 50% to 75%
Flooring upgrade: 50% to 75%
Basement reno: 50% to 75
Why do I say "sobering"? If you look closely,
you will see that none of the estimates
exceed 100%. In other words, they are
suggesting that if you spend $5,000 on siding,
your home's value would only increase by
between $2,500 and $3750 (50% to 75%).
On the surface, it would not seem a
worthwhile investment to improve your home
for the purpose of increasing it's resale value.
So does it make sense to improve before
selling? Maybe.... depending on your
answers to two major questions!
Those two major questions are 1) What is
the current condition of the item which you
are thinking of improving, and 2) Can you
do some of the labor yourself, thereby saving
money. Lets take a look at what I mean:
1) Current Condition
On this topic my advice is "If it ain't broke,
don't fix it." Lets use the example of a
furnace. If your home has a 10 yrs old, mid-
efficient furnace, it should be working fine.
Replacing THAT with a brand new, $3500
H.E. unit will in most cases, not increase the
value of the house by an equal or greater
amount. On the other hand, if your furnace
Which Home Renovations give the most
‘bang for your buck’?

2. Thinking of Selling your
Winnipeg House or
Condo?
Questions to ask your Listing Agent:
1) Where do you
advertise my
home?
2) How long
have you
been in
business?
3) Do you have
your own
website?
4) How many
homes do you
sell a year?
5) If I need answers, will I be dealing with
YOU, or with your assistants/secretaries?
For a Free Market Evaluation, call me
Bo Kauffmann
Remax Performance Realty
204-333-2202
hums and howls and is the size of a sub-
compact car, buyers might be turned off from
making an offer. Installing a new, energy
efficient unit would probably we a worthwhile
home renovations project. Much the same
applies for most other home renovations
projects: Is the current item in good condition,
or will it detract from the home? Is the kitchen
falling apart, or merely 'dated' in appearance.
Are carpets just a little worn, or can you see the
sub-floor and notice every spot where "whiskers
blew chunks"?
2) Home Renovations D.I.Y.
I am going to assume that the Appraisal Institute
used, for its calculations, prices that included
professional labor. So the question is: how
much (if anything) can you do yourself. If
you're fairly handy, painting the interior of your
home is probably one of the best home
renovations projects you can tackle. Another
high-value/low-cost improvement is
modernizing the lights. Go with bright, modern
lighting, such as halogen, and keep the twisty
florescent bulbs for your next home. They
might save money in electricity, but their slow
start-up and dim lighting don't help sell a house.
In any case, completing home renovations by
yourself will drastically improve the return-on-
investment numbers, provided the renos are
done well. Buyers and their agents can spot
poorly done D.I.Y. home renovations, and the
result is lower offers and a slower selling home.
So, keeping the above rules in mind, Home
Renovations done right can and will improve
your sales price.

3. Valuable Real Estate
Information Resources
Winnipeg Home Finder
If you’re looking to buy, or sell a
property in Winnipeg, check out this
website.
It contains links to all
Re/Max Condo Listings, all
Re/Max House Listings and even
Re/Max Luxury Property Listings.
Winnipeg’s Real Estate Blog
r answers to two major questions!
Those two major questions are 1) What is the
current condition of the item which you are
thinking of improving, and 2) Can you do some of
the labor yourself, thereby saving money. Lets take
a look at what I mean:
1) Current Condition
On this topic my advice is "If it ain't broke, don't fix
it." Lets use the example of a furnace. If your home
has a 10 yrs old, mid-efficient furnace, it should be
working fine. Replacing THAT with a brand new,
$3500 H.E. unit will in most cases, not increase the
value of the house by an equal or greater amount. On
the other hand, if your furnace hums and howls and is
the size of a sub-compact car, buyers might be turned
off from making an offer. Installing a new, energy
Bo Kauffmann, REALTOR®
After retiring from the Winnipeg Police Service, Bo joined Remax Performance Realty and quickly became on of
Winnipeg’s top producing REALTORS®. You can find his website at Winnipeg Home Finder. Also, Winnipeg’s
Real Estate Blog features hundreds of articles for home buyers and sellers. If you’re looking to buy or sell, a house or
a condo in Winnipeg, you can e-mail Bo, or call him direct at (204) 333-2202
Winnipeg’s Real Estate Blog and Winnipeg Home Finder are trademarks of Bo Kauffmann, REALTOR®