According to the 2021 RE/MAX Renovation Investment Report, the top three renovations that have the most potential to create a high return on investment in Oakville are kitchen renovations, bathroom renovations, and new flooring.
We’ve looked at how to include these top renovations, as well as other easy changes to your home to help add value. We’d like to show you easy ways to incorporate these changes at a variety of budgets, to help you get the highest return on investment and the opportunity to sell your home for the best price.
1. Kitchen Renovations
Kitchen renovations can vary in price and number of changes, but it’s best to make changes that you’re comfortable with.
Updating or replacing cabinetry is a cost-effective way to make trendy adjustments to kitchens without a large financial investment. Painting cabinets, changing hardware, or switching to a different cabinet set can modernize a kitchen and help add value.
Upgrading appliances is another option – we recommend using stainless steel appliances which have been popular for years; including quality appliances shows potential buyers the longevity of your home.
However, don’t feel like you must add the most top-of-the-line options. Choosing quality brands instead of luxury ensure you see a better return on the investment during the sale.
2. Bathroom Renovations
Like kitchen renovations, bathrooms are one of the most important rooms to offer value and help encourage a sale.
How you choose to invest in a bathroom renovation is up to you- a full renovation can cost up to $20,000 depending on the features put into it. However, if you’re looking to identify more cost-effective or easy changes that will add value, we have recommendations.
Marthastewart.com recommends small upgrades like new lighting fixtures and faucet hardware to elevate your bathroom. You can also upgrade with added storage like over the toilet cabinetry or custom drawers for hot tools. Changing tiles and grout are also a new way to add a different style and ambience to the bathroom.
All these changes create an updated space with added value, as potential buyers picture themselves living in your home.
3. New Flooring
According to RE/MAX, hardwood flooring refinishing and adding new wood flooring create the highest cost recovery of all interior projects, with hardwood flooring refinishing creating a 147% cost recovery and adding new wood flooring creating a 118% cost recovery.
If your home already has hardwood flooring, refinishing is a great way to see a large return. Refinishing allows you to protect the flooring and add a different hue with stains, allowing you to keep up with changes in interior design trends, or revamp towards a classic look.
Hardwood flooring is the most desired flooring choice but choosing options like vinyl and laminate flooring can also add value. These durable options are easy to install and offer many colour and style options to keep up with ongoing trends.
We recommend if you choose to change the flooring to focus on the main areas of the home: living and dining areas, entryways, and the kitchen. Our other recommendation is to always use hard flooring in these areas – if you choose to use carpeting, we recommend using it in areas like bedrooms for comfort and warmth.
4. Fresh Paint
From the interior to the exterior, changing paint colours and adding a new coat of paint can elevate your home’s appearance and make it easier for potential buyers to picture themselves living there. Painting your home can be a cost-effective way to add new value and can help reinvigorate rooms and make them seem larger.
Touching up exterior paint adds curb value – the first glimpse buyers get is of the front of your home, they want to see the appeal. A flattering colour and some simple landscaping is an easy way to draw them in.
Use neutral tones and remove any bright colours, like your child’s room that they insisted be a shade of hot pink. Neutral tones allow home buyers to envision their belongings in a home more easily and can often make a room seem larger.
If your home is already painted in neutral tones, we recommend looking at your rooms and making sure that the quality of the paint is up to date. Chipping or worn-down walls are good indicators that it’s time to repaint.
5. Smart Home Technology
A growing trend, people are finding more and more value in adding smart tech to homes. Smart tech controls the home with voice commands including lighting, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, damp sensors, and most importantly, home security.
While anyone can plug a Google Nest or Amazon Alexa device into their home, knowing that it can connect with the different smart features of their home adds a new value that buyers are looking for.
A smart home security device is often looked for as it provides added comfort and reassurance; many home insurance policies also ask to see if a home has a smart security system. These systems include smart locks and doorbells, cameras, motion sensors, and alarm systems.
Other smart features include smart lighting, with LED lights that helps save money, and intuitive smart lighting that only uses fixtures as people enter rooms or allows lights to be controlled by people’s smartphones.
Smart tech has also introduced new sensors like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and damp sensors to help keep your home safe. These sensors alert you to possible issues in your home and help keep you and your family safe.
If you’re looking to sell your home and aren’t sure how you can add value, contact SAUNDERS, SAXTON & WINTER for a free home estimate!