Renovate an inherited house?

[Amy Conn]

Do you advise....

Buying a sibling out, peeling wallpaper, painting, changing counter tops and appliances, new carpet, new fixtures? This is in CA, one acre lot and big, solid house, high taxes. Relatively low inventory of homes.

My opinion is, the home is already worth quite a bit. My husband wants to do most of the work himself. Is it worth the added money for the cosmetic features?

[Luc Boiron]

@Amy Conn I agree with @Jake Thomas. 

There are many flippers who buy a property and do cosmetic upgrades like you speak of, then sell it at a profit. They have all the buying and selling costs to deal with, whereas you won't have any buying costs will have barely any incremental selling costs. I imagine the value can be increased enough to make it worthwhile to renovate.

Just be careful what you do. For example, if you spend $2,000 on granite countertops for the kitchen, but the cabinets are garbage and the next person will need to rip everything out, you're not going to get any return for that $2,000. Consider having a professional, possibly a realtor, look at the comps and suggest what needs to be done to hit the higher price point without wasting money.