All Forum Posts by: Dylan Long

Go for it :). The way I look at small things like that is either the competition has it, so you should, or they don't and it will put you a few steps ahead of them when a buyer is visiting multiple houses. Find a way to market it though, such as little signs in various areas of the house that highlight the neat features you've added. No-touch faucets, soft close doors, hidden central vac systems, etc, are all things that might add value (either financial or emotional), but people touring a house might miss it unless it's pointed out. A good realtor would likely point those things out, but sometimes it gets missed.

Draw attention to it.

Yeah came out very nice!

I'm not far from there and would be interested in meeting some local people as well :). 

Thinking about using some of their laminate w/pad. It comes to about 1.89 per sq/ft. Anyone have experience using it, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Late to the game but my .02:

1. I would probably leave the back porch as is. Likely won't get a return on whatever you put into it, whether it's demo time or replacing. 

2. Keep the arches. It's retro, but retro is in :).

3. Tile or stone over the fireplace. Should be pretty cheap and will be a good mix of modern and retro on the inside. A lot of people really dig retro lines and features but with modern materials these days.

Best of luck!

You may not get it back directly in a higher selling price (depends on the competition and market), but you MAY recoup the costs (or some of it) in selling it faster. It's really hard to know when it comes to a few thousand of what is a half million-dollar home because you really don't know what it would have sold for if you had gone the other route. Your asking price may not change between the two options, but the offers you get might. 

The upgrades you're thinking of are 1% of the overall price of the home. So yes, even though its still $4500 bucks, the fact that it represents such a low % of the overall value is going to make it a lot harder to determine the impact. At least in my opinion :).

How are you purchasing the finishes right now? I like the idea of the allowance that fits within the budget you have, and whatever is above they pay for. When we last built our contractor at the time required 50% payment on options/finishes above the allotted budget, and the rest due upon closing. That way if we backed out it helped protect them from building a home that was customized enough so as to limit the resale market more than a standard build. 

It's really a math equation here Deb, but we're missing a piece of the info, and that is what you can reasonably expect to gain in rent from having the extra bedroom. Then you have to look at how long it is to get a return on the investment, vs your long-term plans, and decide for yourself if it's worth the upgrade. 

For example, lets say that it costs you 30k, and you can get an extra $400 per month for it. Your break-even point is 6.25 years on the investment of 30k before you see a positive return. Now, that doesn't take into account any equity you've added, which may make up for some of that 30k, but only if you were to sell at some point. 

How long are you planning to rent? As someone else mentioned, those hardwoods are going to wear with renters likely a bit quicker than normal. If it's just a few years, probably no big deal. But you mentioned long-term rental, which means you may need to address flooring before selling in the future anyways. Unless you can charge a premium on rent for having hardwoods that is enough to offset the extra cost of install, perhaps consider vinyl or laminate? 

Here is a personal project I did years back when I was just starting out. Bought this small cottage and renovated it for my Grandma to live in. Spent about 12k doing the entire house, including air conditioning/heating, as the place only had a wood burning stove.

Took about 3 months of every Saturday/Sunday, but did almost everything myself.