This post was written in partnership with Travelers Insurance.
How often when you’re doing a project, do you think about how it’s going to affect the value of your house? Having been through the selling process fairly recently I was very onboard when Travelers Insurance asked if I would be open to chatting about the biggest (and most profitable) projects you can take on that will boost the value of your house.
We hear over and over again that kitchen and bathrooms sell houses. If you’ve ever watched a show on HGTV you’ve had this drilled into your head on every occasion, but just how much does having an updated kitchen or a new bathroom really increase the value of your house or increase its sell-ability?! Travelers breaks it down space by space (how great is it that they’ve done all the work and we can just plan accordingly?!)
Did you know that a kitchen refresh has approximately the same ROI percentage that a full blown kitchen renovation has? If your house is teetering on that line of maybe feeling a little outdated but everything still is in great working condition a refresh is in your future! That is where our kitchen was. The cabinetry and appliances were just fine, the colors and finishes however were a little outdated. We replaced the tile, painted the walls, and added a backsplash and it TOTALLY changed the entire space from outdated and grubby to clean and on trend.
Its pretty miraculous what a little paint and tile can do right?!
This bathroom update at my in laws was extremely budget friendly—would you believe that we spent less than $1000?! Before I got my hands on it it was stuck in 1992, and that my friends is a dark and lonely place for a bathroom to be. With a little work, we were able to make it something that any homeowner would be proud to call their master bath.
If you’re thinking about moving, or looking to increase the value of your home, race over to see the 5 areas with the highest ROI and how they can increase the sellability of your house!!
Race over to see the…? Oh no, you left us hanging! How cruel 😉 Let me know what to see!
I can’t believe how much they think people spend on projects! $30K just for a kitchen upgrade? If you’re just replacing your appliances, painting your cabinets and replacing tile and/or counter top I’d be surprised if you came in over $10K.
We’ve replaced all our appliances ($5K Canadian), painted ($50), added countertop ($200 – Only laminate since we’ll be gutting the kitchen in 5ish years), new floor ($1K – will stay in future reno), new backsplash (white subway tile – $100), new lights ($350 – will stay in future reno), new sink/faucet (will stay in future reno – $200), Couple extra cabinets and some drywall/studs ($600), Plumber ($400) = $7900 Canadian. Even if we’d gone with a stone countertop we wouldn’t have gone over $10K. We did all the work (except for
Even the bathroom renovation we’re planning will only be $5-7K with a new tub/tile, stone countertops, tons of storage, new floor, using a plumber/electrician etc. Everything else we’ll do ourselves so I guess if you’re not handy then you’d pay a lot in labour.
Do you think you’d get above 100% ROI if you’ve done most of the work yourself? EX. We spent $8K on updating the kitchen but would we get a $20K value out of it (same value as the article suggest the 30K updated kitchen would get)? ROI of 250%? or would we still only get 67% out?
I dind’t finish “We did all the work (except for the plumbing)”
I think the ROI depends on how well the renovation was done. If a lot of time was spent meticulously painting the cabinets with a quality paint that will last, and quality appliances were purchased then maybe someone will have a good ROI. It also depends on colors and materials used as well. If someone replaced a tile with something ugly then a new homeowner might see it as a gut job and you wouldn’t have a good ROI.
What color is that green on the bathroom wall?!
I love it too! Sherwin-Williams in Ripe Olive:
https://vintagerevivals.com/2016/11/mind-blowing-939-bathroom-makeover
It’s also worth noting that insurance company figures are based on averages, so they include kitchen renovations where money is no object.
We’ve had contractors tell us they wouldn’t take on our kitchen because it’s a nightmare. Our space is one of those projects where when you pull one thread, it all comes unraveled. It could easily cost $30k to renovate, and that’s without any high-end finishes or custom cabinetry or any bells or whistles. It’s not even a large kitchen at around 250 sq. ft. It makes me sympathize a lot more with expensive home renovations. Even one surprise during the process can cost thousands.
So true…especially in older homes where you can get into expensive problems once you start tearing out other people’s old reno’s…such as bad wiring and plumbing that previous owners hid w shoddy repairs and cosmetic fixes.
I’m surprised that improving curb appeal wasn’t on the list. It seems like an upgrade to the front of your house would really bring people to look at the house in the first place.
In the kitchen images – is that a new countertop or was just the backsplash removed and replaced with the tile. I want to keep my counter, but remove the backsplash. However, there is construction glue on the counter that, according to the internet, is nearly impossible to remove. Any suggestions?
I would love to see how you actually updated the in-laws kitchen! My sad kitchen looks very similar….I see the potential now! Let me know if there is already a tutorial on the website.
As always, you are a great inspiration!!
Thanks for staying real–I’ve had to ‘break up’ with other bloggers when their projects starting becoming completely out of reach for our current budget (Goodbye EH)…… Love your guts too!!!!!
We just finished a 5 month reno that updated half our house (about 1500 SF), including removing a major structural wall (that separated kitchen/dining/living/family rooms), an entire new kitchen (it was gutted, new layout, everything new), some new windows/french door, and new real wood floors. (Man, as I outline that there was really so much more that went into it!) I will say, I am still shocked how much it all cost, but I know what we spent ($153k) was in-line with renovations costs here (So Cal). I kept a very detailed spreadsheet, and when you get down to it, it was 60% labor/40% material. So if you can do work yourself, power (and money in your pocket) to you! I also got everything – EV-ER-EE-THING I wanted on this reno, I did not hold back, which I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to do.