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Adding Home Value

2,287 Views | 5 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by AggieFabricator
AggieFabricator
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Wife and me are in negotiations on a nice three bed two bath in Luling, built in 1925. House has had quite a bit of updates done (rewired, AC, insulation, in ground pool), however what would be the master bedroom needs to be completed. It has no attached bathroom or closet, but the room is big enough we have a contractor who we plan to use to add a master bath and closet. Now the house has all original hardwood floors, the kitchen they have lenolium currently, but we plan to remove it and restrain the bedroom and kitchen. We have about thirty grand we plan to put into the home. Which would be finishing the master suite, redoing the kitchen (flooring, paint cabinets, add granite countertops, backsplash) as well as some painting and other cosmetic stuff. Now a lot of this stuff we plan to put sweat equity in ourselves like the flooring and painting other than the kitchen cabinets. The only thing we're not getting in that I wanted was to redo all of the exterior windows (23 of them). The house has single pane wood frame windows that are in great shape but I know aren't great for energy efficiency, but from what I'd read the current things were working on will add more home value.

Can I get any advice as to if we're investing our money in the wrong places, and where else we may be better putting our money. With a new inground pool, we've planned on adding an outdoor kitchen next.
ChoppinDs40
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AG
Adding a master bath and closet will probably eat though that 30k. Adding plumbing and electrical is expensive.
AggieFabricator
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AggieFanatic09 said:

Adding a master bath and closet will probably eat though that 30k. Adding plumbing and electrical is expensive.


Pier and beam house, father in law is master electrician, uncle is master plumber, and my other uncle is our GC. He said we can get bathroom and closet done for 15k.
one MEEN Ag
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AG
Seems like there is no set answer. You're on the right track by using your own sweat equity and bumming the help of your family.

But in general, improvements in kitchens and master bed/bath tend to be the best ROI. This Old House Magazine has a couple articles about ROI on home improvements. Most interesting is that if you plan on living in the home afterwards, don't expect a dollar for dollar appreciation on anything in the house. I think kitchens have the best ROI with like .70 cents on the dollar return on average.

I would recommend working backwards. Get on HAR.com and find comparable properties that have the level of amenities you want your final product to look like. Will your neighborhood pay more for what you're trying to add? How much? If you over improve, are you okay with taking a hit on the house if you have to sell before you want to? That will help you figure out how much wiggle room there is in your budget and establish hard caps on improvements.

Also, 30k for extensive updates to kitchen, and master bed/bath? I'm skeptical; you could blow that 30k on just buying/installing those windows alone.

Also another thing to consider is if your house becomes the apple of everyone's eye, be sure to factor increased property values into you home. Have had some family friends whose kids were all able to build their dream homes on shoe string budgets because they had contractors/electricians/etc in their family. Property taxes caught up with them and they had to sell. Of course they made money on the house sale, but that definitely sucks.

AggieFabricator
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Windows are not included in the 30k plans. My uncle (the GC) thought we'd be better off working on the kitchen and master suite and doing the windows gradually to get the most bang for our buck.
expresswrittenconsent
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It's a 100 yr old home in luling. You're definitely going to get 15k of added benefit/enjoyment/quality of life out of the house by adding a master bath and updating the kitchen. But luling isnt exactly a hot spot so I don't think you're gonna see massive appreciation.
What kind of house is it? Lockhart has a lot of early 1900s antebellum style mansions from that era but I dont know Luling as well.
AggieFabricator
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expresswrittenconsent said:

It's a 100 yr old home in luling. You're definitely going to get 15k of added benefit/enjoyment/quality of life out of the house by adding a master bath and updating the kitchen. But luling isnt exactly a hot spot so I don't think you're gonna see massive appreciation.
What kind of house is it? Lockhart has a lot of early 1900s antebellum style mansions from that era but I dont know Luling as well.


Single story contemporary. 2200 sq ft great location and neighborhood.
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