A question that comes up frequently for people buying a home or selling their home is "How can I make my house look good on the cheap?" People that are considering selling their homes understand the value in making their home look good to help their home sell quickly and for top dollar. What a lot of people don't realize is how inexpensive it can be to really improve the look of your home that is a little out of date.
Buyers frequently ask me as well how they might be able to improve the look of various rooms or areas of the home without blowing their usually limited budget after purchasing a new home.
Below are some tips from a recent article in the Ottawa Citizen on how to remodel on a budget. I will be following up with some of my personal tips in the near future as well.
And of course if you are considering selling your home in Ottawa I would be happy to provide you with a personal consultation on how to improve the saleability of your home.
"Bathroom renovations can add to a home’s value — next to the kitchen, a well-designed and maintained bathroom does more than anything else to help boost the price of a home. But if you go overboard, you can end up pouring money down the drain.
Bathrooms, after kitchens, are among the most expensive rooms to renovate. There’s less cabinetry involved in a bathroom, and you don’t have major appliances to add to the bill. But plumbing, tubs, tiles and taps, etc., aren’t cheap.
While kitchen renovations can set you back $50,000 or more, for a new bathroom, you should budget $5,000 to $15,000, experts advise.
If your bathroom is more than 10 years old, it is probably in need of a makeover.
A quick spruce-up is easy — a colourful shower curtain and accessories such as matching towels, wastepaper basket, bath mat and small accessories — quickly change the mood of the room.
There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint on the walls to liven up a room at moderate expense.
Other quick and budget-friendly ways to dramatically change the look of a bathroom would be to install a curved shower rod, new towel bars, door pulls or toilet tank lever. All of these can be installed with nothing more than a screwdriver.
These projects may be small, but still make a big impact on both the style and functionality of a bathroom.
“We refer to it as the ‘Remodel-Lite’ trend,” says Tim McDonough, a spokesperson for Moen. “We have noticed consumers don’t want to invest in a major remodelling project, but still want to spruce up the room.”
Old bathroom faucets can be both outdated in style and water-efficiency. New faucets that meet WaterSense criteria reduce water usage by up to 32 per cent without affecting performance.
“In our experience, most bathroom remodelling projects involve creating more space,” says Andrea Mills, design spokesperson for IKEA. “If you don’t have anywhere to keep your stuff, it will be impossible to maintain a clean, organized bathroom.”
She says IKEA has lots of solutions, such as wall-mounted cabinets or open shelves for spaces where storage is an issue.
A remodelled bathroom adds value to a house, but the key is to make it appropriate to the price range of houses in the area, advise real estate agents.
“Don’t go overboard with luxury items,” says Niels Madsen of Re/Max Alliance. “Unless they are for personal enjoyment.”
Some people embark on a bathroom renovation just before they put a house on the market with a mistaken belief that it will help boost the value of the house. But that’s not always a good idea. Many buyers would rather pay a few thousand dollars less for a house that needs a new bathroom, and choose their own design."
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Remodelling+budget/4460015/story.html#ixzz1JKPINbFz