Smart Renovation

Smart Renovation

How to unlock value when renovating your home

I receive a lot of calls from clients and colleagues asking about renovations and how they’ll improve the overall value of their apartments. They are often surprised by what I have to say. Why?
Because it’s common to assume spending a fortune renovating a portion of the home – usually a kitchen or bathroom – and adding expensive top-of-the-line appliances and fixtures, will translate to an equivalent boost in property value.

Not necessarily, if ever.

My philosophy, based on direct personal experience, but also from helping many clients, is deceptively simple: Renovations to increase property value should be driven by a vision that stresses consistency and coherency in both design and function.

What do I mean by that?

What my apartment looked like when I bought it

Renovating your home should not necessarily be about spending top-dollar on Sub-Zero Refrigerators, Viking Stovetops, and Carrera marble countertops. The renovation process should serve your personal needs while also smartly addressing potential buyers’ interests based on your apartment’s and neighborhood’s key characteristics.

Be sure to first achieve a uniform vision of design before beginning a renovation project. Make sure your kitchen matches your bathroom…which matches your closets…which matches your furniture…which matches your drapes, etc. Even something as silly as having cheap doors in a bedroom can turn off a prospective buyer.

Let me give you an example from my own recent experience.

What my apartment looked like when I destroyed it

I live in the East Village. My neighborhood is known for a couple of practical annoyances. First is a lack of apartment or building laundry rooms. The second is the predominance of tiny bathrooms and kitchens. These limitations aligned with my own personal needs: I happen to do a lot of laundry and I love to cook.

So when I wanted to renovate my apartment to make it both practically desirable for me while also attractive to buyers, I made a checklist that ensured my renovation would be consistent and coherent.

I wanted more kitchen counter-top space to do food preparation, but I also found and committed the space to install a full-sized washer and dryer that vents out. And instead of adding a $5,000 refrigerator, I added a garbage disposal. Why? Because this is a major practical concern of home cooking in the East Village where clogged sinks (and expensive calls to plumbers) are the norm.

How did my renovation approach work out?

My apartment sold ten percent above of the asking price in just five days.

What my apartment looked like when I renovated it

Do I think this was because my apartment was that much better than everything else on the market? In part, yes. But, more importantly, I’d renovated an apartment that suited my lifestyle while factoring in the unique nature and selling challenges of my building and neighborhood.

By factoring in these simple, practical considerations, and not getting obsessively focused on building an ultra-modern kitchen with all the latest appliances and gimmicks, I renovated my apartment to meet the unique demands of the market, thus the quick sale.
Consider these simple approaches before beginning any renovation project and you will be rewarded.