This blog is a first in a series that will help you to mine equity and increase the value of your home through a renovation.

We have helped many of our clients realize some amazing value and return on investment by strategizing their renovation. By strategizing your renovation you can:

Whether you’re looking to relocate and renovate that home, or you’re planning to stay in your current home and make some upgrades, it’s important to make decisions early on that can have long-term rewards or benefits.

  1. Choose your location (the value of location and land can make all the difference in retaining value in your home in the short and long term.)
  2. Consider the value of your home in your area, what your home is lacking, and what can be improved to bring your home to a comparable value to other top homes in your area.

Let’s start with location.

LOCATION

The location of your property will impact the value overall, but that does not mean that you can’t maximize the value by renovating. It is very important to consider your location when choosing what is the right area in your home to renovate. If there are parks and schools close by you may want to look at focusing on family functionality, while a downtown condo would be better to focus on a modern and trendy theme. When we consult with our clients about adding value to their home, we always do location research before making a plan.

VALUE

The second point to consider is the value of your home, and you can do this by simply looking at the average value of homes in your neighborhood – what’s a top end or bottom end home in your neighbourhood? Unless you’re planning this to be your forever home, you need to consider how much money you spend on your renovation. Knowing what average home prices are in the area will help you determine if it is worth doing a large scale renovation, or to keep it simple and keep costs down so that you don’t waste your efforts and resources.

26 Ave Condo Renovation
Photo by Alair Homes Calgary – Browse modern living room ideas


We also want to know what the top end prices of homes in your neighbourhood, and carefully look at what factors drove those prices. You may not want to try and be the benchmark, but with the right strategy you can be in the same ballpark and potentially add a lot of equity to your home. Some of the key factors will undoubtedly include lot size and square footage (more often than not), but it is also important to consider interior/exterior finishes and layout, as these will definitely impact the value.

LACKING ELEMENTS

The last piece of the strategy puzzle is to look at what your home may be lacking. Again, if this is not your forever home and you don’t want to waste money, it is very important to consider what the next buyer will be looking for. There are some areas of your home that all guests, real-estate agents, and prospective buyers will zero in on when looking through your home. If you have the right design and style you will wow almost every one of them, and the wow factor is what really drives people to buy a new home.

Just like any investment, or business decision, planning and strategizing your home renovation project will be the key to its success.