It can be a hard decision to force yourself to think about re-sale when renovating your home. You want to put your mark on it and make it your own! But if it isn’t going to be your forever home then it is important to think about making good decisions during the renovation for a future sale!

When my Minnesota real estate clients made the move from Andover to Plymouth in 2014. They sold their home in a few short days because of the fresh paint, new carpet, updated tiled shower and staging that they were willing to let me do prior to listing! Plymouth was the next stop for this family of 4 but the home they chose needed some minor updates. A recently upgraded kitchen allowed them to move in and enjoy the house for a few years until we undertook a renovation of the outdated areas! They knew before buying the home that the wall murals would have to go!

With 2 children who would soon enough be out of the house, a renovation that would stay in style for whatever the future may hold was important!

When planning a renovation project it is important to make your initial list of things that you want to do and work back from there. A budget should be kept in mind that correlates to what homes are selling for in the neighborhood. If you purchased the home for $300,000 and comparable houses in the area top out at $450,000 then you want to determine if your home has the potential to sell for that much with renovations. If it does, then staying under a $100,000 investment in a renovation would be your best bet to be able to go to the closing table without bringing any additional money (the additional $50,000 will cover closing costs, realtor fees, and alittle extra to take home). Once your initial plan is figured then meet with a local professional to start discussing your project. They will be able to give you an estimate on what everything will cost. Once you gt the estimate then it is time to adjust it as necessary to stay within your budget!

Initial Plan for the Plymouth Home:

• Remove Popcorn from main level and upper level ceilings
• Paint over the outdated wall murals
• Update paint colors
• New carpet
• Reconfigure and re-design the fireplace, add storage
• New furniture
• New Lighting
• Incorporate their family heirloom dining table & chairs
• Open up the master bedroom walk-in closet

The master bedroom and living room were the main areas of focus, the rest of the areas got a minor facelift with paint and lighting. Those 2 rooms were the last to have “needs” removed from the initial plan since they were so important to the homeowners. 

What Was Actually Done After Cost was Factored In:

• Painted over the outdated wall murals
• Updated paint colors throughout
• New carpet (stairs, hallway and master bedroom)
• Reconfigure and re-designed the fireplace, added storage
• New furniture
• New Lighting
• Incorporated their family heirloom dining table & chairs
• Opened up the master bedroom walk-in closet
• Old woodwork was tied into the new areas by matching the custom shelving to the existing dark woods
• Popcorn ceilings were removed from the To Do list and added as a possible future project to keep costs down and use the budget for more important items
• We created a lighting budget and stuck to it
• The couple splurged on the custom built-in cabinets, these will last and remain beautiful throughout the years 

The finished product was a home that had a major facelift with no major structural changes made. It matches the exterior style of the home much better and brought it back to the future! If they chose to sell in the next couple of years and the market continues with this positive upswing then their investment will be well received by future buyers!