Spice up your home series: Vol. 2—Renos under $10,000

Over the past five years, more and more people have been renovating their homes. In the Golden Horseshoe region, a renovation may be necessary to sell your home. While fixing up your house can be very expensive, it doesn’t have to be. There are several ways to spice up your home while keeping renos under $10,000.

Focus on specific rooms

There are a couple of approaches you can take to renovate your home on a budget. For starters, think about what kind of changes you want to see. Would you like to freshen up a larger portion of your home, or would you prefer to focus on a few specific areas? These days, older homes often require at least some type of renovation, so knowing where to start can make all the difference.

Kitchen Home Staging

The kitchen is the heart of the home

One of the best places to focus the bulk of your budget is in the kitchen. This is considered one of the major selling points in real estate. With a kitchen renovation, you can spend as little or as much as you want, but there are many ways to cut costs without sacrificing style, including:

● Painting the cabinets
● Replacing the cabinet hardware
● Creating custom pantry storage
● Purchasing countertops directly from the manufacturer
● Swapping out appliances for lightly used ones purchased from Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or Kijiji

Bathroom sell homes

If you’re really focusing on resale value, then opting to upgrade both your kitchen and the main bathroom will yield the best returns. Freshening up the bathroom is always a good idea. A bathroom can be vastly improved with better storage, new vanities, and updated cabinets. To reduce costs, it’s best to keep full redesigns to a minimum by retaining your bathroom’s footprint and sticking to more cosmetic changes.

DIY Home Staging Bathroom

All you need is a little paint

If your home has been recently updated, perhaps all you need to do is freshen things up with some new paint. Add to that some area rugs, lamps, or a few larger pieces of furniture, and your home will look as good as new.

Focus on the materials

In the past decade, reclaimed materials have become increasingly popular in the Oakville area. You can find high-end architectural pieces and custom-built cabinets that have been discarded after minimal use. To find these gems, contact your local remodelling contractor, take a gander on Craigslist, Kijiji or Facebook, or check your local Habitat for Humanity facility for some great options.

Home Staging Lighting

DIY

If you want something done right, do it yourself. As the old saying goes, performing the renovations yourself can save you big time. However, if you are going to do these tasks on your own, you must do it to the highest standard possible. It’s best to:

● Seek out advice from knowledgeable friends and family
● Watch how-to videos from trusted sources
● Use social networking to find great contractors for less
● Stick with surface-level remodelling! This will keep your focus on external details that will save you from making mistakes with things like plumbing and electrical

This or that

Sometimes you want the marble countertop, but wow, it costs a fortune in a good-sized kitchen. However, countertops can be an important draw, especially in Oakville condos. The great thing about renovating today is that there are many stunning options for countertops, doors, and floors. You name it, there’s a less expensive, yet still beautiful alternative. Here are a few examples you can consider:

● Opt for a steel door over a wooden one.
● Vinyl over wooden windows: these are energy efficient and look nice!
● Bamboo vs. hardwood flooring. This option often comes pre-stained/finished and you get bonus marks for sustainability.
● Purchase counters directly from the manufacturer. While this is not a swap, it’s a great way to slash prices on a larger piece of material.

Looking for Oakville real estate? Here’s how to get started!

Whether you’re looking to renovate a condo or a house, there’s a way to do it under $10,000—and a way to do it well. Knowing where to save and where to spend is the key to getting the best value from your renovation, and following some of the above tips can help you to achieve these goals. For more information about buying and selling property in the Oakville market, reach out to Alex Irish. We provide expertise on every stage of the real estate journey, and we’re here to help you get the best return on your investment!