When it comes to flipping houses, what home improvements and upgrades should you be working on to attract the most home buyers?
There are a lot of real estate education articles and advice about return on investment, being wary of over improving and even under improving. Still many real estate investors seem to be focusing on the wrong items. Shouldn’t those flipping houses be looking at what home improvements homeowners are making themselves as indicators to what will appeal to them most and build in the most value?
A new survey organized by HUD and the Census Bureau reveals that homeowners have spent almost $360 billion on home improvements over the last few years. So what features and elements are the most important to them and how much are they spending on them? Some highlights for the survey for those flipping houses include:
- 1 of 4 made energy efficiency improvements
- Most common improvements were to appliances, flooring, ceiling and paneling as well as doors and windows
- Only 37% of homeowners decided on the DIY approach to their projects
- The most money was spent on roofing, kitchen remodeling and HVAC
- The median amount spent by homeowners was just $3,200
- Homeowners spent the most on garages, followed by kitchens, recreation rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms
For investors fixing and flipping houses this data provides some pretty clear conclusions as to what is most important to today’s home buyers. However, it also highlights that despite all the weekend warrior reality TV shows many just aren’t ready to take on their own home improvements. That definitely adds value to rehabbing and flipping houses in addition to enabling buyers to finance their home improvements and get a home they really like (rather than coming up short on repair money later and having buyers’ remorse).
How can you use this information to improve your real estate investing strategy and marketing?
