I am interested in a 30 year old 1-bedroom condo in a great location
that has never been upgraded, i.e all that dark brown colors and yellow
appliances.

I calculated it would conservatively cost me 10k to upgrade it to
modern standards. My question is will I certainly get my 10K back plus
some profit if I sell in a few years? What is the rule of thumb when
upgrading older properties in good locations?

I often hear people say you never get all your money back when you
upgrade? But does that still apply when everything is nearly 30 years
old?

In article .com,
wrote:

I am interested in a 30 year old 1-bedroom condo in a great location
that has never been upgraded, i.e all that dark brown colors and yellow
appliances.

I calculated it would conservatively cost me 10k to upgrade it to
modern standards. My question is will I certainly get my 10K back plus
some profit if I sell in a few years? What is the rule of thumb when
upgrading older properties in good locations?

I often hear people say you never get all your money back when you
upgrade? But does that still apply when everything is nearly 30 years
old?

In your case, it isn't so much that you would do better when
you sell, it is that you will do "less worse". People will
see the dark brown colors and yellow appliances, and read it
as old and in need of a lot of work. That will really cut
the price down. If you update, you will get much closer
to the real value of the place.

In addition, if you live there for a few years, you will
have the benefit of having a much nicer place to live. If
living in an updated place is worth, say $100 a month extra,
then you will only have to get $5K better in the sale to
break even (since you will have $4800 in value worth of
better living.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

In article .com,
wrote:

I am interested in a 30 year old 1-bedroom condo in a great location
that has never been upgraded, i.e all that dark brown colors and yellow
appliances.

I calculated it would conservatively cost me 10k to upgrade it to
modern standards. My question is will I certainly get my 10K back plus
some profit if I sell in a few years? What is the rule of thumb when
upgrading older properties in good locations?

I often hear people say you never get all your money back when you
upgrade? But does that still apply when everything is nearly 30 years
old?


You will never get all of your money back. Think about it. Why would
someone pay you more than you paid for the upgrades after you've lived
in them? The only way you would get more is if you could make it *look*
like you spent much more than you did. Like the previous person said,
if the place looks like it was done by a designer then potential buyers
may have less concern about other systems like plumbing and heating.
Pride of ownership is something that really can be evident. However,
this is a condo so most of those other issues (e.g. roof) aren't
worries anyway.


In all, once you pay commissions to sell the place you will probably
lose your $10K - and that's if you sell it for a bit over what you
paid for it. If, for instance, the housing market in your area goes
south then you might even take a bath on the place. Alternately, if
the market in your area heats up you might make a killing whether you
upgrade it or not.


Dimitri

wrote:
I often hear people say you never get all your money back when you
upgrade? But does that still apply when everything is nearly 30 years
old?

http://houseandhome.msn.com/improve/...tspayback.aspx

D. Gerasimatos wrote:

You will never get all of your money back. Think about it. Why would
someone pay you more than you paid for the upgrades after you've lived
in them?

They should pay more since they dont have to do any of the planning and
organizing to make the upgrades happen. It may cost 10k for parts and
labor, but probably 10-20 hours of time scheduling the handyman ,
helping the handyman and making trips to home depot.

So I would expect to get more than 10k back because that is not
including my time spent on the project. What do you think?

In article .com,
wrote:

They should pay more since they dont have to do any of the planning and
organizing to make the upgrades happen. It may cost 10k for parts and
labor, but probably 10-20 hours of time scheduling the handyman ,
helping the handyman and making trips to home depot.

So I would expect to get more than 10k back because that is not
including my time spent on the project. What do you think?


How much is 10 hours of your time worth? $1000 at most? Then factor in
that the stuff won't be new in 3 years.


Dimitri