Thinking of doing kitchen renovations? Although they may add value to your home, it’s worth asking yourself why you want to renovate in the first place. Do you want to sell in the near future and boost the sale price? Or do you want to make changes to better suit your lifestyle? The answers to those questions will make a huge difference in evaluating whether kitchen renovations are the right move for you.
If you’re interested in maximizing your return on investment, here are a few figures to bear in mind before tearing up your kitchen:
- According to a study by Royal LePage, kitchen renovations can boost the value of a home by 12.5% (Bloomberg)
- Kitchen renovations can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $75,000+ depending on how extensive your plans are (TheSpruce)
- The average cost of the renovation is $50,000 (GreedyRates)
- Prospective sellers are willing to spend up to 5% of a property’s value on renovations on average, prior to listing their home for sale
Now that you have an idea of the numbers you’ll be working with, let’s take a look at two scenarios for your kitchen renovations.
I want to fix and flip it!
If the sole reason for renovating your kitchen is to increase the property value, it might be best to focus on more cost-effective changes such as:
- Repainting or refinishing cabinets
- Installing new faucets and new cabinet hardware
- Installing new lighting
- Replacing countertops with a higher quality material
It’s important to remember that the value added by a reno needs to be measured against what a buyer would have been willing to spend themselves, or if they would be satisfied with what’s already there. It’s always a good idea to see whether something can be repurposed or refurbished before starting from scratch.
I want my dream kitchen!
Now if you’re more interested in having a beautiful kitchen for you and your family to use, expect to invest a fair bit into it—after all, you’ll be enjoying the space yourself for years to come, so it’s worth paying top dollar. Here are a few things to consider:
- New appliances will form a large chunk of the overall cost of your renovation—be certain that you’re splurging on the right ones!
- “Behind-the-scenes” things like proper wiring and plumbing are worth spending money on to ensure good work. Again, you’ll be living with these changes and you’ll get what you pay for.
- Always plan for an additional 20-30% in unforeseen costs. You never know what issues tearing up your kitchen might uncover, and the last thing you’ll want is to be scrambling to find the funds to cover something you hadn’t expected.
The bottom line on kitchen renovations
Ultimately, a spruced-up kitchen will add value to your home, but only by about 60-65% of what you’ll spend on renovating it. Keep in mind, there are other projects that will still increase your home’s value, while being more forgiving on the wallet. Either way, the satisfaction and enjoyment of being in a space you helped shape is worth it!