Home Renovations that Increase the Value of Your House

Renovations picture

Some renovations are known to help increase the value of your property, while others do not necessarily help to increase it. Below you will find five of the most common types of renovations and how they will increase the value of your home:

Kitchen and Bathroom
These two rooms are considered to bring the most value to your home. Smart renovations such as replacing or adding a backsplash can help to enhance the room. If you are thinking about renovating, keep storage in mind and maximize your storage space.

When planning renovations for the bathroom, it is preferable to have a seperate bath and shower. When it comes to the kitchen a lot of people would like to have an island. When it comes to accessories, classic lighting and fixtures will suffice.

Indoor and Outdoor Painting
Painting is an inexpensive renovation that provides you with good value for the money you invest. It is best to choose light, neutral and matte colours. If you can, enlist the help of a professional painter.

Windows
If you are starting to see traces of moisture on your windows or if the cold weather makes your home’s interior uncomfortable, it might be time to replace them. High quality windows are not only pleasant for the overall aesthetic of the home but they also help to prevent the transfer of hot or cold air, while also contributing to the overall home’s energy efficiency.  

Floors
Beautifully crafted and high quality floors can add value to your property. When looking for floors for the ground floor look for solid wood or other natural colours. Floating floors are something that are less expensive, but shouldn’t be used on the ground floor. Try to avoid wall to wall carpeting throughout your house.

Basement
A renovated basement is a worthwhile investment. It can be set up as a family room or a guest room. Please make sure it fits the style of the other rooms in the house.

Most importantly, keep all the bills from your renovation projects! They will be very useful for showing the improvements that were made over the years.

London Market Update – 2017

Market Update

2017 was a very historic year for the London, Ontario real estate market! For the first time, home sales exceeded 11,000. London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS (LSTAR) began tracking housing data back in 1978 and this year the number of homes sold was 11,203 and is a 8% increase from 2016.This is a very big achievement for the London and St. Thomas residential real estate market.

 

In 2017, the average sales price across the London and St. Thomas area was $330,037, this was up 18.0% from 2016. By geographic area, London South was $340,793, up 21.7% from 2016. In London North, average home sales price was $407,801, up 18.1% compared to the previous year, while in London East, it was $258,734, an increase of 16.9%.  In St. Thomas, it was $261,481, up by 15.2% over 2016.

 

St. Thomas, Ontario saw a total number of 901 homes sold in 2017, this was up 6.8% from 2016. In 2017, there were a total of 14,301 home listings, down 1.2% from 2016. The trend of high demand with low supply continued into 2017, with inventory (called Active Listings) down 35.6% from 2016.

 

The London and St. Thomas area also achieved a historic six consecutive months of record sales, due to a very robust out-of-town interest. As we saw from the Toronto market, with people looking for a reasonable priced home in the London, Ontario area.

 

2018 will be an interesting year for the London and St Thomas, Ontario area and real estate market. It will also be interesting to see how the new mortgage qualifications tests will have on the overall housing market in Canada. If you are in the process of looking for a house, or starting think about moving, remember to get in touch with a realtor, as they are a professional source for buying or selling a home! They will help guide you along your process.