Reno Budget

[catinanotherlife]

Renovating our new home - labour costs have increased massively haven't they

Now, with what we planned to do in the property, it's much more than we were hoping to spend.

How much would you invest in your property on renovations?

It is not a forever home, and was not a bargain when we bought it ( but also didn't pay over the top)

We thought 10% of what we paid for the property would be reasonable to spend on renovation (550k so 55k)

Now it's much more what the works will cost (80k plus furniture ) Is that crazy to spend so much? We have the funds but I worry about going OTT and resale value

New kitchen, bathroom etc updating needed

So no new bedrooms added or any extension

London block of flats

Would love to hear your views
Thank you!!

It depends on if you’d want your money back if you were to sell it tomorrow or if you are happy to spend the money and not have the overall value of the property increase as you want it just so as you’re planning on staying for a long time?

Probably staying for 4-6 years - but worried what if we leave sooner for some reason

You won't make your money back on a new bathroom and kitchen in 5 years. If you do them, it will be for your benefit while you live there and might make it quicker to sell when you sell.

I would like to break even.... Is it worth asking Estate Agents to come and value and give me an estimate of ceiling price? Of course I know no one really knows what the market will be like in five years...

Was your flat loads cheaper than other similar flats because the bathroom and kitchen are dated?

All renovation work is currently more expensive than the uplift in the price of the house/ flat. Bathrooms and kitchens are usually anyway. You don't add value to a house by redoing the kitchen or bathroom.

It was a bit cheaper than others in the area and didn't sell for a year because the bathroom and kitchen were dated and the flooring and no one wanted to do renos (because they were smart unlike us )

I was considering asking an estate agent around because we bought it 2-3 years ago and was hoping to find out if prices have risen for our property

If you think about how much less you paid compared with the modernised flats then that will be about how much more you can get when you sell if you have done the work. I am guessing it might be like £5000? Maybe £10,000 if you are lucky.

We paid 30k less probably but difficult to be 100% sure as they are all slightly different properties in the area

A % of the price is not really useful. Costs of doing work don't vary by house price.
If you want to know what is worth doing in terms of 'getting your money back', get a decent house agent to advise you.

There you go then. As long as you don't spend more than £30,000 getting the kitchen and bathroom done then you will break even.

Thanks, will need to bury my plans of my dream kitchen then as labour alone is 30k with everything we're wanted doing 🙃

Thanks, I will contact Estate Agents and see what they'll say