Investor Property Makeover: Smart Home Renovations With Big Returns

By Doug Cary

Doug Cary has been selling real estate in Davis County since 2005. He is a 2nd generation top producing Real Estate Agent.

When the sellers first contacted me about this property, it was clearly a TLC situation—what you might call an investor special or “investors only” listing. It wasn’t in terrible shape compared to some of the homes I’ve walked through, where I felt like I needed to burn my clothes afterward, but it required a lot of work. We could have gone the route of listing it as-is. In fact, I sold several homes last year in that kind of condition.

However, after doing the research and weighing the options, we found that putting in the effort to redo about 90% of the property could return more than double the cost in value. This is why we decided to move forward with the improvements. We invested $11,000 in contractor work, which covered painting, minor repairs, new blinds, updated baseboards, and other touch-ups. Then we spent another $6,000 on a new carpet.

The results were well worth it.

What the sellers appreciated most was that they didn’t have to manage a thing. They live out of state and wouldn’t have been able to coordinate a project like this on their own. Just like I do with many of my listings, my team handled everything. We managed the scheduling, answered contractor questions, kept everything on track, and delivered a finished product that was clean, polished, and ready to hit the market. We even have professional photos taken and ready to go.

If you or someone you know is wondering whether it makes sense to update a property before selling, reach out to me. You can call me at (801) 450-0997 or email me at doug@dougcary.com. I look forward to hearing from you!