If you’re looking to help your clients to identify which projects to tackle before putting their home on the market, look no further: the National Association of Realtors surveyed thousands of real estate agents, industry professionals, and consumers on interior and exterior house remodeling projects, and these are the best projects for upping a home’s value before listing it on the market, ranked on the most value and cost recovery a homeowner can get.

• Refinishing hardwood floors. Start from the bottom to earn top dollar. Refinishing floors transform a home from worn-out and aging to vibrant and inviting, and only costs about $2500 according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). The project also increases a home’s value by that same amount, meaning a homeowner can recover 100 percent of the costs. Pretty sweet deal.
• Upgrading insulation. Because it’s what’s inside that counts. This project costs about $2100 based on NARI Remodeler’s estimate and increases a home’s value by $2000 according to Realtors surveyed. That’s a 95% cost recovery.
• Adding new wood floors. If you don’t have wood floors to refinish, add them in! This costs about $5,500 according to NARI Remodelers, and the increased sales value is $5000. A homeowner can recover 91% of costs from a new wood floor addition.
• Replacing HVAC system. A new HVAC system adds energy efficiency and refreshes the entire home, and NARI Remodelers estimate doing so costs $7000. The increased value for sellers is $5000 according to NAR REALTORS, meaning an easy breezy 71% cost recovery for homeowners.
• Converting a basement into a living area. Not only is this cost and space-efficient, it’s also undeniably trendy. A basement makeover costs about $36,000 according to NARI Remodelers estimate and increases value for sellers by $25,000 according to Realtors surveyed. That comes out to a cost recovery of 69%.

Which projects are the most costly?

In case you’re curious, these are some of the most expensive remodeling projects:

• New master suite. More like master $uite – this costs about $112,500 with a cost recovery of 53%. 
• Converting an attic into a living area. Cute idea, but also a $65,000 one with a 61% cost recovery. One might say the price is through the roof.
• Complete kitchen renovation. This project costs an estimated $60,000 with a 67% cost recovery. Even more if you want to throw in a brick oven, and you probably do.
• New bathroom. With an estimated cost of $50,000 and a 52% cost recovery, make sure you aren’t flushing money down the drain with your bathroom addition!

These trends change over the years, so make sure your knowledge is up to date locally since we all know local trends trump national. Hopefully today you’ve garnered some ammo to help clients better understand how to improve their home’s value!

Despite warning after warning and news story after news story, homebuyers keep getting their money stolen in real estate wire transfer schemes. Some blame the mortgage and real estate industries for not doing enough to educate and protect their clients. Others say the people committing these crimes are getting more and more sophisticated. No matter who’s to blame, there’s no arguing that this crime is on the rise.

What exactly do these real estate scams look like? These criminals usually hack into a business’s emails, often a title company, and get all the pertinent information they need. They then steal and copy that company’s letterhead, and the email addresses, signature blocks and any other relevant information they will need to fool the homebuyer. The homebuyer then gets an email that appears to be from the title company, asking them to wire money, often tens or sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So, you’re probably wondering right now: What can I do? You want to know how to warn and protect your clients and keep your reputation intact (and avoid costly lawsuits). The following safeguarding tips can help keep cash out of cyberthieves’ hands:

1. Pick up the phone. If you’re closing on a home and receive an email with instructions on how to transfer money to your closing company or lender, take a few minutes to call your agent or broker to make sure it’s legit. Yes, this might be a bit annoying, but not as annoying as losing thousands of dollars in an email scam.

2. Be aware. These scammers usually send emails that look like the real thing. If you’re a homebuyer, look for weirdly timed emails (sent in the middle of the night) or spelling and punctuation errors. Is there a sense of urgency to the email?

3. Educate your clients. If you’re a real estate professional, make sure your clients know about this scheme. Not everyone is aware they could be a target (which is why it keeps happening). Set up a specific passcode for each client.

4. Consider using ClosingLock and asking your title company to use this technology for all of their transactions… What’s ClosingLock (previous name was BuyerDocs), you ask? This tech startup provides secure document delivery for closing companies and homebuyers. The company says it has protected more than $5 billion in wire transfers and works with big and small businesses across the country.

Scams will never be eradicated, but it is part of your job to know the current scams and how to protect transactions against shady folks.

“Go where the money is.”

It’s good advice—after all, if you have a doctorate in gathering fruit, your childhood Alaskan home probably isn’t the best place to stay and utilize everything you learned interning in the watermelon industry.

But sometimes moving to earn/save money doesn’t work out.

I wouldn’t begrudge someone moving from NYC to Marfa, TX for following their dreams of a simpler life full of UFO-themed merchandise and X-Files references. If they left expecting to find the same level of public transportation in rural Texas, and didn’t factor in purchasing a car, paying for gas, insurance, and title fees, well. That’s a side-eye’in.

Obviously, no one can ever be 100% sure what’ll happen on big moves in life that don’t involve its conclusion, but realtors CAN help others to help themselves be a little more informed and much more confident.

Where information about the pros and cons of packing up and switching zipcodes for work is concerned; moving company, Move Buddha, has an app for that.

It’s a cute quiz that asks a few gently pointed questions about prospects’ networks, salary expectations, child involvement, spouse involvement, ect: all adding up to the big question made up of several little questions that you can’t ask yourself whilst maintaining your professionalism. That question is: Do you know what you’re doing?

P.S. According to the stats offered in their blog post about the app, if one half of a couple is moving to be with a partner for THEIR new job…there’s a 66% chance that the couple doesn’t know what they are doing.

P.P.S. It let me know that I wouldn’t be saving nearly as much money as I thought moving back to Fort Worth proper to keep up the game of ‘Let’s steal each others clothes and home goods’ I have going with my mother, so that’s definitely something to think/chew through a few pens about.

All in all, this tool, while definitely a promotional accessory for its parent company above all else, is pretty useful. It’s nothing anyone would expect to lay out every little possible outcome, but it does give users a valuable jumping off point to plan where they’re going.

If you’re considering partnering with more moving companies for promotion, formally or otherwise, this brings up a lot of salient points to address with new address seekers, especially the more painful ones that can bring your relationship a little closer and a little more likely to be profitable on both sides.

Verdict: Quiz away!