Remodeling tips

Payam Shirazi, REALTOR®, has brought his construction background expertise to augment his successful real-estate sales career.

Renovating your home can be a great way to increase its value. Not only are you making it a better place to live, but you're also enhancing the attractiveness of your residence in the event you plan to sell.

Payam Shirazi knows which remodeling projects will have the twofold benefit of both improving your lifestyle and add value to the home. Other renovation projects that a homeowner might consider may not add value to the residence, but still enhance the quality of life, for that particular homeowner.

Through his years as a residential builder and real-estate agent, Payam thoroughly explains to his clients the distinction of value-added home improvements versus more subjective ones that will only enhance the homeowner’s lifestyle while they are living in the home.

This distinction is important because a common mistake many homeowners make is undertaking a major home project erroneously thinking that the ‘improvement’ expense will be more than recaptured on its sale.

Kitchens are on the top of most people's home renovation lists, and it's also the room most likely to grab a purchaser's attention.

A renovated master bathroom is a huge selling point of any home. Homeowners who remodel a bathroom can expect up to a 65-per-cent return, Renovation magazine estimates.

While many upgrades are worth the investment, some, such as putting in a swimming pool or over-the-top landscaping, could detract from the value of your home in the eyes of potential buyers.

That isn’t to say, that there still isn’t personal enjoyment for the buyer if they feel that the ‘improvement’ is still important to them, it is just being honest, and saying many of these subjective improvements are cost-neutral or in the case of a swimming pool, can sometimes (though not always) detract from a home’s value.

Payam Shirazi’s insight into the intricacies of residential construction along with a thorough understanding of real-estate dynamics has made him a superior negotiator for his clients whether he is representing them, as a buyer’s agent or seller’s agent in the transaction.