how should i prioritize the following home improvements? fireplace, new kitchen, bathroom in basement?

Question

i eventually want to do all three of these things. in what order should i do them in order to maximize my return on investment in the event i had to move and sell before i completed all three things? there is currently a fireplace now but it is ugly painted white brick and want to replace it with a floor to 5 foot high mantle with granite worked in and a gas fireplace log set. the whole cost of that job would be 5k. i have read that fireplaces add more value as far as home improvements go than any other improvement.

the current kitchen was from the 1960s and redoing that with granite countertops and new cabinets and tile and a new fridge and oven would probably be 10k-15k for the quality we wanted.

adding a bathroom to the basement would change the house from 1 to 2 baths and would probably cost about 5k for the level of quality we wanted.

how should i order these projects?

Answer 1

(1) Kitchen more visible, more use
(2) Bathroom (needed especially if there are more than two in your household
(3) maybe rethink fireplace, little known fact sometimes your house insurance will go up cause of a fireplace, or you might not find an insurance that will insure a house with a fireplace

Answer 2

Statistics or mathematical equations won't help here. What will maximize your value is a powerful impact on your potential buyer as they enter your home. It's hard for me to take a mental tour, but I'm fairly certain the basement bathroom will not be the first stop for the buyer. Open your entry door, and be a buyer. What will go the furthest in causing you to fall in love with the property? At the end of the day, it's almost always emotional consideration that closes the deal.

It will really help to have several people that have never seen your home to act like potential buyers and give you some honest feedback. You'll develop a sense pretty quickly of how to best spend your investment dollar.

My gut tells me kitchen. It's hard to ask a woman to use a kitchen in her new home without modern facilities.

Answer 3

Kitchen ,Kitchen , Kitchen, his should definitely be first. If you did decide to sell, The kitchen will be the first place the little woman will look, and she usually has the final say so . I personally think the bath in the basement would be an added benefit before the fireplace,
This is just my opinion from 22 years of remodeling .
hope this helps.

Answer 4

Kitchen - and don't take down your old kitchen until you get all your new cabinets and open all the boxes and make sure you get your replacements for damaged ones. Then take down your kitchen and install the new ones. My whole lot of cabinets were damaged, and I had to re-order the whole kitchen - 10 more weeks - with no kitchen. A total nightmare. It's worth it now, though. Good luck and remember the hardest things on a marriage are the death of a family member and remodeling.

Answer 5

You will get more bang for your resale and improvement buck if you do the kitchen or add the bath. According to my appraiser and the book she carries around that indicates increased values, you would actually gain in the sale of your home with a bathroom addition or kitchen remodel. I would do the bathroom first merely because it is so much less disruptive than a kitchen remodel.

Answer 6

The bathroom first. Since your talking about ROI
more people will turn down a house with
only one bath before theyd turn it down for
a fireplace.......

Same thing with the kitchen, it would be 2nd.

Fireplace third.

Answer 7

bathroom first have to use this weather we eat or not can always eat someplace else then kitchen need to cook at home to save money fire place last more for looks then any thing