Renovate or sell as-is
Does the work actually pay for itself?
Most sellers compare the quote against the hoped-for price and stop there. This adds the three costs the quote never mentions, and shows the uplift the work has to achieve before you are even level.
Fill in the three value figures and the comparison appears here. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Why the answer is so often “don’t”
Over-improving before a sale is the most expensive habit in this market.
Renovation returns are not linear and they are not guaranteed. A kitchen that costs $90,000 does not add $90,000 — and if the house is already at the top of what the street supports, it may add very little at all.
- The renovated value is an assumption; the cost is a commitment
- Buyers rarely pay full value for finishes that are not to their taste
- A ceiling exists on every street, and work above it returns least
- Repairing what is broken almost always beats upgrading what is dated
- Presentation — paint, cleaning, small repairs — returns more per dollar than renovation
The honest version of this conversation
Sometimes the right answer is to do nothing.
A walkthrough gives you the room-by-room priority list, a real cost range, and the skip list — the projects that will not return their cost. That last page is usually the most valuable, and it is the one nobody else hands you.
Estimates are estimates.
This calculator performs arithmetic on figures you supply. It contains no market data, no renovation prices and no opinion of value for any property. The output is only as reliable as the three values you enter—particularly the renovated value, which should be tested against recent comparable sales rather than assumed. It is not an appraisal, a contractor’s quotation, or financial advice.
A straightforward first conversation
Want the two key numbers checked against real comparables?
Tell me where you are in the process. We’ll discuss the property, the market, and the questions that matter most to you.