On Tom Tarrant’s radio show he discussed this website for estimating the cost of home improvements. While I support the idea of doing improvements right before you have me come over to sell your house, don’t get too caught up in their ‘resale value’ chart.  Ideally, you should do home improvements for your own enjoyment first, and if they happen to add value when it comes time to re-sell, then great:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2011/costvsvalue/division/pacific/city/san-diego–ca.aspx

Here’s another website that estimates costs, excerpted from this artricle at the latimes.com:

Say you’re shopping for a home to live in, rather than to rent out as an investment. You locate a number of foreclosures at low listing prices. You’re also aware of newly constructed homes that appear to carry higher prices for similar lot sizes and square footage.

The cost calculator prompts you to input the size, price and physical condition of the foreclosures. Say one of them is listed for $110,000 with 2,125 square feet of living space. Based on a drive-by, you estimate the overall condition to be fair — not terrible, but not great either. For that foreclosure, according to Fulton’s data, the typical post-acquisition costs — the repairs, new equipment, appliances and other improvements to make it adequate for you and your family — would add $32,288 to the sale price.

Likely expenses include an estimated $1,063 in appliances, $2,125 in electrical upgrades, $3,613 in windows, $5,525 for flooring and carpeting, $5,695 for cabinets, $1,913 in plumbing, $1,488 for drywall, $1,399 for the roof, $683 for interior cleaning, and a long list of others. The calculator also identifies possible legal fees, such as $1,500 in eviction costs if the property is still occupied, plus lawyers’ bills for title and lien complications.

http://www.fultonhomes.com/foreclosure-calculator

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