1. 9 High Impact Home Improvements
You Can Do for $10K or Less

2. 1. Crank up the curb appeal. We usually talk about
curb appeal in the context of sprucing your home
up to prep it for sale, but I say that it’s also one of
the most cost-effective home improvement projects
for homeowners who are staying put in terms of
life-improving bang for the home improvement
buck. There’s just something
about loving the way your
home looks when you drive
up to it day after day, or when
you have people over, that
dramatically increases your
enjoyment of home.

3. 2. Get rid of a wall. You might be a homeowner
now, but hearken back to your days as a house
hunter. You might remember seeing homes and
wishing for what is easily the #1 remodel fantasy of
homeowners to be: knocking
down a wall. In my experience
the wall home buyers-cum-
owners love to hate the most
is the one between kitchen and
dining room, far and away.
Opening a kitchen and dining room
into one larger, brighter space holds
particular appeal for those who enjoy
gathering family and friends to entertain
at their homes, without isolating the cook/host.

4. 3. Swap out the old windows for dual-paned. This is
one of those $10K-ish projects that actually can pay for
itself over time. Switching out your old single paned
windows for new dual-paned ones might make your
home look better, but it will definitely make your home
operate more efficiently – and more comfortably.
Dual-paned windows minimize
heat-loss in the winter and keep
the cool air in, in the summer, so
you’re not trying to heat up and
cool down the whole outdoors
through the leaks in your windows.
They’re also a must if you have street
noise or other noise challenges around your home; the
extra insulation traps noise before it can get to you, inside
your home.

5. 4.New kitchen appliances. In terms of sheer
functionality, new kitchen appliances can create an
overwhelming upgrade to your family’s everyday
life. A new fridge will run you anywhere from $800
to $2,000 on average (though
French door, custom and
commercial versions can
cost upwards of $10,000
or more); a new stove/oven
range can run anywhere from
$700 to $6,000 (with the commercial, 40-inch
ranges running from $9,000 to $20,000+) and an
appliance store dishwasher will cost you
somewhere around $250 to $1,600.

6. 5. Swap out your carpet. Listen, you might
LOVE carpet. And if you do, that’s fantastic. If
you have $10K and you can’t stand your carpet,
you can estimate that it’ll run you about $700-
$1,000 per room to replace it with new carpet,
or $1500-$2000 per room to replace it
with hardwood, depending –
obviously – on where you live,
how large your rooms are and
what specific materials you choose
in terms of the replacement floors.

7. 6. Bring a bathroom into this millennium. The
average cost of a bathroom remodel is right
around $16,000, according to Remodeling
Magazine, but that lumps master bathrooms in
with powder rooms and the like. I say there are
dozens of things you can do to your hall or other
bathrooms to bring them into the 21st century
for well under the $10,000 mark.

8. 7. Build in organizing systems. Clutter is an
energy vampire – there’s nothing like having a
place for everything and everything in its place
to create the sense that your life is in control. If
you have $10K in hand to make your home more
‘you,’ consider having custom organizing
systems built into your closet, office, pantry or
garage, tailored to your family’s stuff and needs

9. 8. Paint. A few years back, there was a study on
what home improvements actually could be linked
to an increase in happiness and well-being. One of
the most affordable was to simply paint the rooms
of your home in colors that fostered the target
emotions that map to the function of the room. For
instance, painting a bedroom a soft blue or green
fosters tranquility and rest,
while painting a kitchen or
dining room a warmer shade
might promote the cozy fuzzy
feelings of family togetherness.
Painting can be very affordable,
depending on your home’s size
and details, and is a great starter
do-it-yourself project, to boot.

10. 9. Connect your home. When so-called “smart
home” systems first came out, they were the
stuff of an MTV Cribs episode, costing tens of
thousands of dollars to put various home
systems on a remote control. But as with all
technologies, costs of connecting your home
have come down – a lot. For anywhere from
$200 to $2,000, you might be able to have your
home’s systems wired so that you can:

11. • Control lighting, heating and AC remotely
• Have your HVAC systems and window
coverings, for example, work in sync
• Monitor your home via video and sensors for
security and other home crises (e.g., flood,
etc.), no matter where you are.

12. What $10,000 or less projects have you done at
home that boosted your enjoyment? Please
show with us your home reno.

13. Randy Bett
Investment Realtor/Author/Investor
Real Estate Professionals Inc.
Better Group Real Estate
202-5403 Crowchild Trail NW
Calgary, AB T3B 4Z1
Phone:403-774-7464 Ext:1
Fax:403-208-0082
Toll Free fax:888-711-6801

14. Randy Bett
www.BetterGroupRealEstate.ca