Getting the most out of a house reform is what anyone expects when giving it a change. The majority of individuals who reform their home do so thinking in the long term, with an eye also on a future sale if the case arises.
Today one way to take advantage of it is by making changes in search of greater energy efficiency. According to the Houzz studio and the home of the architecture and decoration portal Houzz, “more than half of the individuals who renovate their homes emphasize that improving the energy efficiency of their home is a crucial element in their renovation project”, representing 56%. .
The data becomes more relevant if it is taken into account that 37% of those surveyed lived in houses built in 1980 or earlier, worse prepared in this field, which is why they usually help reduce energy consumption and reduce expenses on household bills. .
Jorge del Campo, from the company Aquí tu Reforma, identifies four reforms to improve efficiency: thermally insulate all facades; put windows with double glass, PVC or aluminum; replace the lighting in the house with LED technology; and use the heating boiler system. He assures that, for example, changing the windows can mean between 20% and 30% of energy savings if the incidence of heat that enters the house is valued.
There are also those who reform it to later resell or rent it, which falls within the strategy known as home staging if the repairs are minor and cheap, or house flipping, which consists of buying a cheap home due to its poor condition or deterioration and then restore it and sell it for a profit.
According to Miguel Ángel Vázquez, general deputy director of the Donpiso real estate agency, the price of renovating a home is usually between 600 and 700 euros per m², around 1,000 euros in the case of the highest level. In case of looking for a sale, he ensures that the reform is profitable because it shortens the time to look for a buyer and can increase the value of the house by over 15%. In Aquí tu Reforma they affirm that the value can climb even more, 20%-30% compared to before the reform.
“Today we are experiencing a fashion (of reforms). There is a lot of guru, especially on YouTube”, warns Campo. That is why he recommends having a professional reform company so that profitability “does not become a nightmare.”
According to data from Houzz, the median cost of reform projects last year was 15,000 euros, a stable figure in recent years, while spending on larger-budget projects reached 72,800 euros.
The interior spaces are the ones that are renewed the most, mainly the bathrooms and kitchens. In addition, they are the places that represent the highest cost to reform them, with about 5,500 and 13,000 euros respectively.
The cheapest reforms are those that do not intervene in partitions or insulation, such as the replacement of decorative papers or gotelé by a raid, and a painting of the entire house, which also tend to be the fastest execution.
