New Renovation Calculator on Realtor.com Takes the Guesswork Out of Home Remodeling Plans
As renovation costs rise, Realtor.com® teams up with Kukun to assist the nearly three quarters of surveyed homeowners who wish they better understood the financial return on home improvement projects
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2023 -- Despite the rising cost of renovations, 70% of U.S. homeowners plan to renovate their home in the next year, according to a new survey from Realtor.com® and CensusWide. However, nearly three quarters of those surveyed wish they better understood the potential return on investment of any upgrades they might make. To help homeowners determine the costs and ROI for renovation projects, Realtor.com® today introduced a new Renovation Calculator, powered by Kukun, in the My Home dashboard.
The newest RealValue™ tool from Realtor.com®, the Renovation Calculator, helps give homeowners a better understanding of how renovations may impact the value of their property. The Renovation Calculator provides information from Kukun, a home data and analytics company that gives homeowners personalized estimates with comparative insights based on the quality of renovations.
"Whether homeowners are thinking about selling, or just want to know whether it makes financial sense to invest in home upgrades, Realtor.com®'s RealValue™ tools, including the new Renovation Calculator, can help," said Dave Masters, director of product, Realtor.com®. "Our homes are often our biggest investments and, with the cost of labor and building materials on the rise, it's important to understand the ROI of a home improvement project or how different upgrades or design choices might impact the value of a home."
To use the new calculator, homeowners can claim their home in the Realtor.com® My Home dashboard and choose from a selection of rooms and projects under the Renovations tab. After entering a few additional details about one or a combination of projects, users are presented with estimated costs to renovate and the potential increase in their home value. Homeowners can also download a detailed report with itemized costs to help with project management.
"Kukun is excited to collaborate with Realtor.com® so that millions of people across America can realize their financial goals while creating their dream home at the same time," said Raf Howery, CEO and founder of Kukun.
Most homeowners would rethink reno plans with a better grasp of ROI, survey shows
Among those surveyed, reasons for renovating run the gamut, from addressing maintenance and issues (45%) to enhancing their space for enjoyment (45%), or bringing their home up-to-date (43%). Others have money and moving on their minds: 20% plan to renovate because it's more cost-effective than moving, and 18% are renovating in preparation to sell their home.
Of those looking to make changes to their home in the next 12 months, the most common plans include bathroom and kitchens (37% each), interior paint (35%), or flooring replacement (33%) — however, two-thirds of homeowners (62%) would change their renovation plans if they better understood which improvement would add the most value to their home's resale price.
The survey also found that consumers generally think that performing renovations prior to selling is a good investment, with 80% of homeowners saying as much. The projects that consumers think will deliver the biggest ROI include kitchens (32%), bathrooms (26%) and floors (24%). Around one-quarter believe painting the interior of their home (23%) or replacing major parts of the house like windows and doors (21%) add the most value.
To try the Renovation Calculator, visit www.realtor.com/myhome.
In the My Home dashboard, homeowners can also manage their home's details, track their home's value with up to three RealEstimate valuations, explore their equity and how their home compares to others nearby, as well as compare top local real estate agents and view offers from third party buyers such as Opendoor and others.
About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com.
About Kukun, Inc.
Kukun is a real estate data, analytics, and applications platform for homeowners, agents, and the industries that serve them. The platform includes a complete home investment optimization suite of products underpinned by a residential property database of current condition and more home valuations. Real estate agents leverage the Kukun Agent Dashboard to strengthen client relationships and look to Kukun's proprietary PICO™ Score for refined home valuations that consider home upgrades. Kukun is the leading real estate-focused consumer web products provider for large enterprises, with customers that include Realtor.com, USBank, SoFi, and PNC Bank. Visit mykukun.com to learn more.
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RETECHNOLOGY PREMIUM MARKETPLACE RELATED PRODUCTS | WEBINARS | SPECIAL OFFERS
House Poor, No More
Realtor.com launches industry-first monthly payment filter to help buyers stay on budget
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2019 -- "How much can I afford?" is one of the largest decisions that faces every home buyer, no matter his or her budget or where he or she wants to live. Realtor.com, the Home of Home Search, today announced an industry-first monthly payment filter that helps buyers stick to their budget by hiding homes that exceed their target monthly payment, as well as two new calculators that help take the financial guesswork out of home buying.
"At realtor.com®, we go beyond listings search to help people figure out what homes are right for both their lifestyle and budget," said Chung Meng Cheong, chief product officer, realtor.com®. "The fear of overextending themselves financially is one of the biggest concerns for today's home buyers. Our new cost calculators give buyers deep insights into what specific home prices mean for their bottomline, while our new monthly payment filter prevents them from seeing homes outside their monthly budget so they can stay on track financially."
The new features include:
"How Much Home Can I Afford?" Calculator for iOS, Android, and Web: Helps estimate your ideal home budget. Simply click "More" on the realtor.com® iOS app or "Mortgage" on the Android app. You can then enter your annual income, monthly debt, desired down payment, and location and realtor.com® will help you calculate a target home price and estimated monthly payment based on current interest rates. Results include the full range of homes you can afford and allow you to customize your budget to be more conservative or aggressive.
"Monthly Cost Calculator" for iOS and Android: Provides you with a detailed and transparent look at the estimated monthly payments on a new home. First select "More" on the realtor.com® iOS app or "Mortgage" on the Android app and tap "Monthly Cost Calculator." Then enter the anticipated home price, anticipated down payment, and any other parameters such as loan type, interest rates, etc. and realtor.com® will help calculate your total estimated monthly home cost and break it down by category. If you aren't sure about some of the information, the feature will use averages that you can update later. The calculator is also accessible from the Listing Details Page on the iOS and Android apps.
Monthly Payment Filter for iOS: After you determine how much home fits into your monthly expenses, the realtor.com® Monthly Payment Filter can help you stick to your budget by filtering out all the homes that are estimated to exceed your range. Simply enter a home search, tap "Filter" and select "Monthly Payment" to enter your expected down payment and target monthly mortgage budget. The app will then return all the homes currently on the market that meet your search and approximate budget parameters. This feature, a first among national real estate portals, is especially helpful for first time buyers who are used to paying monthly rent, but have trouble budgeting based on total home price. This feature will be coming soon to the realtor.com® Android app.
For more information about these tools, please visit: https://www.realtor.com/homemade/finding-the-right-home-and-the-right-price-for-you/
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com®, The Home of Home Search℠, offers the most MLS-listed for-sale listings among national real estate portals, and access to information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Through its Opcity platform, realtor.com® uses data science and machine learning to connect consumers with a real estate professional based on their specific buying and selling needs. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today is a trusted resource for home buyers, sellers and dreamers by making all things home simple, efficient and enjoyable. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit realtor.com.
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Onboard Informatics Launches Powerful New Automated Valuation Model Designed for Millennials
New system aggregates real-time market data to provide instant property valuations for a new generation of sellers.
NEW YORK, NY (AUGUST 02, 2017) - Onboard Informatics, the leader of data-driven real estate solutions, launched a powerful new tool today that targets the majority of the real estate market. myAVM, the first automated valuation model for millennials, is designed to significantly increase seller leads.
It consumes thousands of data points to create an estimated property valuation. Property values are calculated using multiple models and inputs including assessments, sales, on market prices and trends. All data is updated monthly using the data aggregation methodology Onboard has perfected after 15 years.
myAVM was created for the next generation of home-owners with a dynamic interface and interactive design. It presents critical property information in a fun and inviting way.
"This is a huge segment of the real estate market. There are 80 million millennials in the US today and over 50% own a home," said Dean Soukeras, Senior Product Manager. "We saw an opportunity here to create a product that appeals to this valuable segment."
Automated Valuation Models are a proven way to generate seller leads, but many of the turnkey options available today are either cost prohibitive or difficult to digest. myAVM is a reaction to this trend, providing attractive, accurate reports that are priced to appeal to any size real estate company.
"In addition to helping our clients generate more listings, we are using myAVM to go after a new, exciting market," said Jonathan Bednarsh, Onboard Informatics President and Co-Founder. "Clients can feature myAVM on an independent web page or directly on their website. Because of its versatility, it can be used as part of any digital marketing strategy."
The AVM asks for an email to view the report, so real estate professionals capture more home-sellers. The responsive report looks great on any device and can be printed and shared by both agents and sellers.
Once a lead is captured, they automatically receive alerts on their property in the form of Onboard's neighborhood updates. myAVM not only captures new leads, but continues to nurture those leads until they are ready to make a decision.
"I wanted something with a real ‘wow' factor," said Soukeras. "The purpose of most AVMs are to generate valuable leads for real estate professionals. I thought conversion rates would increase if we could maintain contact with these leads with information they care about."
For more information on myAVM, visit onboardinformatics.com or email sales(at)onboardinformatics(dot)com today.
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