Condominium Renovation ROI

By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty

New counters and a fresh bath feel like a sure thing when you’re getting ready to sell. Buyers love them in photos. They light up on a showing. Whether they pay you back is another question. In a big condo community, the answer depends on something most sellers never think about.

That something is competition. In a complex with hundreds of units, your listing is never alone. Buyers hold it up against the other two-bedrooms on the market that month and the ones that sold before. There’s always another house, and in a large association it may be one building over.

We wanted real numbers. So we studied five years of sales at two large Waltham communities, Northgate Gardens in North Waltham and Wellington Crossing on Clocktower Drive.

What did our team find?

• Over five years at Northgate Gardens, renovated units sold for about 14 percent more than original units. Both were the same size and sold at the same time.
• The advantage fell by about half after mid 2024, from roughly 18 percent to roughly 9 percent.
• Units with lighter updates, such as floors, paint, or one refreshed room, held a steady premium of about 7 percent the whole time.
• Every Northgate sale on record in this period closed at or below $451,000.
• At Wellington Crossing, updates added no measurable value, and renovated units were slower to sell.

How did we make sure each unit was judged fairly?

Before you lean on any of these numbers, you should know how we got them.

Every sale. Using MLSPIN, we pulled all closed sales at both communities from September 2021 through September 2026, 118 in total.

Three condition groups. Our team read each listing description and placed every unit in one of three groups. Original units were well kept with no meaningful interior work described. Updated units had cosmetic work or a single room redone. Renovated units had both the kitchen and the bath redone, or were described as fully renovated or remodeled.

Open market sales only. Six deed restricted affordable units sold at Wellington Crossing during this period at prices the city sets by formula. We set those aside, along with one sale that had no description. That left 111 sales, 64 at Northgate and 47 at Wellington.

Each sale judged in its own market. Mike puts it simply: you only know the market you are in. A unit that went under agreement in 2022 faced different buyers, rates, and prices than one in 2026. Northgate values rose about 6 percent a year in this stretch. Compare across years and a renovation gets credit for growth it never earned. So we dated each sale by when it went under agreement. That’s the moment the price was set. The closing comes weeks later.

Condition, isolated. For each community, we built a statistical model that holds size and timing constant together. Think of it as asking: when two units of the same size went under agreement on the same day, what did condition add to the price?

A check for change. We split the five years at July 2024 and ran the comparison on each half.

Two communities, kept apart. Northgate dates from 1960 to 1980, and Wellington Crossing from 2006 to 2009. Different buildings attract different buyers.

This approach has limits. Condition comes from agent descriptions, not inspections. We don’t know what any owner spent. Some groups get small when you look at a single year. The overall pattern holds, but no single year should carry much weight on its own.

Why is the renovation premium shrinking at Northgate?

Northgate Gardens: premium over an original unit of the same size, sold at the same time

64 Northgate Gardens sales, September 2021 to September 2026. Source: MLSPIN.

The answer shows up at the top of the price range. Here is the highest Northgate sale each year:

By date under agreement. 2026 runs through September 4. Source: MLSPIN.

Since 2024, the best units have topped out near $450,000. Original units, meanwhile, kept appreciating. A rising floor under a flat ceiling squeezes the gap, and that’s what happened to the renovation premium.

We believe supply explains it. Every renovated two-bedroom at Northgate competes with every other two-bedroom in the complex. Push the price too far past an original unit and buyers start to price the work themselves. Sales records can show the ceiling. They can’t prove why it formed, though supply is the explanation that fits.

How much of a renovation’s cost comes back?

To price the work, we turned to the Journal of Light Construction’s 2025 Cost vs. Value report for New England.

Source: The Journal of Light Construction, 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, New England region. Costs from Verisk. Values from a Zonda survey of REALTORS® working with NAR’s Realtors Property Resource.

JLC’s values are estimates from a survey of agents. The projects are also framed around single-family homes. Our figures reflect what buyers actually paid for condos in these two communities.

Combine a midrange kitchen with a midrange bath and the New England cost is $56,495. JLC’s survey suggests that work adds $63,802, or $1.13 for every dollar. At Northgate since July 2024, renovated units have brought about $36,000 more than an original two-bedroom near $420,000. That’s about 64 cents back per dollar, a loss of about 36 percent before any selling costs.

Lighter work fares better. Updated units sold for about $30,500 above original ones. JLC’s closest project, a minor midrange kitchen, costs $28,936. That’s roughly break even, and plenty of the updated units described less work than a full minor kitchen.

Timing used to be on the renovator’s side

One two-bedroom on Jacqueline Road went under agreement in August 2022 at $322,500 in original condition. Roughly six months later it sold again, fully renovated, at $427,500. Market growth accounts for about $9,000 of the difference. The remaining $96,000 or so reflects the renovation and its timing. We don’t know the owner’s budget and won’t speculate.

Before mid 2024, renovated units at Northgate carried a premium of about $57,500, close to what a kitchen and bath costs today. That window has narrowed. Original two-bedrooms now trade around $415,000 to $420,000, with nothing in the complex above $451,000.

Is Wellington Crossing any different?

Very. Just 3 of 47 Wellington sales were described as renovated. The original 2006 to 2009 finishes, granite and maple with stainless appliances, still show well, so few owners have changed them.

Updated Wellington units sold for no measurable premium. Two renovated top floor units in 2022 needed 43 and 54 days to find a buyer. They sold at about 96 and 97 percent of list. A typical original unit went under agreement in about a week at its asking price.

At Wellington, value lives in things no contractor can change: square footage, floor level, corner exposure, and garage parking.

Is a renovated unit worth the extra money to a buyer?

For buyers, the same numbers read differently. When sellers can’t recover what they spent, the difference lands in the buyer’s lap.

Since July 2024, renovated Northgate two-bedrooms have averaged about $36,000 above original ones. Recent sales suggest the gap is narrower still. From August 2025 on, renovated 780 square foot units sold for $426,000 to $450,000, while updated units sold for $420,000 to $446,000.

Compare that with $56,495, JLC’s New England price for a midrange kitchen and bath. A buyer of a renovated unit is picking up around $56,000 worth of work for $36,000 or less.

Does financing the seller’s renovation cost less than doing it yourself?

Usually. A renovated unit’s premium gets folded into the mortgage. Work done after closing typically comes out of savings.

Based on 20 percent down and a 30-year fixed rate of 7.50 percent (Mortgage News Daily, September 28, 2026). Principal and interest only. Renovation cost: JLC 2025, New England region.

About $201 a month covers a kitchen and bath someone else already chose, managed, and paid for. There’s no contractor to hire, no association approvals to chase, and no construction to live around. Renovation loans can bridge the cash gap. Terms vary, so check with a lender first.

Will a buyer recover the premium at resale?

It’s a reasonable concern. New finishes start aging the day you move in.

What helps is how steady the updated premium has been. Northgate units in updated condition sold about 7 percent above original units throughout all five years. A renovation that settles into updated condition keeps most of its value. What wears off is the extra renovation premium. And the buyer got that at a discount to begin with.

Below, three approaches compared, starting with a $420,000 original two-bedroom.

Hypothetical. Assumes 3 percent annual appreciation, near the Northgate pace since 2024, and that a unit renovated today reads as updated at resale. Gain equals resale value less purchase price and less renovation cost or interest on the financed premium at 7.50 percent. Excludes selling costs. Past appreciation does not promise future results.

Renovating right after you buy costs the most. Buying a finished renovation beats it by at least $10,000, with no disruption. On paper, the best return goes to the buyer who can live with original condition.

Our biggest caution is the ceiling. These figures assume Northgate’s top prices keep rising. If renovated units stay near $451,000, a buyer paying the full premium now could trail by $11,000 to $16,000 after interest. Even so, that’s well under the $56,495 a do-it-yourself renovation requires.

Do large associations appreciate more slowly?

Size alone doesn’t decide it. These two large communities appreciated at very different rates.

Value index from the same model, holding size and condition constant. Fall 2021 equals 100. 2021 includes September through December; 2026 runs through September 4. Source: MLSPIN.

A Northgate purchase in fall 2021 was worth about 20 percent more three years later and about 27 percent more after five. Wellington owners with the same timing saw roughly 9 and 12 percent. Since 2024, Northgate has slowed to about 3 percent a year.

Price point explains much of it. Northgate two-bedrooms sell around $430,000. Across Waltham, the median condo sale was $750,000 over the 90 days ending September 28, 2026. That makes Northgate a real entry point, with a deep pool of buyers. Wellington trades mostly from $550,000 to $950,000, and several buildings are age restricted to 55 and over, which narrows its buyer pool.

A large association shows its effect at the high end. Original units at Northgate kept appreciating while top units met a ceiling. Supply limits how far one unit can pull ahead. It hasn’t held back the whole community.

How should buyers and sellers in large associations use this?

Sellers: repair what’s failing and refresh what looks tired. Paint, flooring, lighting, and fixtures are where this data says dollars work hardest. Thinking about a full kitchen? First compare what renovated and original units in your building sold for in the same months. Our team runs that comparison for sellers before any money gets spent. When a refresh makes sense, Coldwell Banker Realty’s RealVitalize program can cover eligible pre-listing work with no upfront cost, subject to program terms.

Buyers: before making an offer, look at six months of renovated and original sales in the building. Pay for the renovation, not for a price the building has never supported. If a renovated listing is priced beyond recent sales, there’s always another house, and in a large complex the next one may list soon. Our team will pull a building’s sales history with you before you make an offer.

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Investors: set the renovation budget from the premium down, not from the quote up. Northgate’s full premium today is about $36,000 before selling costs. Wellington’s numbers don’t support a renovation budget for resale.

Sources

• MLSPIN, closed condominium sales at Northgate Gardens and Wellington Crossing, Waltham, MA, under agreement September 2021 through September 2026. 118 closed sales, 111 analyzed.
• The Journal of Light Construction, 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, New England region, September 2025.

Condition groups reflect listing descriptions, not inspections. Premiums are model estimates that control for size and timing and apply to these two communities only. Costs are regional averages. This is not an appraisal or financial advice.

Mike DelRose Jr. is a third-generation REALTOR® and co-leader of the DelRose McShane Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Belmont. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Association of REALTORS®. The team works with buyers, sellers, and owners across Belmont, Watertown, Waltham, and Greater Boston. Reach Mike at 617.515.7715 or MikeJr@DelRoseMcShane.com.