Wanted: resources to learn/est. value-add of potential remodels

[Tom Seigold]

The idea of BRRR appeals to me strongly. I have skills in the accounting side of things, and skills for performing much of the remodeling work.

As I see it, the one biggest skill gap I'm missing now is the ability to say "if I spend $30k doing [x, y, z remodels], the appraisal should go up by approximately [amount]." Of course, I don't want to invest in remodels that won't raise the appraisal enough for the BRRR strategy to work, so I want to be confident in my ability to somewhat accurately assess how much of a $$$ value-add a certain improvement will bring come appraisal time.

Can anyone recommend resources for learning this?

My immediate instinct is to do one of the following:

1. Study the appraisal process itself to better understand the appraiser's point of view.  I've found some online "appraiser certification training" courses, free and paid, that may work to this end.  While I don't intend on becoming a certified appraiser, I do wonder if going through the certification-preparation process may be valuable to me just for this knowledge gained.

2. Study by doing comps directly: finding old/outdated homes, and comparing them with recently-remodeled homes of similar size, neighborhood, and year-built.  This seems most effective in theory, but may be difficult, because it hinges on whether I can realistically find like-properties where the only major difference is whether its interior style is modern vs. obsolete.  Particularly since Zillow removes photos as soon as a listing is sold, leaving the interior a mystery unless I take lengthy notes before sale...

[Patrick Drury]

@Tom Seigold 

@Jared Hottle definitely hit that nail on the head with comps. It really boils down to just looking at the sales comparables in your area. Have your agent give you sales comparables in the area that lets you look at what's possible and how much value you can pull out.