5 renovations with the best ROI on the Swedish market

Anyone considering selling their home will sooner or later ask the same question: should I renovate before listing, or sell as is? The simple answer is that it depends. The more useful answer requires understanding which measures actually pay off — and which ones mostly cost money.

We have looked at what research, transaction data, and agent experience say about the relationship between renovation and sale price. Here are five measures that consistently emerge as profitable.

1. Kitchen renovation — full or partial

There is a reason the kitchen is always mentioned first. It is the most important room for a property buyer and one of the most expensive renovations to tackle after moving in. Buyers know this — and they factor it in.

A full kitchen renovation can cost anywhere between 150,000 and 500,000 kronor depending on size and ambition, but does not need to be done in its entirety to make an impact. Replacing cabinet doors and handles, repainting, fitting a new worktop, and installing new lighting can deliver a significant visual transformation at a fraction of the cost.

Rule of thumb: a refresh costing 50,000 kronor can add 100,000–150,000 kronor to the final price if done well. A full renovation in an attractive property can yield an even better outcome — but the risk of over-investing grows with the level of ambition.

2. Bathroom renovation

The bathroom is the kitchen's closest competitor for buyer attention. A worn bathroom with old tiles, discoloured grout, and a basin from the last century sends a clear message: this is the next major expense.

Unlike the kitchen, the bathroom is a room where standard is harder to compromise on. Half-measures rarely hold up — buyers are trained to look for hidden defects, and a bathroom that looks "kind of fine but not quite" raises suspicion rather than confidence.

A well-considered bathroom renovation in a standard-sized bathroom typically costs 100,000–250,000 kronor. In the right property and the right market, the return exceeds the cost. It does, however, require timeless materials and a professional finish — a poorly executed bathroom is worse than an old one.

3. Surface finishes — floors, walls, and ceilings

It is hard to overstate how much surface finishes affect a first impression. Worn parquet floors, yellowed walls, cracks in the ceiling — these are details a buyer notices immediately and that create a general sense of neglect, even if the rest of the property is well maintained.

Sanding and re-oiling parquet floors, repainting walls in neutral tones, and addressing ceiling damage are measures with relatively low cost and high visibility. They are often the interventions that deliver the best return per krona invested.

A full repaint of a medium-sized apartment costs 30,000–80,000 kronor depending on who carries it out. The effect on the buyer's experience — and on the bidding — is often tangible.

4. The second bathroom — if there is one

In properties with two bathrooms, the second is often more neglected. Buyers who find a renovated master bathroom and then open the door to an unmodernised guest bathroom lose confidence. The discrepancy creates a feeling that the property is unfinished.

Renovating or at least upgrading the second bathroom — new taps, new toilet, fresh grout, new lighting — does not need to be a full-scale renovation, but it eliminates an important line of objection in a bidding situation.

5. Entrance and hallway — the first impression

The entrance sets the tone for the entire viewing. It is the first thing the buyer sees when they walk in, and the last thing they see when they leave. Yet it is a room that is often overlooked in renovation planning.

A fresh hallway with good storage, considered lighting, and well-maintained surfaces signals care for the entire property. It is a relatively inexpensive room to renovate — rarely more than 20,000–50,000 kronor for walls, floor, and lighting — but the return in terms of the buyer's overall impression is disproportionately large.

What to avoid

Just as important as knowing what to renovate is knowing what not to do. Overly personal choices — unusual colour selections, niche materials, architectural changes that do not suit the property's style — can narrow the target audience rather than broaden it. A pre-sale renovation should appeal to many, not express the owner's taste.

And most importantly: do not over-renovate. In a property with a market value of three million kronor, a kitchen and bathroom renovation costing 600,000 kronor cannot be justified. The starting point must always be what price the property can realistically achieve — and how much of the renovation cost will realistically be recovered in the bidding.

Closing thoughts

Renovation before a sale is not an end in itself. It is an investment to be assessed with the same cool head as any other transaction. But done right — with the right measures in the right property — it is one of the most effective ways to maximise the final price.

At Nezto, we work to quantify exactly these relationships, through image analysis and transaction data, so that agents and sellers can make better-informed decisions. Not on gut feeling. On data.