Apartment Remodeling: Understanding Benefits and Challenges

Apartment remodeling offers limited societal benefits compared to reconstruction, making it a less appealing option for homeowners.

### The Future of Apartment Remodeling in Seoul: Reconstruction vs. Remodeling
* 🏙 By 2025, one-third of Seoul's apartments will be over 30 years old, making them **eligible for reconstruction**, while by 2030, half of the city's apartments will **qualify**.
* 🏗 Reconstruction involves tearing down and rebuilding, with social benefits like **increased housing supply and public space**, while remodeling retains the structure but **significantly upgrades the interior**.
* 💰 Remodeling is more challenging due to **limited unit increases and profitability**, with many homeowners and construction companies preferring reconstruction for its **modernization potential and higher returns**.
* 🔍 The key advantage of remodeling is the potential to **significantly increase living space and amenities**, improving **quality of life** and **market value**.
* 🏢 Despite the potential benefits, there are few completed remodeling projects, as homeowners and construction companies often opt for **reconstruction**.
* 🛠 The process of remodeling involves careful demolition and reconstruction within the existing framework, with challenges in **maintaining an attractive appearance and layout**.
* 🏗 The decision between remodeling and reconstruction often leads to factional divides among apartment residents, with some preferring the **former for its convenience and cost**, while others opt for the **latter for a more modern outcome**.
* 🔮 Prospective buyers of remodeled apartments are advised to carefully consider factors like **unit increase**, **shared costs**, **construction companies involved**, and **potential market value changes**.

I would like to talk about apartment remodeling. If you are interested in remodeling apartments, I hope you will watch until the end. Nowadays, the number of apartments being remodeled is rapidly increasing. Many people think that remodeling an apartment just means changing the interior, but that's not the case. While it is similar to reconstruction, it is also quite different. Reconstruction involves completely tearing down and rebuilding, whereas remodeling keeps the structure, the framework, intact while completely demolishing the rest and then adding back the muscle and flesh. When reconstruction takes place, there are social benefits. First, it is mandatory to include rental housing. Second, part of the land must be donated, which is usually turned into a park. This allows the residents nearby to benefit as well. Third, and most importantly, the number of units increases.

If the number of households increases, it means that the supply will also increase, which can play a stabilizing role for rental and sales prices, making it a good situation overall. From a societal perspective and for landlords, everyone benefits because if they just pay the shared costs, they can live in a brand-new apartment. However, what about remodeling? It doesn't really help society much outside of the landlords. In fact, it can lead to fluctuations in rental and monthly prices because residents have to relocate during the construction. While the number of households is supposed to increase, it only increases very slightly. In some cases, it may not increase at all. If that's the case, why not just go for reconstruction instead of remodeling? The reason is that the floor area ratio is already maximized. Since the legally defined usage of that land has almost been fully utilized, reconstruction is not possible. Therefore, they have no choice but to opt for remodeling as an alternative. Reconstruction is generally...

You can have several hundred to several thousand units available for sale. This means that when there is a new sale, the people who win the lottery receive money. The fact that many people receive this money indicates that the business potential is good. However, with remodeling, the number of units available for sale is usually less than 100. At most, there might be around 100 to 200 units. This implies that there are fewer people who win the lottery, which means less money is received, and consequently, the business potential decreases.

The reason I am discussing reconstruction and remodeling is that it is essential to have a basic understanding of these two concepts. By 2025, one-third of the apartments in Seoul will be over 30 years old and eligible for reconstruction. By 2030, half of the apartments in Seoul will be over 30 years old. Therefore, by 2030, you will see banners everywhere announcing reconstruction or remodeling projects.

It can be confusing for us to differentiate between what is real and what is fake. That's why I am explaining this. In fact, if you visit apartments in Bundang or Ilsan that are 30 years old, you will find that they are quite livable. However, people always compare. They visit newly built apartments in Gaepo-dong and see how well they are done, with swimming pools and breakfast services. They wonder why we don't have those amenities and engage in self-deprecation, saying that despite living in decent places, we feel like we are in a refugee camp or a detention center. This leads to an increasing desire for new apartments. 

Returning to remodeling, one might question the business viability, wondering if rebuilding would result in the same appearance as the original apartments, with little change. So, what is the advantage? Regardless of the amount of the shared cost, there are certainly benefits.

There are things without underground parking, or places that do have underground parking but are not connected to the elevator. We can solve all of these issues by digging the underground parking much deeper and connecting everything with elevators. This is possible. Additionally, corridor-style apartments can be transformed into stair-style ones. Importantly, we can make the demolished areas larger to increase the floor space. If I have a 24-pyeong apartment, there is a possibility of living in one that is 28 pyeong. This essentially turns it into a new apartment. The interior can be completely renovated, and a home that originally had two rooms can become three, and a home that had one bathroom can have two. This significantly improves the quality of life, which in turn increases the market value. Moreover, one of the advantages of remodeling is that it requires far fewer steps compared to reconstruction. Reconstruction conditions are met only after 30 years.

Remodeling has been around since 2015. The safety inspection standards and the obstacles that need to be overcome in reconstruction are fewer in number and significantly less difficult. However, there are drawbacks. The part I want to discuss in this video starts here. While remodeling is indeed very appealing, there are very few completed projects. The reason for this is that homeowners prefer reconstruction, and construction companies also favor reconstruction. When everything is torn down and rebuilt, it results in a more modern-looking apartment. In contrast, remodeled apartments do not change much in terms of important factors like layout and number of floors, making it hard to feel like they are truly new apartments. Furthermore, construction companies do not prefer remodeling for another reason: it is less profitable, and the returns are smaller.

However, while the amount of food consumed is small, the work involved may be even greater than in reconstruction. In reconstruction, when demolishing, everything just collapses completely, but in remodeling, we leave the framework and carefully remove parts little by little. Additionally, for underground parking, we have to leave the framework and excavate cautiously as if we were doing tunnel construction, all while performing the foundational work. When we rebuild, we have to construct according to this framework, which presents many challenging aspects. Furthermore, the end result must look somewhat appealing, similar to a reconstruction, but since the height of the apartments and the number of units are limited, it becomes quite a headache. As a result, a debate arises among homeowners regarding the pros and cons of remodeling. If it’s going to be built similarly anyway, they wonder if they should just live with it.

Why are we going through all this trouble to move? Let's just live here. Still, the size of the living space is increasing, and a community is being formed, plus an underground parking lot is being created, which enhances the quality of life. So, we have three factions: one that wants to remodel, one that is willing to pay a bit more for shared expenses, and one that wants to pursue reconstruction. A good example of this is in Dogok-dong, where there is the Dogok Shin Apartment built in the 1970s. How has that apartment changed? The remodeling faction and the reconstruction faction have completely split. The remodeled apartment has become Dogok Ssangyong Yega, while the reconstructed apartment has been reborn as Hanla Bivaldi. It's interesting that these two complexes were originally the same apartment. Remodeling can be very effective, but transforming into a new apartment through reconstruction is just as challenging. As a result, this issue might remain just a topic of discussion.

When you visit an apartment, you often see banners hung up by the construction company, proclaiming that they will do their best for the members of the association with luxurious construction. This can really uplift your spirits. And when outsiders come in, they might think, Wow, there's something special here, leading to some misconceptions. However, the selection of the construction company is actually a very early stage in the overall timeline. There are quite a few places where the construction company has been selected, but then nothing happens afterward. In fact, this is expected to increase in the future. So, when you are looking to purchase an apartment that will undergo remodeling, here are some points to check: First, you need to confirm whether the number of units is increasing and simultaneously how many square meters the existing apartments are increasing by. Second, you should check how much the additional contributions will be. After paying the contributions and moving in, you might find that the market price is higher than the sum of the original purchase price and the contributions.

It should be higher, but rather it seems better. If that's the case, it can be quite frustrating. So, you really need to pay attention to this part. If the shared cost in real estate is 150 million won, we should conservatively think of it as 200 million or 250 million won. The third point is whether the apartment number needs to remain the same or if it can be changed. You need to find this out because remodeling has a high probability of retaining the original layout, so you should choose the budget and apartment number carefully from the beginning. The fourth point is to look at which construction companies are involved. This is important because if only minor construction companies' banners are up, it means the project lacks appeal and there are no major players involved. This indicates that even with remodeling, there will be less influence or branding potential. The fifth point is that the remodeling project could end up being just an issue.

It means that issues are continuously being created. There is a theme suggesting that it will become a new apartment, aimed at driving up the market price. In a way, it's about hope. Therefore, you must confirm that this can become stagnant and may not lead anywhere. The sixth point is about money. After paying the shared costs, there may be nothing left, and despite going through all these difficulties, the market price may not differ much from surrounding apartments. That's why I always say that real estate ultimately comes down to land value. This land value must increase for the apartment to gain synergy when it becomes new. Therefore, the remodeling issue should be viewed as a bonus game in the distant future. You should never think that the remodeling of this apartment will definitely happen and that it will improve. If you think like that, you should not proceed. So, consider the apartments that will be remodeled as just a bonus game.

I hope you consider whether this location is good or bad. Today's content was quite extensive and complicated, so if you didn't understand it, I suggest taking a five-minute break to clear your mind. After that, come back and listen again while taking notes. Writing things down tends to help with memory retention and gives you a chance to think for yourself. If you have any questions about this apartment or location, please leave a comment. If there are topics that resonate with many people, I will select them and provide answers in a video. Thank you.

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작가 송희구

Apartment remodeling is on the rise, but it differs from reconstruction by keeping the existing structure intact.

While reconstruction offers social benefits like increased rental housing and public land donation, remodeling has a minimal impact on the community and can lead to price fluctuations for residents.

With a limited number of units available for sale, remodeling offers less business potential compared to reconstruction, making it a less lucrative option for landlords.

The Challenge of Differentiating Real and Fake Apartments

Apartments in Bundang and Ilsan, despite being 30 years old, are still livable, but people compare them to luxurious new builds in Gaepo-dong, leading to a desire for new apartments.

Remodeling offers benefits like deeper underground parking, improved floor space, and interior renovations, but it has fewer completed projects due to homeowners and construction companies preferring reconstruction.

Remodeling is less profitable for construction companies and doesn't significantly change important factors like layout and number of floors, making it hard to feel like a truly new apartment.

Remodeling requires careful and labor-intensive work, leaving the framework intact and excavating cautiously, while reconstruction involves a complete demolition.

Homeowners are divided into three factions: those wanting to remodel, those willing to pay more for shared expenses, and those pursuing reconstruction.

The Dogok-dong area serves as an example, with the same apartment complex splitting into two different entities through remodeling and reconstruction.

Key Considerations for Purchasing a Remodeling Apartment

When visiting an apartment, the construction company's banners can create a positive impression, but their selection is just the beginning of the process.

It's important to check the increase in the number of units and the square meters of existing apartments, as well as the additional contributions required.

Pay attention to the potential discrepancy between the market price and the total costs, and consider the significance of the construction companies involved in the project.

The Complexities of Real Estate and Apartment Remodeling

Issues in real estate are continuously arising, with a theme of new apartments driving up market prices.

The value of land is crucial for the apartment's synergy and potential remodeling, which should be viewed as a distant bonus.

It's important to approach apartment remodeling with caution and to consider the location's value before making decisions.