HOME SWEET HOME IT'S NOT HARD TO TURN AROUND THAT OLDER FIXER-UPPER, IF YOU KNOW HOW.

Byline: Candice Choi Staff Writer

As the Southern California housing market remains hot, many enterprising people are snatching up rundown homes and sprucing them up to sell at a profit.

Long Beach resident Tom Barnes bought a half-acre lot with four houses and made a few relatively simple improvements: He painted the exteriors, remodeled the kitchens and put in asphalt driveways.

One year and $75,000 later, Barnes sold the property for more than double what he paid for it.

``It's pretty easy to do right now because the interest rates are so low,'' Barnes said. ``If you just do some landscaping and painting, you can turn a property around.''

All over Southern California, the demand for homes is outpacing the supply, said Tom Carnahan, president of Carnahan & Associates in Woodland Hills. And as more baby boomers pay off their mortgages, they're increasingly looking to earn extra cash by renovating homes.

Turning a house around can be as easy as touching up the ``big three'' areas - the kitchen, the bathroom and the lawn. Often, people find they can make the improvements themselves rather than hire contractors.

It's no wonder Home Depot's seen a rush of customers in search of remodeling tools, kits and supplies.

Depending on the size of a kitchen, surface remodeling can be done in a few days with two people for between $900 and $2,500, said Kevin MacDonald, the office manager for Home Depot in Van Nuys. A new toilet and a pedestal sink can do wonders for modernizing an old bathroom.

Floors 4 Less in Santa Clarita also gets steady work from people who are fixing up homes to put back on the market, said Jay Beynon, the store's owner. The floors in a kitchen and a bathroom can be ripped out and relaid in days for as low as $1,000, Beynon said.

The key is to present a home that looks fresh and new. That could mean exposing hardwood floors and removing the ``cottage cheese'' from the ceilings, said Brian Paul, a Los Angeles resident who's been buying and renovating homes since he was in college.

``The most important thing is to make it clean, livable and inviting,'' he said.

The major systems, including heating and air conditioning, will likely be inspected too, he said.

To sell a house, however, people have to want to come inside.

Attractive landscaping is key to luring people in, said Jim Boyd, with Boyd Realtors in San Bernardino. ``You want a yard that makes people stop and take a look at it. Once you get them inside, just take it room by room. Think of things that turn you on as consumer,'' he said.

Sprucing up the ``curb appeal'' - the paint, lawn and gardens - is a quick way to improve a home's value, too. At Home Depot, people are hauling away sod, plants and gardening tools to chip away at tasks themselves, MacDonald said.

Performing all the improvements yourself not only cuts back on costs, but teaches people just how much certain tasks cost, Paul said. That way, when contractors are hired you'll know if you're being charged a fair price.

Still, there are plenty of pitfalls to be wary of.

It's important to keep things in perspective. For example, investing $100,000 in a new kitchen for a house that costs $400,000 would be a waste, Paul said.

``Whatever you spend, you should put it in proportion to your home,'' he said.

Besides, nobody wants to buy a mansion in a bad neighborhood.

``Don't over-improve for the area you're in,'' Carnahan said.

Picking the right home to fix up is important too. Steer clear of homes that need a lot of foundation work, Barnes said; that could send improvement costs skyrocketing.

Residential neighborhoods with homes in the lowest and second-lowest price range are ideal, Carnahan said. There are more first-time home buyers looking to buy a home in that market, he said. Houses on main streets and near commercial areas can be tougher to sell.

Candice Choi, [phone]

candice.choi(at)dailynews.com

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David Sprague/Staff Photographer