Real estate question...to fix home before sale, or forget it? (Reston: hardwood floor, for sale)

[Stagemomma]

Mom lives in a 4 bedroom split level in Springfield. 1800 sf. The lot is about .3 acres. Nice neighborhood of working professional families. West Springfield HS. Ballpark range of home sales in the neighborhood is about 550K

Mom is 79 and considering the sale of the home so she can downsize to a rental where she won't have maintenance. Dad has been in an Memory Care facility for almost a year, and for about the past 5 years or so, maintenance has been a challenge for us. Our question is: How much time/money/effort do we put into the home before putting it on the market?

Mom would like to fix it up to her personal standards before calling a realtor. We kids (homeowners all) feel that given the age of the home (mid 1970s?) and current condition it might be best to move out first, give it a good cleaning and sell it as is.

For example: Kitchen upgrade was in 1986, master bath and some sheetrock and flooring-2011, hallway bath 1996, deck added in 1985 and 2000.

The house needs new siding and possibly a new roof (i can't remember). The hardwood on two levels needs refinishing. She would like to take her 25 year old refrigerator with her, and move the 30 year old fridge from the garage back to the kitchen. There are tall trees, nice veggie garden and a stunning azalea bed in the back, but the front landscaping has gotten overgrown. There hasn't been a new light fixture put in since the 90s, and I don't think anything has been painted since mid 2000s or so.

On the plus side, Brand new HVAC.

I know we should call a realtor and get a professional opinion. But since I can't make that call without Mom's blessing, I'd love to get some amateur expert opinions.

TIA

[spencgr]

While i am sure your mom is lovely and smart, if she is not a current interior designer, do not spend money upgrading a house to her taste.

[TheWatchmen]

Her house will not command the 550k price if all the other homes that are selling in that range are modernized. Do a thorough check of any current listings and recent sales... to get a "feel" of what kind of housing stock is selling, inside and out.

[JfromReston]

As a home buyer I would prefer not to have updates put in to sell the house. I once was viewing a home while a workman was putting down UGLY vinyl flooring in the kitchen -- I just thought to myself - what a waste of money. If I bought the house (I didn't) that flooring would have to go. I'm still living with white carpet that I'm sure the previous owners put in to sell my house.

I can see doing some basics like a fresh coat of neutral paint, refinishing the hardwood floors and pruning back the overgrown landscaping. I would leave the kitchen and bath to the new owner and be sure that the asking price reflects those needs. It shouldn't be priced like the updated houses in the area.

[weezycom]

I agree with JfromReston. Do minor cosmetic things so the house looks clean and fresh, and let the home price reflect that it needs upgrades. If there's a worn spot on the hardwoods, for instance, a good floor refinisher can do a spot repair and blend it in, a coat of wax and you're done. Clean the kitchen cabinets well and maybe put some interesting door pulls on. As long as the house is priced right for its condition and in a good neighborhood, it will sell pretty quickly.

My boss used to have rental properties that he's been selling off one by one for the last few years, and every time he got ready to sell one, he did a lot of upgrading, modernizing to the house but his taste is stuck in boring traditional 1980 colors/styles and the upgrades he did reflected that. Then he would moan and whine about the place not selling. Two of the places I know would have sold very quickly if he hadn't done the work and left wiggle room in the price for the new owners to do it up to their taste. One took 10 months to sell and the other he re-rented and waited another year to put it back on the market and still didn't get his investment back on the work he did to ready it for sale.....and when he drove by it about 2 weeks after closing, he saw most of his new "wonderful" stuff on the curb where the new owners had pulled it out.

[dreamweaverteam]

As long as your mom realizes the house won't command the price of similar homes that have been updated, it is okay to sell as is.

The two things that would help the sale would be to paint everything, and replace/refinish floors. Wood floors really sell homes so having them redone would be a benefit, and any old carpeting should definitely be replaced with something neutral. Kitchen and baths are very personal, so I would not redo them unless she is ready to spend money, by pricing right you can still get a quick sale without them being updated.

It would probably be better to move out and have those things done. Without seeing the house, I can tell you that after living in a home for 20+ years probably means a lot of things have accumulated, so it will be easier to allow potential buyers to see themselves in the home with a blank space.

You can also work with a Realtor to come up with potential incentives, such as offering an allowance to upgrade appliances or carpeting. That has helped buyers more than just lowering the price in some sales for my clients. For instance, if you offer $5k towards carpeting vs $5k off the price, the amount of the down payment (ie cash out of their pocket) really isn't affected just by lowering the price, so the allowance is worth more to the buyer.

[Stagemomma]

Originally Posted by dreamweaverteam

As long as your mom realizes the house won't command the price of similar homes that have been updated, it is okay to sell as is.

The two things that would help the sale would be to paint everything, and replace/refinish floors. Wood floors really sell homes so having them redone would be a benefit, and any old carpeting should definitely be replaced with something neutral. Kitchen and baths are very personal, so I would not redo them unless she is ready to spend money, by pricing right you can still get a quick sale without them being updated.

It would probably be better to move out and have those things done. Without seeing the house, I can tell you that after living in a home for 20+ years probably means a lot of things have accumulated, so it will be easier to allow potential buyers to see themselves in the home with a blank space.

You can also work with a Realtor to come up with potential incentives, such as offering an allowance to upgrade appliances or carpeting. That has helped buyers more than just lowering the price in some sales for my clients. For instance, if you offer $5k towards carpeting vs $5k off the price, the amount of the down payment (ie cash out of their pocket) really isn't affected just by lowering the price, so the allowance is worth more to the buyer.

Thanks...those are some good strategies!

It's hard to tell Mom her 60 year old Ethan Allen Early American Living room suite is not going to seem attractive to anyone else.

The hardwood floor idea is a good one because it is one thing we absolutely can not do while she lives there, therefore Giving weight to our 'you should move out asap' argument.

My next step: Convincing her a senior relocation service is a good idea and they will respect her stuff.

[jtees4]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

As a home buyer I would prefer not to have updates put in to sell the house. I once was viewing a home while a workman was putting down UGLY vinyl flooring in the kitchen -- I just thought to myself - what a waste of money. If I bought the house (I didn't) that flooring would have to go. I'm still living with white carpet that I'm sure the previous owners put in to sell my house.

I can see doing some basics like a fresh coat of neutral paint, refinishing the hardwood floors and pruning back the overgrown landscaping. I would leave the kitchen and bath to the new owner and be sure that the asking price reflects those needs. It shouldn't be priced like the updated houses in the area.

TOTALLY AGREE!!!! 100% Correct!

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by Stagemomma

Thanks...those are some good strategies!

It's hard to tell Mom her 60 year old Ethan Allen Early American Living room suite is not going to seem attractive to anyone else.

The hardwood floor idea is a good one because it is one thing we absolutely can not do while she lives there, therefore Giving weight to our 'you should move out asap' argument.

My next step: Convincing her a senior relocation service is a good idea and they will respect her stuff.

Her Ethan Allen furniture may be attractive to someone else. I would put it on Craig's List. Even if it needs reupholstered I bet it has good bones.

Also I purchased last year and I absolutely hated looking at houses with residents. The house I ended up buying had the residents in there, and I mean the man followed me around as I looked! But I think they would have gotten more if they were not in there.

[airjay75]

I will just offer another perspective as a recent first time homebuyer (2013). Many people buying homes in this area exhaust much of their savings just for the down payment (if they don't finance the whole thing in the first place). That leaves them with little liquid funds left to do renovations and upgrades. As such, I think you do close off a certain segment of buyers by not doing upgrades or needed maintenance before selling. My wife and I were looking for homes in the $500-$600k budget amount, and a home listed for $550k in West Springfield would have immediately caught our attention. But, if I looked at the pictures and just saw outdated everything, I would not have even bothered to go look at it. We wanted a move-in ready home, not something that was going to require extra time and money to update and upgrade. I don't think everything needs to be updated or renovated, but enough that the house doesn't look the way it did when it was built in the 1960s or the 1970s. But, of course, real estate is an incredibly localized market - that's where a good realtor is really going to be able to advise of you of which upgrades are worth it and which ones aren't.