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I am beginning to ramp up my search for a house in Durham, and I am seeing something that makes me nuts: Granite countertops slapped onto old, worn-out cabinets. The NJ house I will be moving from has a brand-new kitchen so if I'm going to buy a house with a crappy one, I want it priced so I can rip it out and put in a new one. To toss perfectly good granite because someone decided to try to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear is wasteful -- and heartbreaking.
If you're looking to sell your house, please don't do this. You're not fooling anyone. Your house has an old kitchen with fancy counters that make the cabinets look even worse. Either price the house accordingly, or if the old cabinets are in good shape and you slapped granite on them, paint them white, cream, or another neutral color and get new doors and drawer fronts and new hardware.
I'm not knocking people with old kitchens. I lived 18 years in my current house before I could afford to re-do the kitchen. But as someone looking for a house, I can tell you that at least from my perspective, all other things being equal, a house with old, scratched, knotty pine cabinets with 40 years of cooking grease on them and granite countertops that has $20,000 dollars added to the price for $2400 worth of St. Cecelia granite is NOT one I'm going to buy. That same house with old Formica that's delaminating but is priced to sell? That house I'll buy, because my budget will allow me to do the kitchen the way I want to.
Feel better? I'm not sure how fast the houses are selling where you're looking, but I can tell you in my neighborhood they are listed and gone pretty fast. Point being, someone will probably gladly snatch up whichever houses you are ranting about.
Still have that mint green tub in your Jersey house?
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
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Oh that's nothing. I've been waiting to start my own thread about granite countertops etc... on the real estate forum. I am a professional home cleaner that contracts with various realty companies. I went into a kitchen last week that had spray painted faux granite countertops ,sink and tubs. I about fell out laughing when I found out it wasn't the previous owners who did it but the new ones. Most hideous ,tacky thing I've recently seen(seen a lot). Eventually I'm going to get around to posting the pic. Not only was it ugly but it was done sloppy and uneven. The tub looked like it had a bed bug infestation with all those little black dots. I've never seen anything like that. I couldn't help but question on my invoice whose idea that was and why,never received an answer.
I am beginning to ramp up my search for a house in Durham, and I am seeing something that makes me nuts: Granite countertops slapped onto old, worn-out cabinets. The NJ house I will be moving from has a brand-new kitchen so if I'm going to buy a house with a crappy one, I want it priced so I can rip it out and put in a new one. To toss perfectly good granite because someone decided to try to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear is wasteful -- and heartbreaking.
If you're looking to sell your house, please don't do this. You're not fooling anyone. Your house has an old kitchen with fancy counters that make the cabinets look even worse. Either price the house accordingly, or if the old cabinets are in good shape and you slapped granite on them, paint them white, cream, or another neutral color and get new doors and drawer fronts and new hardware.
I'm not knocking people with old kitchens. I lived 18 years in my current house before I could afford to re-do the kitchen. But as someone looking for a house, I can tell you that at least from my perspective, all other things being equal, a house with old, scratched, knotty pine cabinets with 40 years of cooking grease on them and granite countertops that has $20,000 dollars added to the price for $2400 worth of St. Cecelia granite is NOT one I'm going to buy. That same house with old Formica that's delaminating but is priced to sell? That house I'll buy, because my budget will allow me to do the kitchen the way I want to.
Probably the homes had worn out formica that really did need replacement.
And, cheap granite is just almost as affordable as formica, so it has become a common replacement.
it is just how it is.
It sure does look bizarre sometimes, though, when the cabinets really are trashed and with a new granite top.
Exactly why I was going to replace my old formica with new formica.
In the end I got sucked into...quartz. With my old, albeit nicely painted, cabinets. But I got a great sale.
I like it for my kitchen but would have been perfectly happy with nice laminate...but the laminate was almost as expensive! I did think about exactly what you said, though.
I am beginning to ramp up my search for a house in Durham, and I am seeing something that makes me nuts: Granite countertops slapped onto old, worn-out cabinets. The NJ house I will be moving from has a brand-new kitchen so if I'm going to buy a house with a crappy one, I want it priced so I can rip it out and put in a new one. To toss perfectly good granite because someone decided to try to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear is wasteful -- and heartbreaking.
If you're looking to sell your house, please don't do this. You're not fooling anyone. Your house has an old kitchen with fancy counters that make the cabinets look even worse. Either price the house accordingly, or if the old cabinets are in good shape and you slapped granite on them, paint them white, cream, or another neutral color and get new doors and drawer fronts and new hardware.
I'm not knocking people with old kitchens. I lived 18 years in my current house before I could afford to re-do the kitchen. But as someone looking for a house, I can tell you that at least from my perspective, all other things being equal, a house with old, scratched, knotty pine cabinets with 40 years of cooking grease on them and granite countertops that has $20,000 dollars added to the price for $2400 worth of St. Cecelia granite is NOT one I'm going to buy. That same house with old Formica that's delaminating but is priced to sell? That house I'll buy, because my budget will allow me to do the kitchen the way I want to.
Buff and turf. Do as little as you can and sell it for the highest price.
Exactly why I was going to replace my old formica with new formica.
In the end I got sucked into...quartz. With my old, albeit nicely painted, cabinets. But I got a great sale.
I like it for my kitchen but would have been perfectly happy with nice laminate...but the laminate was almost as expensive! I did think about exactly what you said, though.
Or go with Corian or something. Tends to look less like you're trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.
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I actually like Corian! I also like laminate, but I wanted that HD laminate that looked like Carrera marble :-D
I'm glad I went with my countertop I guess, though it certainly wasn't necessary - my house is so small though that it would likely be a rental house for a Duke grad student family, as about half of the houses in my neighborhood are, and it's probably a nice selling point for a rental. Will always question my decision though.
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