Popcorn ceiling removal and resale value (Raleigh, Kelly: sales, house, neighborhood)

[kellys]

Hi there,

My husband and I are closing on our first home this Friday and are extremely excited. It is absolutely our dream home with one exception: the dreaded popcorn ceilings. We considered removing them ourselves, but it seems that it is an extremely messy and time-consuming effort.

We had a contractor give us a quote of 3K to remove the popcorn, prep and paint the ceilings (~ 2000 sq feet of popcorned ceiling). My question to the board is: will this improvement translate into a higher resale value of the home? Are we likely to get out of this improvement the money we put in?

I know that this depends a lot on neighborhood, comps, etc. Let's just say that we are in a ~300K home and we are in the upper middle of our neighborhood in terms of home price, but definitely not the best or most expensive house in the neighborhood.

Thanks!

kellys

[Lizardlips]

Kellys;
It depends on how long you are staying in the house. If you are planning on staying there forever, and you hate popcorn, it is worth it. I just bought our home in Raleigh, and yup, it has popcorn ceilings. That will be the first thing I change. Anything that makes your home more attractive to people, or more "updated" will be a plus, maybe not in $$ but you will sell it faster than the person that hasn't "updated".

[HookEmHorns]

Will you get your money back on a resale? Maybe not.

Will it help you sell your house when it is time to move? DEFINITELY.

[adlnc07]

It's my understanding that builders put a popcorn finish on so the ceilings don't have to be as "perfect." I wonder if you get the popcorn removed - what will the ceiling look like with a smooth finish? I guess that'd be my main question.

I could be wrong on the reason, of course!

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by HookEmHorns

Will you get your money back on a resale? Maybe not.

Will it help you sell your house when it is time to move? DEFINITELY.

PERFECT ANSWER! I can't give a rep point 'cause you just had another great post...

Do it for you, not for the next buyer.
And if popcorn is the neighborhood standard, that is exactly what you will be doing. The flat will not increase sales price, just marketability.

[NCSUAlum2006]

Wow, I had no idea the pimpled ceilings were "out." Guess I'm thrilled that the house we're moving into next weekend is all flat!

[RaleighRob]

Consider saving money by only doing it in important areas. Public rooms like Living Room and Dining Room would be my top two choices...foyer too if you have one. Then your second priority could be kitchen and bedrooms and then finally bathrooms. Just do what you can afford.

[Anigirli]

If you live in an older home built before 1940's then i would take it out. Since popcorn ceiling became fashionable in the 80's, And in those homes it was people modernizing it. The house ended up looking weird since the integrity of the original design was not respected. Like alot of the garish 80's trend they are not popular anymore and it should help your resale value. If your like me and can't stand popcorn or drop ceilings then get it removed since you will be miserable inside the house. The money you spent will make you enjoy your home so much more.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by HookEmHorns

Will you get your money back on a resale? Maybe not.

Will it help you sell your house when it is time to move? DEFINITELY.

No doubt! I turned down several homes with pop ceilings....urgh. I always wondered what flaws those things were hiding.

[ADVentive]

Actually, I would do it in the bathrooms first because that is where it is more likely to start falling down first. At least that's what happened in my house. We paid a guy $400 to scrape the popcorn and paint the master bath flat because it kept falling down in spots, like around the shower and the skylight. It also fell down in areas around our air vents in other rooms (master bed, guest bath, and dining room) and we repaired it ourselves. Let me tell you that it was a major pain in the you know what. My house is 9 years old and the popcorn just started falling in the past year. We will never buy a house with popcorn ceilings again.