Selling our house - What to do w/ our kitchen? (Forsyth: countertops, appliances)

[SkiGuy79]

Hello,

We will be selling our home in the next 6 months and are not sure what to do with our kitchen. Here's some relevant details -- we would appreciate any feedback you might about the options I outline below:

Home: 4br, 3ba 1,500 sq ft bungalow + 600 sq ft finished basement
Location: In-town, between south Buckhead and Atlantic Station
Price Point: $400 - $425
Kitchen: 12' x 12', U-shaped open floor-plan with a 7' long peninsula (making it kind of "G" shaped).
Cabinets: Cherry colored, with minor water damage near the sink
Countertops: Natural-colored stone 12" x 12" *tiles* (i.e., makes the countertops look like granite, but they're actually a grid of individual tiles).
Appliances: Stainless w/ black accents, roughly 10 years old, in good working order.

Our quandary is that we know white cabinets, with solid surface countertops and all stainless appliances are are "in" right now, but we're not sure whether a typical in-town (but not high-end) buyer would expect a fully updated kitchen.

Our options seem to be (from least to most expensive):

1. Leave it completely as-is and let the new owners do what they want with it. The good news is that the kitchen is by no means bad, it's just obviously 10-years old. Cost = $0

2. Replace just the counter-tops with solid granite, replace the backsplash, and replace the appliances with more modern-looking options. The main concern here is that it would still look 10-years old, but would be a nicer version of that style. Cost = $6K - $8K.

3. Do a full modern reno: new white cabinets (for what it's worth painting the existing one's would be about the same cost as replacing), new dark gray solid stone (probably quartz) countertops, white subway tile backsplash, new mid-level modern appliances, new sink and faucet. We'd also have to do some additional painting in the main level of the house so it matches the more modern look of the kitchen. Cost = $18K - $22K.

So our questions are: If you were an in-town buyer at this price-point, would you expect a modern white kitchen or would you be able to tolerate something that's a little more dated? If you could tolerate something a little more dated, would you be OK with the tile grid counter-tops and older-style stainless appliances or would you expect solid stone w/ newer appliances?

Our goals are really just to maximize our return on investment and minimize our time-on-market.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions (and please feel free to offer up additional options we haven't thought of). Also note that we already have a builder and Realtor lined-up, so we do not need any help in those areas.

[Iconographer]

If you have a realtor and builder, it's their advice I would seek, not ours. The realtor in particular should have and idea of what value a refurbished kitchen would bring to your house.
As for me, its' been my experience that prospective buyers do indeed prefer a turnkey kitchen and baths when considering a purchase.

[samiwas1]

Can you post a photo of what it looks like now? It's hard to judge without seeing what it actually looks like.

I, for one, am fine with dark wood cabinets. In fact, I do not like the idea of a white kitchen, as I feel that would be really hard to keep looking clean. Cherry kind of runs from medium to dark brown, so I'd want to see what you are talking about. Also want to see how it works with the flooring.

Ten year old appliances don't bother me much, and would not change my purchase of a house unless they were in terrible condition. We've been in our house for almost 12 years with the builder-grade stainless appliances, and I think they still look fine.

I HATE tiled countertops, so that would have to go. Unless the rest of the house was perfect, a tiled countertop would change my mind.

[livinginbuffalo]

We just sold our home in S. Forsyth for $200K more than we paid 4 years ago. I asked my realtor where to spend the money. We painted all of the "gold" rooms gray, painted our kitchen cupboards white but already had 15 year old high end viking/sub zero stainless appliances and granite that might not be the most current but wasn't a dark outdated color. We also completely gutted and updated our master bath with all marble. Doing that, we were able to list for $100K more than we would have been able to. My realtor told me what was most important to update but we basically did it all and were under contract in three weeks.

For the record, I wouldn't put in dark gray countertops. The rage is an all light colored and airy feel and quartz is the most current look. Good luck!!

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

We just sold our home in S. Forsyth for $200K more than we paid 4 years ago.

Are you leaving us, LIB?

[brown_dog_us]

Interview agents and get advice about what the house could sell for as is, and then start asking about how much more you could get for it with the changes.

fwiw, the first thing I would do is replace the tiled counter top.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

For the record, I wouldn't put in dark gray countertops. The rage is an all light colored and airy feel and quartz is the most current look. Good luck!!

Damn...I guess I'm just not with the rage!

[froglipz]

People want turnkey and will pay for turnkey!

[Mattie]

I do agree with asking a realtor for a checklist of appropriate changes to make, but at that price point, and your location, I don't think you'll have trouble selling quickly without a major reno.

My brother recently paid $100,000 more, for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, no basement, in Candler Park, and has had to put at least $100,000 in since then. The(small) kitchen was redone, and the bathrooms were modern, but the rest of the house needed some major work.

[stan4]

Selling our house - What to do w/ our kitchen?



You'll probably have to sell the kitchen, too.