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In the spirit of A&E's "sell this House" and HGTV's "Get it Sold," "Designed to Sell," Love It or List It, and "Buy and Sell".....
How much have you spent to prep your house for sale (before it was listed, as we see on some of these shows)
Obviously these shows are NOT real -- so I thought I'd ask real people. I'm not saying people may not switch out a light fixture or fix a faucet, or paint -- but personally, I don't know anyone who'd spend 20-40 thousand on major renos and the kinds of things we see on TV.
Maybe a few hundred dollars. And that was just because we got transferred while we were in the middle of doing some minor renovations ourselves, and we just didn't have the time to finish it, so we just hired someone to come in and finish up. That said however, because we have always known we were likely to get transferred again, we always kept our homes really neutral in color and such. As one of our real estate agents referred to it, "transfer beige". LOL We just used furniture, rugs and accessories to add color. Our first home, we did not do that with, and we didn't sell it. We were fortunate that our employer bought the house from us since we didn't sell it after 30 days. Since then every home we've sold, has sold within 3 days of listing, and usually at full price or almost full price. And usually the employer pays a bonus if you sell it yourself, so it's always worth trying.
The best thing we ever did was to just rent a self storage place and put all our extra stuff in it. We moved all kinds of stuff out of rooms, closets, and the garage to make the house look larger. Works like a charm and only costs a tiny bit of money.
I'm a real person who is spending some serious money to get my house ready for the market. We're completely redoing the kitchen. We're putting new tile in the bathroom and replacing the vanity sink/counter. We're putting in all new flooring throughout the house. One small 10 foot wall will be built to change the floor plan to extend the upstairs hallway. The unfinished half of the attic will be refinished. An exterior porch will be torn down and replaced. The exterior house will be painted. The only thing we hesitate to do is the detached garage.
Since we have the skills and connections, all of this will cost approximately 20k. That 20k will double the value of our property.
If you can do the work yourself, it may be worth it depending on the market where you live.
Wow, generally not really the smartest strategy...
I suppose if there are successful "flippers" that have recently sold a home for the kind of price that you will ask for your "improved" home and your total investment of time and money leaves room for a profit maybe such extensive renovations might be warranted but there are very few parts of the country where this currently makes sense...
Given the excessive levels of inventory in many parts of the country it makes a lot of sense to
get a good home inspection and address as many of the items as the report highlights, I would caution that these kinds of repairs are probably more important at certain price points -- scaring off first time buyers whose own inspector will make a huge deal out of minor things is NOT what one needs to endure!
Honestly for 95%+ of homes a really thorough cleaning, some major de-cluttering and a little creative staging can generally net the fastest sale at the greatest net profit. A couple a hundred dollar for fresh paint, some pretty flowers to brighten up the yard and similar cosmetic updates will go along way toward making most buyers feel like the place is well cared for...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
I'm a real person who is spending some serious money to get my house ready for the market. We're completely redoing the kitchen. We're putting new tile in the bathroom and replacing the vanity sink/counter. We're putting in all new flooring throughout the house. One small 10 foot wall will be built to change the floor plan to extend the upstairs hallway. The unfinished half of the attic will be refinished. An exterior porch will be torn down and replaced. The exterior house will be painted. The only thing we hesitate to do is the detached garage.
Since we have the skills and connections, all of this will cost approximately 20k. That 20k will double the value of our property.
If you can do the work yourself, it may be worth it depending on the market where you live.
I'm a real person who is spending some serious money to get my house ready for the market. We're completely redoing the kitchen. We're putting new tile in the bathroom and replacing the vanity sink/counter. We're putting in all new flooring throughout the house. One small 10 foot wall will be built to change the floor plan to extend the upstairs hallway. The unfinished half of the attic will be refinished. An exterior porch will be torn down and replaced. The exterior house will be painted. The only thing we hesitate to do is the detached garage.
Since we have the skills and connections, all of this will cost approximately 20k. That 20k will double the value of our property.
If you can do the work yourself, it may be worth it depending on the market where you live.
Dontcha just wish you had done at least some of these a few years ago though so you could enjoy it a little? That's the bit that gets to me, hard to bear the idea of doing significant reno just to sell because why the hell didn't I do it earlier and enjoy it for more than a few months? I suppose it could take more than a few months to sell but I'm being optimistic in that regard and really at that point it wouldn't be enjoying it.
I think about this because I'm going to be faced possibly with such choices, but I won't have that kind of room for gain sale price-wise and need to do something about 30-year-old kitchen, something with flooring, etc.
Less than 750 dollars, including the inspection items. The most expensive was a new kitchen floor, and I was lucky to find a remnant. I replaced a leaky faucet, bought some new switchplate covers, fixed cracked tiles in the shower, etc.
The most major change was a thorough cleaning, which was free.
I wish you luck. My understanding is that people who spend serious bucks almost never get that all back dollar for dollar. Here in the DC area a one room addition can cost 50-thousand dollars. And the difference in sale prices between houses that have an addition and houses that don't sure isn't 50-thousand dollars.
WIth all your doing (especially for that price) maybe your house will sell for 20-thou more than a house that doesn't have the things you're doing.
Quote:
I'm a real person who is spending some serious money to get my house ready for the market. We're completely redoing the kitchen. We're putting new tile in the bathroom and replacing the vanity sink/counter. We're putting in all new flooring throughout the house. One small 10 foot wall will be built to change the floor plan to extend the upstairs hallway. The unfinished half of the attic will be refinished. An exterior porch will be torn down and replaced. The exterior house will be painted. The only thing we hesitate to do is the detached garage.
Since we have the skills and connections, all of this will cost approximately 20k. That 20k will double the value of our property.
If you can do the work yourself, it may be worth it depending on the market where you live.
...but there are very few parts of the country where this currently makes sense...
Given the excessive levels of inventory in many parts of the country
I live in a market, neighborhood, and house where it does make sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42
Dontcha just wish you had done at least some of these a few years ago though so you could enjoy it a little? That's the bit that gets to me, hard to bear the idea of doing significant reno just to sell because why the hell didn't I do it earlier and enjoy it for more than a few months? I suppose it could take more than a few months to sell but I'm being optimistic in that regard and really at that point it wouldn't be enjoying it.
I think about this because I'm going to be faced possibly with such choices, but I won't have that kind of room for gain sale price-wise and need to do something about 30-year-old kitchen, something with flooring, etc.
I do wish all of this had been done so we could enjoy it. But I have to acknowledge that my husband accomplished so much through the years. The house was entirely gutted. It has all new wiring, plumbing, insulation, drywall, windows, etc. The bones are absolutely stunning. Our trim is hand made, custom designed. When I go house hunting, nothing compares to how beautiful my house looks. All I see is another project. That's why I'm not hesitating to get this all done. Maybe we'll stay for a while to enjoy it.
We are in a special situation. We paid next to nothing for this house. It's paid off. The bathroom has issues. That's why we're tiling it. The porch has issues too. Painting the exterior won't cost much. Our neighbor will gladly do it. He has been begging us for years. He does fine work. He has done three houses on the street over the years. And building that 10' wall and drywalling the remaining half of the attic will cost well under 1k, that's without us finishing it ourselves, like we did in the past, and instead tossing some bucks to a friend who will whip it out in no time flat. Our kitchen cabinets are being ordered at wholesale via another neighbor who owns a construction company. It pays to have some skills and some friends in low places.
Since old kitchens are the norm here, you can get away with not doing it. We have no choice. It has been in mid-construction. Hubby had surgery right after we tore it apart two years ago. Focus on the flooring, give it fresh paint, and you'll be fine. If you can get into DYI, I can share where I'm getting my cabinets. Leave your sink, range, fridge, and dishwasher locations so you don't have to move plumbing, gas lines and electrical lines. You don't need top of the line to impress homebuyers here. Granite is not necessary in this region for our price point. Keep that in mind when you're contemplating an update, and maybe you'll realize that it's not as expensive as you think. Doing it yourself is truly the best way to go if you can dare yourself to give it a try.
People don't understand our region. They live in depressed markets where everyone was keeping up with the Joneses. Meanwhile, here we sit in a market where houses never depreciated, but actually appreciated. And it's filled with houses that have 30 year old kitchens too! When they hear "putting in a new kitchen," they think we're updating a 10 year old kitchen because 30 year old kitchens don't sell in their markets if they even exist. Think of all the newcomers who come house hunting in our area and how much they complain about how outdated the houses are. They are shocked by our region's 1970s kitchens. It makes me laugh when they say, "I want a new house, I don't want a 10 year old house." To Pittsburghers, a 10 year old house IS new house! We're frugal people, that's for sure!
Quote:
Originally Posted by selhars
I wish you luck. My understanding is that people who spend serious bucks almost never get that all back dollar for dollar. Here in the DC area a one room addition can cost 50-thousand dollars. And the difference in sale prices between houses that have an addition and houses that don't sure isn't 50-thousand dollars.
WIth all your doing (especially for that price) maybe your house will sell for 20-thou more than a house that doesn't have the things you're doing.
You can't compare our region to yours. And the small amount of money I'm spending is not an indication of the value. Since we are doing it ourselves, our costs are only materials and very little labor for the things we are chosing to be lazy about. Heck, my sister recently had a HUGE addition put on her house (5 room addition with a full bath) for well under 50k because her husband did all of the work himself except for the foundation. It has hardwood floors and everything else anyone would want. You can't associate the money spent to the end result if you don't take DIY into consideration.
I think I'd set a limit of 1,000 before listing, to leave maybe another thousand for wiggle room/negotiators after the home inspection.
(I might switch out the powder room's gold faucet for a bronze one I bought years ago and have had stored away. Also, the dining room has one of those basic brass chandeliers, with the large ball in the center and candlelabra-like arms for small tear-shaped bulbs so I might switch that out.)
I need some blow-in insulation and will likely do that next year or the year after. But I'm doing that for ME.
I don't believe in remodeling a house do improve it for a seller if a person wouldn't do it for themselves. But that's them, not me. (Not only will the person not enjoy it, they won't get that money back most of the time.)
Well, we have pretty much renovated our entire house over the past 10 years and none of it has really been for resale, but for our enjoyment. We spent over market value and I don't care. We did to our house what we wanted to so it would be a home for our friends and family. We plan to list in the spring, and I think we will really just spend a few hundred. I just replaced all the trim around the garage doors and that was about $170, I plan to paint 1 room and possibly the basement, but I will do all that myself so its really just the cost of paint. In the spring I will powerwash the house myself and other than some annuals and some cleaning thats about it! So for "listing" purposes, maybe $400 total??
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Wow, generally not really the smartest strategy...
That's the bit that gets to me, hard to bear the idea of doing significant reno just to sell because why the hell didn't I do it earlier and enjoy it for more than a few months? I suppose it could take more than a few months to sell but I'm being optimistic in that regard and really at that point it wouldn't be enjoying it.
