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Old 07-21-2014, 03:26 AM
 
Location: Northeastern U.S.
2,075 posts, read 1,586,197 times
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I anticipate selling my condominium within the next year. Right now it's cluttered (I'm working on that) and needs repairs after 20+ year with no updates.

I don't want to spend more than $25,000, if even that, and am trying to decide which repairs might be more important, or could actually return the money I invest in them.

1. Parts of the hardwood floor has suffered water damage; now dry and not likely to happen again, but should I only have the loose tiles replaced, or all the flooring in the condominium, about 1700 sq. ft.?

2. The kitchen is ancient and boring looking. The refrigerator could use minor repairs, but works perfectly; the stovetop doesn't, the linoleum floor is missing a small piece. One of the lower cabinets seems to be sinking on the bottom. The old laminate countertop has some scratches in it.

3. The bathrooms both need new vanity cabinets; and in one, the sink is scratched; in the other, a door to the vanity cabinet is falling off.


I don't want to spend $20,000 on a new kitchen and new flooring all over the apartment ($12-15,000). I can probably pay for new vanity cabinets and sinks in the bathroom.

I do plan to have the condominium repainted, closer to when I put it on the market.

Should I just get new kitchen countertops, or new kitchen flooring but not countertops, or completely new kitchen cabinets but nothing else in the kitchen, or just leave the entire kitchen as is?

Should I just get the loose tiles repaired, for the sake of safety, and not replace the rest of the flooring, even though the new wooden pieces might not match the old?

Thoughts?
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Old 07-21-2014, 07:24 AM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
1,539 posts, read 2,289,735 times
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What is the price range of other condos selling around you? At a bare minimum, declutter like crazy (you want the sparseness/neutralness of a hotel room type decorating), fresh coat of paint, and repair the flooring. If you can find flooring to match existing, then do that; if not, I'd put new flooring in.
If your budget can go a bit further, replace vanities and cabinets in bathroom. Whatever you have going on in the kitchen, make sure its in good repair and functional; if not, replace. Above all, find a good realtor to help you price it appropriately for the condition.
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Old 07-21-2014, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Happy wherever I am - Florida now
3,360 posts, read 12,227,212 times
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One of the lower kitchen cabinets appears to be sinking on the bottom? Is that related to the cause of the water damage on the hardwood flooring, and how apparent is it? I'm asking because your sub floor may be shot or you may have an ongoing leak from the pipes in your kitchen.
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Old 07-21-2014, 08:33 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,950,339 times
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The most important factor is really what is / has been the condition of other units in your complex and what price have they sold / listed for?

If it turns out other units have had similar issues, minor and easily addressed by buyers, and they have sold for about what you hope to get there is not much reason to throw money at these problems. If the data shows that more units have been in pristine condition / updated and sold for even signficantly more than you would accept it may make sense to address the problems but not really "overhaul" anything too drastically.

The worst situation, and I see this quite often with condos, is when the pristine units sell for much less than you would hope. That basically means even if you fix the place up you are not going to get your money back... The best case is when places in much worse condition sell for much more, unless that is becuase those units have some special view and you're on a low floor / only view of air shaft than you can just list "as is"...

Reality is things like water damaged floor / cabinets should have been fixed a long time ago. If the rest of the flooring is worn and now you plop in a few new pieces of flooring that is going to look like obvious patch, probably should give serious consideration to redoing whole floor,maybe with inexpensive laminate if that is all you can afford.

The other issues seem more like "normal wear" and as long as vanities are not "coming apart / doors hanging off" probably wiser just to clean em as thoroughly as possible as the new buyer is unlikely to have seem taste as you. Similar minor fixes / clean-up is probably way to go for kitchen -- all new cabinets & counters can bust the budget real quick, as can appliances. Make sure everything works and is clean and resist urge to overspend!
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Old 07-21-2014, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,584,490 times
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I think you could fix all of these things for $10,000 or less if you shop around.

Can you post pictures?

Start with decluttering.

It will make any painting and upgrading you do much easier, when you don't have to move an entire room full of stuff from room to room during any projects.

Focus on flooring first. Pergo and wood laminate look good and apartement dwellers find it easy to clean and desirable these days. Ikea wood flooring is an inexpensive option if you have one in your area.

Go to some open houses in your building or similar properties if possible to get a feel for who your prospective buyers might be to get an idea of their wants and tastes before you make decorating choices.
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Old 07-21-2014, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Northeastern U.S.
2,075 posts, read 1,586,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjmeck View Post
What is the price range of other condos selling around you? At a bare minimum, declutter like crazy (you want the sparseness/neutralness of a hotel room type decorating), fresh coat of paint, and repair the flooring. If you can find flooring to match existing, then do that; if not, I'd put new flooring in.
If your budget can go a bit further, replace vanities and cabinets in bathroom. Whatever you have going on in the kitchen, make sure its in good repair and functional; if not, replace. Above all, find a good realtor to help you price it appropriately for the condition.
I'm in a condominium complex that is in an excellent location, near hospitals (ideal for medical professionals) and in a semi-urban area. The condominium complex appeals to students (one of the other buildings), young professionals, middle-aged professionals, and some older people. Dogs are allowed, with rules. There is an underground parking garage, I own two parking spaces (not sure if it's deeded or not, I pay a monthly fee, part of the condo fee). The complex was built in the late 1970's. My condo is a 3-bedroom; with very nice views (the living room has a large window overlooking a large pond and greenspace as well as the street. Other 3-bedroom condos in the building sell for $750-900,000. The on-site realtor says that even as is, once I clean it up and paint it, the condo should sell for $750,000. The condo originally belonged to my parents; I lived here with them for several years; and now it is mine. From what I can tell; having also researched ads and selling prices for other condos in the complex, it is a very desirable location and, if it were in pristine condition, would sell fairly quickly, either at the top price or close to it. In the ads for the other condos, some of the kitchens are updated, granite countertops seem to be everywhere. An acquaintance of mine who moved last December said she sold her condo (in my building) as is and got a good price for it and did not do any updating beyond repainting. A realtor friend of mine has confirmed that the building is very desirable; and mentioned that I should remove all carpeting (which I was going to do anyway, the remaining carpet is ancient and would make a terrible showing) and go for engineered hardwood floors. I am hoping to get $750,000 for the condo.

The original flooring is nearly 30 years old; not easy to find hardwood tiles to match. One person says he could replace the flooring for $15,000.

The stove doesn't look so great; the oven works, as do two of the stovetop burners, but the other two don't. The refrigerator works fine; but is missing some drawers. I think the stove is over 10 years old, and the fridge is about 8 years old.


I don't want a realtor to even set foot in here until I've done much more decluttering and can show the realtor something good to work with; the problem is that it is very slow going; there is no one to help me and I am finding that I have very little energy for the enormity of the project (and I am getting insufficient sleep, and am always tired, which depletes my energy even further); and I am distracted by the other things that absolutely have to be done. I know that other people probably face these issues, sometimes with children and full-time jobs; neither of which I have, so forgive me for complaining; it's been a depressing year.

I also have a dog; I will have to make sure that there is no dog odor before showing the place; I'm not sure how but will find a way. I would imagine that there will be a professional cleaning of the condo before it goes on the market, in addition to the once or twice a month maid service I use now.
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Old 07-21-2014, 03:13 PM
 
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That is a lot of money for just floors. I would price that out and that seems like a super high quote. I think you could do an inexpensive kitchen for 15-20k and then 5k for floors and some vanities.

Good luck!
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Old 07-21-2014, 03:42 PM
 
Location: Northeastern U.S.
2,075 posts, read 1,586,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sgoldie View Post
One of the lower kitchen cabinets appears to be sinking on the bottom? Is that related to the cause of the water damage on the hardwood flooring, and how apparent is it? I'm asking because your sub floor may be shot or you may have an ongoing leak from the pipes in your kitchen.
There is no leak that I know of that has affected the kitchen; and I don't think that that the kitchen was at all affected by the water damage to the hardwood flooring. That kitchen wall (where the sinking lower cabinet is) abuts the bedroom-turned den; and the hardwood flooring against that wall appears to be undamaged by water or anything. I don't think that the kitchen floor is sinking, just the bottom of the one cabinet; which could have been affected by all the stuff, some of it heavy, that had been stored in it over the years; though I won't know for certain until/if I have work done on it.

The substance under the hardwood flooring is concrete (I assume that's what you mean by "sub floor"); and from what I have seen, is undamaged, but no detailed tests have been undertaken.
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Old 07-21-2014, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,032,663 times
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I would put engineered or prefinished hardwood down, whichever you can find least expensively. Don't patch it, it's going to be noticeable and to a buyer, it still means they have to replace the floor. Same thing in the kitchen, it doesn't have to be wonderful but it has to be a complete floor with no tiles missing. Replace the appliances, they should all be in full working condition. Get decent quality - even if someone plans to remodel, they may very well be happy to have the appliances already taken care of, but they won't feel that way if you go too cheap on them.

I would probably do laminate counters - they are inexpensive don't look too bad (especially some of the high definition or enhanced patterns) and it's presumably a stop gap for someone who will want to put in their own finishes, but you just don't want the place looking terrible. If the cabinets can be repaired by a carpenter or handyman for a reasonable price, I'd just do that - again, a buyer at that price point is going to want either a nicely renovated kitchen and bath or is going to plan to do them on their own. So going halfway for a budget reno means spending money that isn't going to really do much to enhance the value. Stick to the cosmetic changes so that someone isn't put off by their first impression.
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Old 07-21-2014, 05:12 PM
 
Location: Northeastern U.S.
2,075 posts, read 1,586,197 times
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Thanks, emm74.

I forgot to mention that one of the smaller kitchen drawers is broken (part of the bottom fell out). I wish I could forget about it permanently! But it would have to be repaired or replaced. Forgot to mention that to the handyman I had over to give estimates last week, too.

Laminate counters might be a good compromise, if they can lower the price of kitchen repairs. The floor looks old, and there is a small piece missing. The handyman I spoke to next week said he could put in a new kitchen (new floor, granite countertops, new cabinets, new dishwasher, new stove, new refrigerator, new microwave) for $20-22,000. I just am not sure that I can afford that and new flooring for the entire apartment.
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