Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ive been told both ways if it was worth it or not. I have a view things I personally want to fix up prior to selling but keep being told its not worth the money...
The things are
A) spend 1200 to have exterior repainted (9 year old paint fade from Arizona sun)
B)spend 700 installing wood laminate in living room due to the current carpet not horrible but has slight stains in it.
C)Spend about 2-3k making the back yard presentable. Currently has concrete edge pavers... rocks around that and sprinker system installed. Just weedy old dirt in the middle, I was wanting to redo the yard adding pavers, firepit, small grass section and a pangola.
Does a dull colored home, not perfect carpet in select rooms and a half way finished yard really matter in a hot market? Or would I just be breaking even if I did it all?
Fixing it up does two things. It makes the property more salable and it gives a higher perceived value. As an analogy, there's a reason used cars are always clean and shiny. That doesn't make them sound but it does make them easier to sell and it gives them a higher perceived value. Even in a hot market, there is a range of values. If you aren't the clean and shiny one, you are going to be at the bottom of that range....and possibly even below that.
Back yard? Do not waste $2-3k. Pull the weeds, trim any trees or bushes, and put down sod on the bare spots after you till it up and lay down some good soil as a base. Talk to your local nursery or Lowes/Home Depot about seasonal grass solutions (like is now the time to sod or not).
Do not do a pergola or a fire pit. Those items will not sell your home. Weeds and bare dirt are turn-offs. Some sellers want to offer a paint and carpet allowance, but you will turn off buyers if your house looks like it needs paint and the carpet is dirty or stained.
I agree with BBronston. Even in a hot market, the "shiny ones" stand out more than the drab, nondescript homes. I wouldn't go crazy, but people are very visual.
We spent quite a bit of money sprucing our home up (within reason) and though the cost initially stung, the effort paid off. Our home was sold within a weekend, with 100% positive feedback and multiple offers. Our home appraised higher than other, similar houses. To this day, no one has sold a home in our neighborhood for as much as we did. We ended up selling over asking. I've found that people will spend the money for a home that looks turn key.
I sold a house 2 months ago in a hot market. As a comparison, my next door neighbors did a lot of things to their house before they listed the house. This included painting entire house - inside and out. Replaced carpet in entire house. Did some hardiplank repairs on back of house and did some work to the chimney. Also did some electrical work. All work/repairs had been recommended by an inspector which they paid for per their realtors recommendation. Their house sold within a week for asking. Good enough.
A few weeks later, I put my house up for sale (next door to neighbors above). Even though there was some work that could have been done to my house prior, my realtor recommended that I not do a thing. Not even get a pre-inspection. So I didn't. House went on the market and sold the 1st day for over asking price (among 10 offers on first day), and for more than the sale price of the neighbors similarly-sized house. My house was actually about 200 sq ft smaller than theirs, and didn't have a fireplace or cover over the back patio, like theirs did. My buyer did not ask for a single thing in repairs/upgrades.
I was shocked at how this sale went. But I think the message here is that if you truly are in a HOT, seller's market, then maybe minimal repairs are necessary (depending on how serious they are). I mean, there's a difference between superficial peeling paint, and an a/c that doesn't work.
Maybe also shows how really different realtors can be. The neighbor's realtor recommended all the things they did. But my realtor was very aggressive, and he gave me opposite advice and priced my house at a higher asking price.
If you're not in a hot seller's market, then I'm sure it's a whole different ballgame.
It also depends on the price point. Hot seller's market or not, when I'm "moving up" I don't want to live in a house that has had little to no work done. I would definitely not live in a home that has peeling paint, overgrown weeds, and crappy flooring. In my mind, what I'm seeing are things *I* would have to fix, and if I'm paying over $400k (for my area), I'd expect some sort of appeal. Not necessarily granite, stainless and the like, but some sort of appeal.
Ive been told both ways if it was worth it or not. I have a view things I personally want to fix up prior to selling but keep being told its not worth the money...
The things are
A) spend 1200 to have exterior repainted (9 year old paint fade from Arizona sun)
B)spend 700 installing wood laminate in living room due to the current carpet not horrible but has slight stains in it.
C)Spend about 2-3k making the back yard presentable. Currently has concrete edge pavers... rocks around that and sprinker system installed. Just weedy old dirt in the middle, I was wanting to redo the yard adding pavers, firepit, small grass section and a pangola.
Does a dull colored home, not perfect carpet in select rooms and a half way finished yard really matter in a hot market? Or would I just be breaking even if I did it all?
The area you are in has some bearing on my opinions, Buckeye is a large area, but basically my thoughts are:
A) Maybe, most homes here are faded pretty bad and the HOAs don't even care.
B) Cheap laminate might run off more buyers than stained carpet, I can't stand the plastic clicking sound of laminate when walked on and the cheap stuff just amplifies the issue. Get it cleaned.
C) I wouldn't do backyard landscaping especially that high a cost. Get the dirt cleaned up and maybe sod down.
If you are in an older neighborhood I wouldn't even bother with the carpet or paint unless you have big holes in the stucco. My wife and I just bought our home this year knowing it needed paint pretty bad, built in 2005 and never painted since, like I said most homes look like that here and the HOAs won't even bug you about it.
Side note: I'd like to know who quoted you $1200 so I could get my home done because the quotes I got were twice that for a 2200 sq ft 2 story home.
Your 3k budget sounds reasonable, but I wouldn't worry about the back yard. Just make it presentable and free of "hoarder" type clutter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
