How Much to Fix Up Before Selling

10 years ago

Sorry so long:
I'm considering selling my 1923 house. I've been here 9 years. The house is nice, but it's got some quirks. It's got 1 bedroom on the main floor. The finished attic has another large space that has been used as a bedroom, but the ceiling height is only about 6'5 (and angles down much lower), so it's not a perfect space. It also has a dining room with doors that could be used as an alternate bedroom or office space, as the kitchen has a nook.

City records show it as 1200 square feet, plus some finished basement, but that also has a low ceiling and wasn't finished very attractively.

So the house isn't especially family friendly.
Only one bath. On a busy bus line but not an arterial. But in the end, these "downsides" were what allowed me to afford it in the first place and I've always known it might slow it down when I sell.

On the up side: It's in a very trendy part of town, walkable to grocery and restaurants and parks, houses sell fast if well priced. It's got fir floors, a new roof, new electrical panel, replaced sewer and water from house to street when I moved in. Installed radon remediation and decommissioned oil talk. Overall it reads "cute."

So finally, my question. How much to fix up before I list it. I've got a list of more than 50 small things- upgrading terrible light fixtures, cleaning carpets, recaulking tub, adding railings to some stairs, etc.
But so many listings I see have new kitchens. My kitchen, while not original, is probably 15-20 years old. It was already dated when I bought it but it's functional. I'm not inclined to update it, one because it will suck to live through that, and two, because the chances that I update it to the new owner's taste seems slim.

Does "not turnkey but not a fixer" seem like a problem?

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Comments (8)

rrah
10 years ago
I would fix the things that are safety or maintenance related first such as caulking, carpet cleaning (must do), painting, and stair railings

Next I would tackle the horrible light fixtures, unless they are original to the house, and other cosmetics.

Finally take a good look at the kitchen. Are there inexpensive updates you can make such as new handles or pulls? Is painting the cabinets an option?

One good idea in making decisions about what to do is to go to a few open houses in your immediate area or study online photos of nearby homes for sale. That will give you some ideas as to what the area expects.
User
10 years ago
Do anything that involves cleanliness or maintenance. Not doing them will bite you as people infer that a home hasn't been kept up and they fear that worse than they fear the low ceilinged basement.

Fresh paint for everything should be on that list, as it's cheap and easy to DIY.

Post some pics of the kitchen and bathroom, and we could possibly give you some pointers to make it show better without doing a full remodel.

But, in the end, it comes down to effort vs. dollars. Are you willing to spend the effort or lose the dollars?
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Go look at open houses of townhouses that will be your competition. Once you have toured a few, you will know how much sweat equity you should put into the place to have it sell quickly. After you put in the labor to bring it up to those levels, price it below the lowest price of the other townhouses on the market. You can refinish the cabinet doors in the kitchen yourself... unless the wood is warped. If the cabinet doors in the bathroom are showing water damage, sealing the doors with primer and painting may help. Painting the walls and new carpeting will go a long way towards "restoring" the place.
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Agent said to replace the carpeting in the worst bedroom and have the rest cleaned. After looking at it today in daylight we decided it all has to be replaced. Cleaning is one thing but with the burn marks, itÂs beyond cleaning. The carpeting was new 5 years ago but in my opinion it canÂt be saved. The agent said spend $500 and then list it $20,000 below the next comparable. But I donÂt see how thatÂs possible. $500 doesnÂt even come close. ItÂs the largest unit, and no other 3 bedroom has come on the market for over 3 years (so that would be pre-downturn prices). Carpet is $2000, painting is another $2000. Beyond that itÂs hard to know what is worth doing. ThatÂs why I thought IÂd ask here about what kind of cosmetic improvements make a difference and which buyers donÂt mind doing or would rather do. If it were me buying IÂd rather fix it up my way, but I donÂt know how common that sentiment is. And ron6519, if you couldnÂt be helpful, why did you bother to reply? Excuse me, we didnÂt ignore it! I asked for practical advice, not condemnation. Everything was maintained as well as possible. Especially considering the tenants were elderly (and quirky) and did not want to be disturbed. Even replacing a ceiling light fixture required making numerous appointments which then were broken because one or the other one were sick or not home. Replacing the hot water heater they turned the installers away 3 times. They smoked (and said they didnÂt) and set the place on fire, more than once, it looks like. They took down all the smoke detectors. The extent of the wear and tear we did not know until we got in there last week and finally saw it empty. They had so much furniture you couldnÂt see the walls. What we spent on new appliances alone over the last 4 years, added to expenses, exceeded the rent we collected. Next time you have an elderly tenant and let them rent below market value (because you feel sorry for them), let them pay late every month (because you feel sorry for them), and can seldom get in there to do anything, letÂs see how well you can keep your place up. klaire2001, thanks for being constructive. Painting the cabinets sounds promising. If we can get the tacky damaged varnish scraped off that might be a good option.
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I wouldn't attempt to refinish this because it requires a high level of skill to do it properly. Unless you are doing a high quality restoration, you wouldn't be adding value to it. At one time I had considered getting Heywood Wakefield for my dining room. This was pre-internet and I made several trips to Woody's Antiques which restores and sells it. https://woodysantiques.com I had a Waterfall bedroom suite refinished relatively recently. Like Heywood Wakefield it was a mass produced furniture of approximately the same time frame - it wasn't super expensive when it was sold as new but it is high qualify in terms of furniture being produced currently. It was expensive to refinish properly. For what I paid to refinish it, I could have purchase new bedroom furniture from Pottery Barn of the equivalent. But I liked the furniture and nothing else appealed to me as much so it was worth spending the money. What would be the point of getting rid of something I liked and spending the same or more just to get something else? Check price listings on craigslist to get a sense of what the price would be. I don't think it would be worth much frankly. I made some attempt to sell some vintage pieces I had but not much interest - or the prices were so low that I preferred donating them and giving them to my friend's brother who needed furniture and wasn't picky about "style".
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xamsx
10 years ago
I sold a 1925 house about 10 years ago. The market was hot, so it didn't last a week. I wanted top dollar, so I did a few things - painted the downstairs a neutral color. I left the upstairs the very personal bedroom paint colors. The oak floors were rescreen and polyurethaned and the first impression was "WOW" because I sold it empty. It was only 1500 sq ft and looked much better empty than full, and those oak floors were THE selling feature.

That kitchen was old. At least 30 years old. I did nothing to it except paint it the neutral color. It didn't deter the house from selling fast.

I would update the lighting as long as your old fixtures are not architecturally important, but if you do update, leave the old ones for the new owners as you never know.

So IMO as long as your market is not a buyer's market, painting neutral and having the house clean and decluttered may well be enough. Just make sure your pictures are great. A professional real estate photographer is always worth the price.
Ann71
Original Author
10 years ago
I thought I had some decent kitchen photos, but I can't find them. I'm a cluttered person (will seriously declutter before listing), so I'll need to do some prep before taking some photos. Will try to do that this weekend.

I've already replaced the kitchen light, as the old one was a "shop-style" 4 bulb fluorescent, and the ballast was touchy. Unfortunately, the ceiling now needs repainting as a result. But that was expected.

Anyway, appreciate the advice so far, will post pictures when I can.

At this point, I think I prefer "less work less money." The house is paid off and I should make a profit even if I sell low. But of course I won't leave it so the house looks junkie either.
lyfia
10 years ago
Priced good as in on the lower side of the comps, no signs of deferred maintenance and spotless without clutter would most likely sell the house unless your location is horrible.
User
10 years ago
As others said: Fix all the hazards, make sure nothing ;leaks or wobbles, clean it till it sparkles ... and sell it unapologetically.

The un-updated kitchen can be a feature, as long as it's not totally unusable. Sell it as a "immaculate 1990s kitchen, mready for use or update to your taste, not the current owners".
User
10 years ago
a new roof, new electrical panel, replaced sewer and water from house to street when I moved in. Installed radon remediation and decommissioned oil tank.

Definitely feature these MAJOR improvements in the ad. It's what the buyers of "cute" often overlook until the home inspection comes back with "knob and tube wiring, roof is past due for replacement, buried oil tank is leaking" and they freak out and run.
StellaMarie
10 years ago
ITA that the updated mechanicals should be huge, especially for any buyer of an old house.

While I don't think that I (or GWers generally) represent a majority of buyers, honestly, I would *so* much rather buy a place with a dated but functional kitchen than be expected to pay a premium for a builder grade 1990s kitchen. (Or a decades-old kitchen with cheap granite, ugh.)

Definitely declutter. I don't have that much stuff and I end up moving things into storage. Especially if you have limited storage/tiny closets, I think this is going to be key.

Good luck!

How Much to Fix Up Before Selling

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rrah

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How Much to Fix Up Before Selling

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rrah

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