This is the kitchen.

It's doubtful you'll get any additional money at closing for the money you invest now, with the exception of normal maintenance. Let the buyers decide what gets done please.

WHY? Just price it accordingly and move on. Any buyer will want to make the choices you are debating!! And NEVER EVER EVER NEVER paint brick unless YOU want the work to repaint it!! It is maintenance free at this point don't screw it up!!! Clean it, stage it (take down the valences) and let the new owner nest.

Don’t bother. Very rarely do you get the money back on those kinds of “updates” at resale (no matter what they show on TV) - price it correctly to sell quickly and get on with your life.

Looking at the photos in more detail, i agree to take down the valences and I would also change out the hardware on the cabinets.

Declutter and remove the pot rack all the weird curtains and clean within an inch of your life get it on the market and be sensible about what you are expecting to get ROI from. BTW the fastest way to devalue the house is to paint the brick so no to that idea. I would remove the shutters . Making this more modern will take a lot of money and who knows the imaginary buyer might not want that.

I agree with the suggestions, above. DO NOT TOUCH THOSE CABINETS! They are attractive! I cannot tell you how many remuddled/remodeled homes I have seen on this site. Well meaning people who thing that “new” is necessarily better. Your home is charming. As it is. Spend your time and energy on cleaning up the outside of your home, when weather permits. Plant flowers in pots for your porch to appeal to potential buyers. Edge your beds. Keep the lawn mowed. Power wash anything that is a flat concrete surface. You might look into having your roof cleaned, too. That said...clean fresh NEUTRAL paint within.... Good luck!

Declutter, clean it and price to sell.

It's a cute house. Why in the world would you even contemplate painting that brick?

Do not paint that brick. Beautiful!! Paint the shutters and trim. Probably black. So it looks fresh. I’d probably also redo the walkway. And freshen the landscape. In the inside I’d just focus on lighting. And decluttering. Kitchens are very specific to every buyer. And it would be hard to get a kitchen everyone loves... so just clean it. Light it up. And sell!! This house is rlly cute!! Lots of potential

I agree to declutter, and clean. Price accordingly and it will sell as is.

If there is anything BROKEN, fix it. Remove all the curtains and anything personal.
Clean everything so that it smells fresh as a daisy. Price it well and it will sell. DO NOT paint those cabinets nor the brick!

Like the others have said, take down the valances, pot rack and what looks like plates on the wall in the dining area.

The trim white is a bit too white, maybe repaint that ”less white”, which will also help the house look cleaner.

Dont paint the brick on the outside. Perhaps have the roof checked though?

if you can do it yourself, change the mulch from red/orange to brown. Remove the cheap plastic edging around the tree.

Change the plastic chair on the front to a nicer set with colored cushions. Remove the hose.

I think you have to ask yourself what YOU want. Where I live (DC), you could definitely make your money back and then some if you invested in updating the house (i.e., the house next door to me sold for 700k in a condition similar to yours. The developer spent 350k fixing it up, and sold it in a day for 1.45m). So depending on the market and what you’re willing to invest, you CAN make a lot of money “flipping.” BUT. It’s a ton of work to do it right. It’s high stress and high risk — you never know where the market is going to be in 6 months. And it sounds like you’re already tired. If you want to make developing the house your job for the next several months, then dive in and do the whole shebang. But if that doesn’t sound appealing, just clean it up and put it on the market. I DON’T think it makes sense to flip it half-way. The neighbor through my back yard spent 50k on modest updates -- fresh paint, a repaired deck, a low-budget kitchen refresh. The guy who bought the place literally took it down to the studs, tearing out all the work she‘d just done.....

Remove everything that isn't attached to the walls. Repaint with a light neutral color, but don't paint stained trim or cabinets. Clean like crazy, including the carpet, if any. Remove kitchen curtains and if in doubt, remove drapes and curtains in other rooms. Put in bright LED bulbs.
Fix little issues like dripping faucets, loose trim, sticking doors, etc. Put together several containers for color in the front porch. Plant annuals in the ground as well but you can take the containers with you after you sell, if you choose.
Don't do any project that delays getting the house on the market.

In many markets, you only get your money back on cleaning, repairing, and painting. That's it. Cleaning includes removing clutter and old curtains. Paint the inside off white, paint the exterior trim off white, and paint the shutters with the same green paint. You can catch the spring market with less than a week's worth of work if you use professional painters and cleaners.

Do not paint or whitewash the exterior brick. Do have it washed, especially if it hasn't been done in a few years. Maybe refresh paint the shutters and trim. Get the roof inspected.

Don't mess with updating the kitchen. Do remove everything- pot hanger, pots, jars/counter clutter, valances. As empty as possible for sale. Then clean, clean, and clean again. Consider getting the floors professionally cleaned- the whole house, not just the kitchen. Check for any repairs or maintenance issues, and if any, address those. Clean again.

Then minimal staging for the photos and sale.

I would not paint the brick. It would look so much cheaper painted.

I would take down the valences and paint the kitchen walls a much lighter shade (perhaps white or at least fairly bright).

I think the only reason I was wanting to invest in at least updating one room is it’s been sitting on the market for a while and the renters is what gave me the idea of what needed to be updated by saying it’s not a practical kitchen. It’s a 2 bedroom house 2 bath, former 3 bedroom house. The houses have not been sitting on the market long. I thought kitchen renovations and curb appeal were the big ROI items. We didn’t invest a lot in the house and it’s appraising for way more than what we put in, so we thought about investing 15-20K of the equity which would still render us a nice profit

Sitting on the market meaning I don’t currently have a tenant in it and I’m ready to list since the neighborhood has been having houses sell pretty quickly. I was hoping to do one project since it’s been so neglected by me since purchasing it and have it ready by spring.

Painting the cabinets is not going to make an impractical kitchen better ... if the kitchen is impractical it's generally the configuration not the color. New confuguration is new cabinets and counters, and that means guessing at buyers' tastes. I like wood, others like white, others want two tone. If you update your kitchen, there's a good chance the buyers will still come in a view it as a project to replace the choices you made with their own.

I like the exterior ... whitewashing would not be an improvement in my eyes. I'd tidy up the hose and maybe replace the white chair with a little bistro set.

What do the other rooms look like? If it’s empty, and depending on your location, you may be better off hiring someone to stage furniture in the house than doing reno projects.

Our house was furnished with Stickley when we looked at it; the interior looked much more impressive than when we did the final walk through and it was empty.

I want to make a new home mine. I don’t want to be made to feel guilty because I have to throw out new but ugly stuff that someone tried to “update” with.

I happen to love the color of the brick on your house and I would not paint it! After reading what everyone else has said, I would also suggest just giving the house a deep clean and let the new owners make any changes they want.

I agree with selling as is and letting buyers make their own choices. It would be awful to spend time, money, and materials on something that will only get ripped out and possible thrown out. A fresh coat of paint, cleaned and decluttered, and professional staging would be the most I would do. Plus you would get it on the market quicker so fewer holding costs.

Sounds like it is a selling market. Sell. As is. ASAP. Your updates are from a renter's perspective and as stated paint doesn't' fix a poor lay out. Price it right, let it go. Move on.

The other thing I’m worried about is it used to be a 3 bedroom but when we bought it, it was a 2 bedroom. They knocked out this wall where you see the beam making it a larger master bedroom. I just look at the houses in the area and when we bought, it was a lot older which was why I never did anything to the house. Over the years, a lot more younger families have moved in the area. I just worry it’s going to hurt me having a non practical kitchen and a 2 bedroom 2 bedroom house.

Where’s this lead to? Why don’t you make it back to three bedrooms. That’s an investment you might see a return on! Although I’m not a realtor so pls don’t hold me on that

Would NOT whitewash brick ever. Looking at the house as a prospective buyer might, I'd certainly rather have the option to keep the brick.

Would not do a lot of interior work because you'll not likely get that investment back in full and it may well be that a buyer has their own strong ideas about how to remodel it. As long as I could live in a newly purchased house as is, I'd rather have the cheaper price and decide what upgrades to make myself -- and even do some of them myself.

If, however, you are determined to make some changes for a better price, get the most bang for your buck.

INTERIOR:

If the caulk around the tub or sink need to be replaced, do that.

Check the ceiling and if any part of it looks bad, consider repainting all of the ceiling white -- would likely paint either all or nothing as to the ceiling.

If any of the interior doors and/or trim are already painted but need to be repainted, then repaint it all in the same color, preferably a white that covers well. Beware painting the actual windows -- you don't want to accidentally paint the window shut. If the windows and doors and/or their frames are wood, use some good furniture polish on them so they don't look dried out.

Do consider adding inexpensive matching white mini-blinds on all the windows IF you can hang them within the window frame and remove all drapes or curtains to help a buyer have a blank slate and be able to imagine what they want to do with the house -- the buyer's own choices of curtains and drapes can be added over the mini-blinds if they're hung within the window frame.

If the paint on the interior walls is not damaged -- if they don't NEED repainting -- consider not painting any of them UNLESS you are planning to repaint all of them the same neutral color -- such as an off white or a pale tan -- very light brown without the pink or yellow hue or a very pale gray. Would likely paint all or nothing as to the walls.

EXTERIOR: As far as physical change, repair of obvious damage is worthwhile. If any of the screens are damaged, replace them with the same kind of screen material -- and make sure you wash the rest and the space between window and screen.

IF the already painted exterior trim NEEDS repainting (and especially if you are doing the work yourself), repainting all the trim could be worthwhile since, "you never get a second chance to make a good impression". The last thing you want is to have the exterior give the impression the house has not been regularly maintained -- and peeling paint can do that.

IF any shutter truly needs to be repainted, repaint all of them so they match.

Pay attention to the details when cleaning and painting get the nooks and crannies.

The reason you should seriously consider the "all or nothing" for painting anything is that a newly painted surface can emphasize that the rest is not newly painted.

One physical change you might consider for the exterior is cladding the porch posts to make them larger and sturdier looking -- either painting them the same white as the rest of the trim or the same color as the shutters -- or leave them a wood finish (same as the front door). The drawback to that is newly painted porch posts could prompt you to need to paint the rest of the exterior trim to match the white color..

LANDSCAPING: Do put some attention toward creating a the healthiest possible lawn. .

Would not do a lot of landscaping other than the lawn because people who will like the low maintenance of brick might also like an uncomplicated yard -- people that do not have a lot of time or energy or money to maintain a large garden..

SHOWING: When the house is to be shown, make sure the house is very clean and uncluttered inside and out.

Make sure all the lights, inside and out, have bulbs in them and work.

The objective needs to be to have the buyer perceive the house as having been well maintained all along and entirely livable now -- not appear to have just had paint slopped over problem issues for purposes of sale and that may well be the best argument for doing next to nothing.

Yes, we don't know where you are, but many families want a 3 bed, 2 bath minimum. That right there is probably your issue, if you're in a hot market like so much of the country right now. Get that bedroom back.

Leads to a closet

The 2 bedrooms, is what is causing it to be on the market longer. The right buyer will eventually come along. However in the meantime, it looks a bit dreary, make sure you have fresh paint on the walls, and remove all the clutter and curtains in the kitchen, and clean it all well, and then spend your time and money on the front landscaping. I like the green shutters, and in the pictures trim looks decent. Unless it doesnt from close up, then I would just clean it well on the outside and make it attractive out there. No painting the brick, that would be a deal breaker for me. Most buyers want to do their own kitchen, and there are a few that want to keep a retro type kitchen, so redoing any of that wont help it sell any faster. The roof definitely needs cleaning. It looks stained and dirty. Price it right, for a two bedroom house, and it will sell.

One more vote to put the wall back up to increase the number of bedrooms. They didn't turn a 3/2 into a 2/2 with a fabulous master suite, they took a smallish room in an older house and made it into an awkward, mostly useless larger room.

"Putting the wall back" would entail what exactly? If it jumps off a storm of other "have to" fixes I would try selling as is. And yes yes yes this discussion should be had with a REASONABLE realtor who knows the market but isn't the type that suggests whatever the seller will bear. Fresh paint--I suppose but frankly the quality of the job when you are not the one going to live there tends to be subgrade and I would rather do it myself than deal with splatters and drips. The #1 issue when selling is PRICE. Location is a close second maybe they are tied but your pricing is the issue. Yes 3 bedrooms are preferred but putting a wall back--you didn't remove--means flooring/painting what else? How do you have one brand new totally fresh room in the middle of the "needing updates"? That will feel and look odd. Again those are choices your buyer will want to make. I HATED that the home we purchased had brand new wall to wall IN WHITE when we finally found it. I would much rather have the price reflect my future flooring choice than living with the white for 15 years.

I like the pink couches.... but they kind of need to go, along with a lotta other in the bedroom. Gonna guess at this point the rest of the house too.

That might be part of the problem. The house looks like a rental that’s ready to rent as furnished... instead of a house empty and ready to be purchased and furnished with the new owners belongings.

Restore the original bedroom configuration. Replace the walls and the doors that were removed. Paint. Remove all “old” furniture. Better empty or staged than “sad” looking, mis matched furniture. Your kitchen is NOT useless. We see value in it as it IS. Leave. It. Alone. Put your energy into making this back into a 3 bedroom house. And...don’t skimp on woodwork. MATCH it, and the doors, to the rest of the house. (Do you have hardwood floors beneath that carpet?????)

I have not read through comments, so just a couple of my own quick thoughts. I definitely would not paint or whitewash the exterior brick. I would remove all of the decor items from the kitchen, including ceiling rack that pots are hanging from, valances, curtains, displayed dishes. I would bring in some simple bamboo or woven wood shades for the kitchen windows. And I would consider doing an LVP on the kitchen floor, for easy installation, etc. Along the lines of this wood look/color for floor.

And I would paint the walls a warm white, or another light color that will also work with the backsplash. I would also bring in a new chandelier and generally update the lighting.

As someone who's been house-hunting for ages, along with many of my peers, I can tell you that obvious "flip houses" are a huge negative in our books! We want a place that's been kept in good (read: clean, working) condition that we can make our own after the sale, not something that's had its price jacked to account for cosmetic updates we would never have chosen ourselves.

For the exterior, the absolute max I would do is paint the shutters black. Style it with a brighter cushion on the swinging bench, and if the chair to the right is plastic swap it for something in wood or rattan. Tidy the hose for listing pics and viewings, it's all about details! :)

For the dine-in kitchen, remove *all* the decor (curtains, plates, wall-hangings, baskets, tablecloth, etc.), the hanging pot-rack, and what I believe is a mounted electric can-opener above the paper towels. Those are all contributing to its 90s feel. A more minimalist look is more modern. I would stage it with only one set of canisters (the glass ones, placed where the ceramic ones are now), a simple utensil crock in place of the knife block, scoot the microwave all the way to the right so there's more space by the stovetop, and put a coffeemaker in the bar area. If you can remove the mirror from the bar area that would be good too.

I'm sure those small updates will be a big help! But if that doesn't work and it's already appraising for way more than you put in, sounds like you could just lower the price a bit to get it off your hands and still make a profit.

For the bedrooms, you can absolutely indicate that it was converted from a 3bdrm to 2 and could easily be converted back. I see that in a lot of the older ranchers I'm looking at.

Again, personally speaking, I would much rather a larger master with the choice to convert if I have need for another bedroom down the road, rather than have the seller hastily make that choice for me.

If it’s the oldest and smallest house in a neighborhood of bigger newer homes, what is the lot like? That is the perfect description of a potential teardown infill lot, if the property itself isn’t next to a creek that floods or on the side of a mountain. That can change your marketing campaign, and target.

Do the current furnishings belong to a renter or has the house been rented furnished with these things?

As I look at other pictures, additional pics of bedrooms, my thought is if these furnishings are in the house, currently, that might be part of issue as to why house is still on market. As in many cases, I think you may benefit from some professional staging of your house.

What’s the market like? Is it a good street in the neighborhood? How much more profit would you get after the expense and profit? We bought an inexpensive home in original condition (about 40 years old), did minor updates (mostly repairs) while we lived there. We considered remodeling but ultimately chose to sell as-is. We priced accordingly and had a nice check about a month later. It was bought by a flipper and they proceeded to do their flip thing. It was listed for sale but after a lengthy time it ended up renting. The house was in a great neighborhood with great schools but it was on a thru street and it had a cheap/economical flip quality. Buyers ignored it. The most recent time it listed (again!) was at a price that was a pinch over what we sold for...almost ten years ago. Very little profit margin over a long period of time. Are you ready for a possible outcome like that?

Have you enlisted the help of a good realtor? Every neighborhood is different, but it often does not pay off to invest heavily into cosmetic changes that may not even recoup the cost of the changes when you sell.

On the exterior, I would definitely leave that lovely brick alone. It looks like maybe the house could use a good power washing and possibly re-painting trim and/or shutters rather than ruining the brick. When spring comes, make sure the landscaping is neat and tidy and looks well-cared-for. The exterior of the house is quite nice.

On the interior, make sure everything is spotlessly clean and repair anything broken. Fresh paint is inexpensive and sometimes can really help.

In the kitchen I would take down the valences and leave the rest of the kitchen alone if things are in good condition. The cabinets look nice and I think it would be a shame to paint them. People who buy the property might appreciate the charm of the cabinets as they are or they can paint them if they like. A full remodel of the kitchen would be expensive and often takes a lot longer than you'd expect. I would not throw money and time into a huge kitchen remodel when you really just want to sell the property and make a profit.

The number of bedrooms in a house will absolutely impact the resale price. And having only two bedrooms will almost certainly reduce the buyers interested in the property. To me that would be an investment to consider before re-sale. Get quotes for putting the wall back up and talk to a realtor to determine if that investment is worth the money.

I really think the decor and window treatments are the detractors at the house, and agree that the bricks should merely be washed. I also agree painting the shutters black will update the exterior...but the roof looks green so maybe look for a dark blackish-green?

The kitchen seems neutral, reasonably spacious, appropriate for the house style and in decent condition. Painting the cabinets won't have as much impact as taking down the pot rack, taking out the cart, taking off the weird mirror and getting rid of the window treatments/valances over everything. I think nice sheers on the kitchen window and some shelving in place of the mirror would help it seem more fresh and up-to-date.

Then just clean the rest of the place so that a buyer doesn't fixate on grimy appearances. That's a big gross-out for people.

If there's no easy way to put the wall back up to create a 3 BR (it depends on where you'd put a door for access), then you could consider staging it as a home office. Most people I know are still working from home and looking for a good space for that. Get rid of the fussy pink couch, love seat, and blue seated chair and replace with a small, non fussy desk.

Ditto the advice above about no big projects, just clean, declutter, and repair. (Declutter includes getting rid of the curtains, plates on the wall, pot rack, and I'd remove everything from the kitchen counters.) Light fixtures are easy to replace and sometimes an inexpensive upgrade that can make a bit of impact. Check the attic to make sure there's no mold, and look for anything broken because an inspector will find it. Get the carpets cleaned and either clean the windows yourself, in and out, or hire someone to do it. If you are good at painting, find a nice pale neutral for all the walls. (Check BM Pale Oak or Baby Fawn for starters.)

Verify all this with a realtor of course.

It’s a real small country town. Used to be a dilapidated area that is slowly on the uprising. I have a realtor, but she’s not that helpful but knows the area. That mirror one poster mentioned is because that space was supposed to be like a wet bar area. It’s a house that was built in 1999. The furniture I’m using is mine, and it came from an auction of my grandmother because I was trying to market to an older crowd. Now I’m trying to market towards a younger crowd. Average age is 35-47 when it used to be a retirement area. Lots of land is available around the area for new houses.

There was a plain unframed mirror over the wet bar in the house I grew up in in the 90s too :) (And one over the rec room fireplace, and one over the living room couch...) The space itself is a feature, but that mirror makes it look more dated than open shelving on a painted wall would.

I suggested staging it with a coffee maker to suggest to buyers its potential as a coffee station, which are on-trend, but you could style it with bottles of sparkling water or liquor on a tray instead. Some inspo:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Xq4HuJ-4N/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9LlJ3sBYv/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL7hrK_rs4C/

I wouldn’t touch anything and market the potential to gut for a young buyer.

Do you have a floor plan of the house or can you get one created? Make a layout of each floor of the house with room dimensions. You can indicate where the wall was between the bedrooms. It will help your potential buyers visualize how they might renovate.

Do you have a property survey to show the size and dimension of your lot?

Also, I don’t think it would hurt to put a crib in place of the sofa and turn the dresser into a changing table. And put love seat and sofa into storage. Keep the chair in the corner so someone can imagine themselves nursing / rocking a child to sleep. I’m sure you must know someone who has a crib you can use to stage.

I like the idea of staging an office in the master bedroom too. My DH and I are both working from home and we’ve taken over opposite ends of the house.

And as the others have said. Please hire an inspector/handy man to fix everything. You’ll also be prepared for big ticket fixes a buyer is bound to find. And a cleaning lady to do a thorough clean. Declutter and pack away everything. If you still have time before you list, painting (interior) a neutral colour is nice to show the property is move in ready.