Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Where to spend money in preparing a house to sell?

My wife and I will be selling our home in the next four years, God willing and the creek don’t rise. We’re looking at the place critically, anticipating the need to spend some money to get into showroom condition. We built the house in ‘97 and updated in 2007, but we still have the original tile countertops and original flooring (Pergo and carpet). Original interior paint as well.

The question is, how much cosmetic updating do we do? Fix the cracks in the walls, repaint and call it good? Or replace the tile countertops with granite? New hardwood floors?

We’re on 5 acres, 2800 sq. ft., not a starter home, close to $800k so we’re looking to attract a high-end buyer.

Looking for educated opinions.



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Dont fix it up too nice.....you might want to stay.

Kitchen and bathrooms.

This

I wouldn't do anything more than paint and cleaning. I've never seen a full return on any improvements we've made to a house and most buyers are going to do their own customization of the house after they move in, so it's usually a waste of money to remodel in preparation for a sale.

It's all about first impressions.

Prospective buyer drives up, sees all the damn deer and turkeys in your yard, and promptly does a U-turn and drives off.

Nobody wants those yard rats eating their flowers and apples.

'Choot em all. Then list the house.

In this market I wouldn't be doing counter tops and floors unless they were totally wrecked.

I'd focus on getting it straight, fresh, cleaned and staged. Get landscaping freshened up, pressure wash any growth, for sure fix drywall/paint whatever needs it......

Paint and that’s about it. It’s the most bang for the buck and Chances are too high the new owner won’t like your granite or hardwood anyway..
Which would of course be a poor return for you if they aren’t turned on by your choices

Kitchens and baths sell houses

One relatively low cost thing is to paint the front porch. (If it has a front porch)

Fugging A Ray.

Generally see all that updated schit out in a dumpster the first week.

This. Declutter, paint where needed, fix any glaring problems. People like to see fresh and immediately liveable, but then they will do remodeling to suit them. Bring in a couple or three realtors for their ideas if you want, doesn't cost anything.

Depends on what the high end buyers in your area want.

Floors always help, though if you are going to do them do the entire house.

Kitchens and baths as mentioned, or at least appliances and master bath. Minimize landscaping in front so people can “see” more of the house, and clean up any exterior issues.

But if high end in your market is booming the better choice might be to do nothing. There are places where the value of the house is a small fraction of that of the lot, and high end buyers will demo it regardless of how new the floors are.

I'd fix any cosmetic or real "damage". For the worn stuff, figure and list an "allowance" into the price. You acknowledge the dated counters/flooring and give prospective buyers the chance to "make it their own" up front.

Clutter and personal knick-knacks. Getting rid of stuff you should have gotten rid of years ago. We're doing the same thing now.

People want to imagine their own stuff in a space...not yours. They'll probably paint anyway.

Painting, cleaning. When you list it rent a storage unit to hide 95% of your crap and clutter.

I agree with Remsen and Certifiable ~ interior and exterior paint, and cleaning thoroughly. The buyers are gonna fix it up the way ‘they’ like it. Declutter big time before showing ~ people don’t wanna see your stuff...they wanna be able to see ‘their’ stuff in this house.

Curb appeal/1st impression and then what RufusG said-clean/fresh and declutter.

Keep the opinions coming.

Several good pieces of advice above and I will echo the emphasis on cleaning and clutter. Most staging can involve a budget of $1000 or less. Declutter the entire house of anything that shows your personality and invites the potential buyer to envision them immediately living in it. Living room and bedroom/bath are all important areas to show square footage so make sure there's bright and or contrasting colors and lighting to show open spacing. Flow through the house is key so you made need to move furniture in or out of certain rooms for the open house. As far as repairs and given your timeline of the sale I would only repair what needed it. Roof, plumbing,etc. Save the remodel money for the next house or your future mancave. Good luck!