want to sell house in two years

[pink_fins]

retirement, Would you sink money into the house to update cabinets etc? or make a price adjustment later? We live in a rural town of about 2000 people

Our house has a new furnace/ac, new water/sewer line(city home, new roof, and rooms are painted neutral colors .

House is clean, neat and not full of lots of junk. (thank goodness for garage sales LOL). 3 bedrooms 1 bath. One huge upstairs that could be made into anything.

We purchased our house 40 years ago and have added on. Did lots of this stuff when we were young and not much money.


Looks to me the kids now a days want the best right off the bat .......
any ideas

tia

gail

 

[lisaross]

i would go to other open houses in ur area..see what their homes look like and the prices they r asking, then compare ur home to theirs - also u could probably call in a real estate person to look at ur home and make suggestions etc.

 

[snowywhite89]

I would not do anything right now. Wait until you are closer to retirement and then check what is "in" and sells in your area.

 

[elcodfish]

If the cabinets looks nice, I would probably leave them and drop the price. You don't want a ton into a kitchen just for looks because it may not be the taste of the next person....

 

[Colleen27]

Definitely take the time to look at what's "in" in your area before you do anything. In my area, a 3 bedroom/1 bath "starter" type home wouldn't need new cabinets and such to sell. A price adjustment would be far more attractive, since young families are often fine with functional-but-outdated and care more a smaller mortgage than higher-end finishes. In a more affluent/upscale area, it could be just the opposite with outdated looking homes not drawing any interest at all.

 

[Eastern]

I would just leave it. As long as it is clean and neutral people will be able to see the potential. You won't get the top price but then you don't have any costs to recoup, either.

 

[Robinrs]

It totally depends on your location. Have a professional give you the comps in the neighborhood to give you an idea of what sells. Don't make any changes until you've decided to sell. The economy could be MUCH better by then and the numbers will reflect that.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Before moving down here and putting our 20+ year old house on the market, which we had lived in for 15 years we did several things.

Most important, after removing clutter, was call in Service Master to do a thorough cleaning of the entire house, including the carpets. We also made a list of all major improvements (new roof, new water heater, windows, etc.) and the date this was done and made copies of the list available for people visiting the house.

We specifically did not repaint, recarpet, or do anything to cabinets. This would allow the purchasers to put in colors/designs that they wanted without having to raise the price of the house.

 

[shortbun]

What we did- we did the upgrading and sold our house in 9 days at asking price. That was less than a year ago. So, if you can afford to wait and get less, then don't do the upgrading. We easily added a half bath and upgraded the existing bath. Then we upgraded the counter tops and cupboards in the kitchen, sink too. We didn't scrimp but DH did a lot of the work himself-sweat equity. We used granite tile instead of granite slab in the kitchen(beaucoup savings) and bought a new stove that matched the already stainless frig and dishwasher. High end, well applied paint rounded out the whole house finishes. We sold our house super clean and empty. Again, 9 days and we were in contract at asking price. Our realtor did not want to ask what we asked, she thought I was about 20K over comps. Our sale brought comps to a better place in our neighborhood. Our old neighbors were thrilled!

 

[MrsPete]

Looks to me the kids now a days want the best right off the bat .......

Yeah, I think it's HGTV that's done it. How many first-time homebuyers (who are borrowing 90% or more of the purchase price) do you see declaring, "Oh, that kitchen is so outdated! We'd have to change it all." when it looks just like the one in your own home that you consider just fine.

If I were in your shoes, I'd look into the cost of new cabinets, carpets or laminate -- but I'd stay in the low price ranges. MANY people can't see past the top layer. Those same people won't understand that hooking onto the sewer line would cost more than new countertops.

i would go to other open houses in ur area..see what their homes look like and the prices they r asking, then compare ur home to theirs - also u could probably call in a real estate person to look at ur home and make suggestions etc.

Excellent advice. You need to see what the competition's like, and having two years gives you ample time to form an educated opinion. And be sure that you stay "average" for your neighborhood; for example, cherrywood cabinets and granite countertops would be "too much" for my neighborhood -- I'd never get the money back if I put those things in.

As to the cabinets, I'd ask if they're just a bit dingy and outdated or if they're really bad. A couple years ago we re-did our cabinets ourselves (sanded them down and restained them), but now they're really, really past their prime. A few doors don't close completely anymore -- there's no hope for them. I had hoped to wait 'til we were ready to sell this house (which isn't going to be particularly soon) and then put in new cabinets so they'd be a big shiney "draw", but they're falling apart now and I don't want to live with them in this condition.

But I digress . . . if your cabinets aren't as bad as mine, you might be able to get a new look by replacing the doors for less money.

If the cabinets looks nice, I would probably leave them and drop the price. You don't want a ton into a kitchen just for looks because it may not be the taste of the next person....

I disagree. I think too many people can't see past something that needs a little work. If you put in new wood-stained cabinets, whereas the prospective buyer would've preferred white, I think that's likely to lose you a sale -- but you can't possibly know about people's taste, and worn-out cabinets are a sure-fire way not to get the sale (even if the people share your taste).

 

[Astro Orbiter]

I have more questions than answers!

How old are the cabinets, etc, in your house? Do they scream 70s? 90s?
Have the bathrooms, etc. ever been redone?
What are similar houses to yours selling for? Days on market? Have they been updated? A quick check on realtor.com or zillow.com will give you some guidance.

As a seller, it's easy to fall into the 'I'll let the new owners do it because they can pick their colors' camp.

As a buyer, I'm all about buying something that's updated. Not because I want new things right off the bat. Not because I want someone else to do it for me. Not because I don't want to do it myself. Not because I want to pick my own colors. But because it makes financial sense to buyers without a lot of cash. I can roll it into my mortgage and instead of finding $15000 to redo the kitchen I can add $35 a month to my mortgage payment.

Two years ago I bought a 10 year old house that hadn't had a thing done to it. When we walked through the house we were adding up in our heads the cash we'd have to put out to change what needed updating. Since then I've had to pay cash for new carpet ($6000), new appliances (dishwasher died, fridge was funky, chose to do the stove - $3000), interior painting (butterscotch everywhere? really? $3000) and overgrown landscaping/tree maintenance ($1500). Would have been nice to roll that $13000 into my mortgage payment instead of fronting the cash.

 

[disdanny]

want to sell house in two years

List it now....

 

[shelwoj]

We're just finishing up some "touch-ups" on our house before putting it on the market.

Our real estate agent said she'd show it the way it was but with a little paint and elbow grease it'll probably sell faster.

So, in the kitchen/eat in dining room we took down the wallpaper border, scrubbed the cabinets with a magic eraser (they're high gloss white, that we painted 10+ years ago) touched up the everyday dings around the handles, painted the walls and put up an updated valance over the windows.

I painted the living room, office, stairway and upstairs hallway a neutral color (they were a beautiful yellow, but not everyone loves yellow like we do!) and cleaned the carpets.

Our teenage sons room was navy and I just painted it a gray/blue color. Made the room look larger!

Our older sons room needed his closet put back in. Years ago we took it out so he could have more floor space but kept all the hardware.

Our room was just updated two years ago.

The master bath was redone about 5 years ago and the half bath was done just 2 years ago.

I have scrubbed every window and floor (no matter how clean you think you keep things you'll be surprised when you move stuff). Purged as much as possible. Now we just have to keep everything clean.

Nothing that we did to it was expensive. Just some paint and time. The advise about going to open houses in your area is a great one. Hopefully just some freshening up like we did will be enough.

 

[dfchelbay]

retirement, Would you sink money into the house to update cabinets etc? or make a price adjustment later? We live in a rural town of about 2000 people

Our house has a new furnace/ac, new water/sewer line(city home, new roof, and rooms are painted neutral colors .

House is clean, neat and not full of lots of junk. (thank goodness for garage sales LOL). 3 bedrooms 1 bath. One huge upstairs that could be made into anything.

We purchased our house 40 years ago and have added on. Did lots of this stuff when we were young and not much money.


Looks to me the kids now a days want the best right off the bat .......
any ideas

tia

gail

Can you post pictures of the cabinets in their current condition? Then tell us what your plan to update them would be. We can all then tell you if that would hinder us if we were interested in buying your house. All other things seem to be updated, so we can ask ourselves, all things being equal, would we buy your house with outdated cabinets, for a slightly lower price, or buy the higher price house that has already been updated. If you'd like, you can pm me with a zip code or houses you feel comparable to yours and I'll give you feedback. We're in the middle of putting our home up for sale too, so we have lots of current experience with what people are looking for, what they won't bother looking at, and for the last year have been keeping track of what is selling and what is not, when it comes to the inside of a house.

Plus, I like looking at houses for sale online. It gives me an idea of what I need to do to get mine sold.

 

[smokeyblue]

I'm in the process of buying a starter home right now. What was attractive to me about this home is that there were already some renovations done. The seller redid the hardwood floors in the living room, carpeted and drywalled a bedroom, tiled the bath floor and shower and put in all new windows.

I'll have to drywall and put floor coverings in the second room, put new floor coverings in the kitchen, put up wainscoat and paint the kitchen walls and cabinet and get new countertops. Of course there will be lots and lots of painting to do too.

I guess what I'm getting at is make sure there is something that is new and exciting to feature. New countertops, change up the cabinets a bit, get rid of any wall paper, fresh paint.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Good thread, we want to sell here in a couple of years, too. Relocate to a smaller home, somewhere less expensive...... Like the OP, I am trying to make decisions that make sense with this in mind.

My biggest expense, that MUST be done, is the flooring in the entire house. We have the 16 year old, light beige, builders grade carpet that came with the house when it was new. 4 kids, 3 dogs, and a few cats later, it is SHOT! The dogs even chewed out patches of it when they were puppies (it was already trashed by then anyway). I think we have to do all hardwood on the first floor to get this house sold. I am undecided about the 2nd floor. I am leaning towards all hardwood though. I think any carpet we choose may not be liked buy a buyer, and who knows they could have allergies. I think we can keep the floors ready to show a little easier. What an expense.....

I have white (worn) kitchen cabinets, that I think I can paint. If not, just new doors......

 

[cbg1027]

I would not do anything to the house right now.

I would start saving some money so that you can have the option of making the necessary upgrades that would be required to get the house sold later.

When you're about ready to sell, find a good realtor. They will be able to tell you what, if any, upgrades or changes need to be made in order to make the house more competitive. I would not do anything right now because the market could be different in two years. It could be a sellers market by that time and you might not have to make any changes. No way to know for sure. Trends in interior design also change so you don't want to chance doing any upgrades now only to have it look out-dated again in a couple of years.

In a nutshell, do nothing now and hire a realtor later. A good one will be able to best answer this question at that time, based on the market in your area.

 

[cbg1027]

Good thread, we want to sell here in a couple of years, too. Relocate to a smaller home, somewhere less expensive...... Like the OP, I am trying to make decisions that make sense with this in mind.

My biggest expense, that MUST be done, is the flooring in the entire house. We have the 16 year old, light beige, builders grade carpet that came with the house when it was new. 4 kids, 3 dogs, and a few cats later, it is SHOT! The dogs even chewed out patches of it when they were puppies (it was already trashed by then anyway). I think we have to do all hardwood on the first floor to get this house sold. I am undecided about the 2nd floor. I am leaning towards all hardwood though. I think any carpet we choose may not be liked buy a buyer, and who knows they could have allergies. I think we can keep the floors ready to show a little easier. What an expense.....

I have white (worn) kitchen cabinets, that I think I can paint. If not, just new doors......

Go to a flooring store and talk about other options besides wood. You might want to consider laminate, bamboo, or vinyl.

Laminate and Vinyl now come in very nice wood-look planks. They look nice, are easier to care for than wood, more durable, and most importantly for you, are usually cheaper than real wood.

 

[MrsPete]

Two years ago I bought a 10 year old house that hadn't had a thing done to it. When we walked through the house we were adding up in our heads the cash we'd have to put out to change what needed updating. Since then I've had to pay cash for new carpet ($6000), new appliances (dishwasher died, fridge was funky, chose to do the stove - $3000), interior painting (butterscotch everywhere? really? $3000) and overgrown landscaping/tree maintenance ($1500). Would have been nice to roll that $13000 into my mortgage payment instead of fronting the cash.

I think your story is very common.

I'll tell a similar one:

My husband and I were engaged and were looking for a house. Our realtor showed us a great all-brick ranch in an excellent neighborhood, and we wanted it! Living, kitchen, dining, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths upstairs . . . downstairs a huge den/rec room (with a second fire place!), huge laundry, another bath, 2 car garage. Ideal location. BUT it was a complete fixer-upper. The people who'd lived there had been evicted, and they'd let it go for probably a year or two. The carpet had fleas and was just nasty. The appliances all needed replacing.

We were VERY WILLING to put in the elbow grease, to paint, etc. -- but we just plain didn't have the cash to do all that was necessary. Today we'd buy it in a heartbeat because we have the resources (and credit) to put into the house. Back then, we were doing well to be able to manage the downpayment and still have a bit of a financial cushion, and living in that house "as is" wasn't possible.

We ended up paying slightly more for a one-level all-brick ranch that had essentially the "upstairs" of the fixer-upper: Living, kitchen, dining, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. But it was in move-in condition.

 

[DawnM]

We would prefer putting in granite tile too, but in our neighborhood/area that would not sell well. Sigh.

If we were staying here forever that is probably what we would go with!

Dawn

What we did- we did the upgrading and sold our house in 9 days at asking price. That was less than a year ago. So, if you can afford to wait and get less, then don't do the upgrading. We easily added a half bath and upgraded the existing bath. Then we upgraded the counter tops and cupboards in the kitchen, sink too. We didn't scrimp but DH did a lot of the work himself-sweat equity. We used granite tile instead of granite slab in the kitchen(beaucoup savings) and bought a new stove that matched the already stainless frig and dishwasher. High end, well applied paint rounded out the whole house finishes. We sold our house super clean and empty. Again, 9 days and we were in contract at asking price. Our realtor did not want to ask what we asked, she thought I was about 20K over comps. Our sale brought comps to a better place in our neighborhood. Our old neighbors were thrilled!