Sell 80's home "as is? or renovate first?

[Anonymous]

I would consider painting the kitchen cabinets with new hardware. And maybe cheap/easy bathroom updates like new toilet, new flooring. I think then you get buyers bidding who want to be able to live in it for a few years with no Reno in addition to the Reno crowd. But would not do big gut jobs.

[Anonymous]

I would have the house professionally detail cleaned and sell it right now.

[Anonymous]

Sell as-is. Renovations can come with hidden surprises and you never know what you are going to get, not to mention the time and hassle of overseeing the work. Will you leave some money on the table? Yes. But will the trade-off be a quick sale? Also yes.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think folks are busy enough in the DMV that "perfect" houses can go for a premium because people see them as requiring no work. We had mostly renovated our last home and did invest to renovate the last bathroom in our house because it pushed our house into the 100% renovated category. For a house that needs a lot of work, I don't think renovations are worth it. Clean the house well, remove clutter, trim bushes, etc, so it shows better with no investment. Don't even bother buying updated hardware or light fixtures. Your house will be a fixer either way.

[Anonymous]

take a look at comps to determine if renovating will help improve your ROI. If you don't it could attract a certain element that is at the bottom of the income for the area who may not be able to afford the home or investors looking to rent it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:take a look at comps to determine if renovating will help improve your ROI. If you don't it could attract a certain element that is at the bottom of the income for the area who may not be able to afford the home or investors looking to rent it out.

As always, the key is to make sure there is no one who has even slightly less money than you do, from ever being near you, except in a service position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly did the renovated neighboring house have that your house doesn't?

Is it just a new kitchen and baths? Or is it a full gut remodel and brand new HVAC systems and all new windows and interior painting and floors replaced?

You probably don't know everything that went into that remodel. Just pointing this out.

I'd talk to a few agents knowledgeable about the local market and buyer preferences.

+1 This is what I was going to say. The renovated house is likely more than just some new finishes. It's likely new windows, doors, systems, and more too. This would cost you $500+ and could easily net you less money at settlement.

It's also not worth missing the Spring market. Paint if needed, refinish the floors only if they look bad, then clean and put it on the market. Skip any updates to the kitchen. It would be money down the drain to try to put lipstick on a pig.

Also be careful getting realtors' advice because they will happily tell you to spend $40K in updates that would make it slightly easier to sell your home but net you less money at closing. They don't care at all about maximizing your profits - just making it as easy as possible to close to get their commission. I've had several realtors tell us to do a bunch of improvements before selling. When pushed (and I really had to push to get them to come clean), they all admitted that it would not net me any more money - and in some cases less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We own a rental home outside the beltway in VA. It is a 2700 square foot colonial built in 1982 with 4 beds/2.5 baths plus a finished basement. It has all hardwood floors and is on 1/3 of an acre on a cul de sac in a nice leafy neighborhood.

It was our first home and everything is now very dated (i.e., original kitchen and baths). I'm planning to sell it shortly to help fund retirement and trying to decide whether to renovate the kitchen and baths before sale. It would probably go for $950k without any renovations at all.

My first thought was to sell "as is." But a neighbor just renovated a kitchen and 3 baths in a very similar house on a less desirable lot and without a basement and it sold for $1.4 million. I also just renovated a guest bath in our primary home for $25k. That has me thinking that I could easily renovate a kitchen and 2.5 baths and come out way ahead after the sale versus selling "as is" even taking into account $20k in lost rent for 4-5 months or renovations.

So what's a reasonable cost estimate for renovating 2.5 baths and a kitchen (with fixtures and finishes commensurate with a $1.4 million listing)? $200k? $250k? $300k? What am I missing in this scenario?

Talk to your realtor. The $400k premium for renovating simply does not sounds right. I suggest investing less than $10k to maybe paint and freshen up, then sell as is.