Question re cabinet hardware changes.

[Anonymous]

I'm gonna apologize in advance if this is a dumb question. We're moving out of state to another area. I'm here looking at houses today. Found one that I liked a lot online. Something odd and that stood out from other homes was that the kitchen cabinet hardware, like the hinges, was cheaply done. So rather than nice hinges on the interior of the cabinets, they had hardware that's looking worn and is loose on the exterior of the cabinets.

Is this an easy fix? Could I get someone to replace the hardware and essentially "refresh" the cabinets? There were a handful of other things that were "off". I'm just a little disappointed because I let myself fall in love based on the pics, and it was disappointing to find some things weren't what I assumed. The kitchen in particular was not as well done as other homes in the neighborhood. It's one of those small things that makes you wonder where else they cut corners.

[Anonymous]

Yes, usually replacing cabinet hinges (and knobs or handles) is an easy fix. I sounds like an older style if you could see them from the outside. You should be able to find replacements that match the screw holes.

[Anonymous]

I agree it is an easy fix. A good home inspector can find corners that were cut.

[Anonymous]

Op here - also frustrated that they appear to have moved to another home already, as the MLS shows it as vacant, but they only took the big furniture like beds, dressers and couches, and left huge amounts of clutter behind, like personal pictures on the wall, toys everywhere, bathrobes in the bathroom, etc. It's like the antithesis of staging. No furniture to get a sense of scale in the rooms, but all the clutter to distract you from looking at what you want to look at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, usually replacing cabinet hinges (and knobs or handles) is an easy fix. I sounds like an older style if you could see them from the outside. You should be able to find replacements that match the screw holes.

+1. This isn't something you need to hire someone to do, it's very easy to do. For the hinges, though, while you can swap out the hardware for new, you won't be able to switch to hinges inside the cabinet without leaving holes in the exterior, so you'll have to live with that style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, usually replacing cabinet hinges (and knobs or handles) is an easy fix. I sounds like an older style if you could see them from the outside. You should be able to find replacements that match the screw holes.

It did feel like an older style. Honestly, it's been a few years since I've lived somewhere with a kitchen that felt this cheap. I could understand it in a truly older home, but this one was built less than 15 years ago. It's got some other oddities, and is apparently considered a "custom" home, which make me think someone other than a professional made some of the design decisions here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - also frustrated that they appear to have moved to another home already, as the MLS shows it as vacant, but they only took the big furniture like beds, dressers and couches, and left huge amounts of clutter behind, like personal pictures on the wall, toys everywhere, bathrobes in the bathroom, etc. It's like the antithesis of staging. No furniture to get a sense of scale in the rooms, but all the clutter to distract you from looking at what you want to look at.

If you make an offer, make sure you specify that the house has to be cleaned out. That way you're not left with someone else's junk pile.