Fixing up Bathroom and Kitchen to Sell?

Don't redo either. You won't make the money back. Spruce it up, declutter, and add a new coat of paint. If you need to, think about replacing the hardware (e.g., knobs). That's it.

And don't offer a kitchen redo discount. If the buyer asks for it, that's fine, but I wouldn't offer it up front.

I have bought and sold many homes. I always made sure that the bathrooms and kitchen were up-to-date. Those are the areas that sell a house.

Have you looked at other homes on the market in your area? I would want to know what my competition is. If you realtor isn't too concerned about the bathroom, you could just "refresh" it. Paint, new towels a rug. I dont know it I would do anything with the kitchen. Again, your agent will steer you in the right direction.

As the for built-ins. I wouldn't do that. If you are only going to be there temporary, it seems to me a waste of money and possibly a put off to potential buyers.

Good luck!!! It is never easy selling!!!

Your house sounds great. I would consider the new countertop for the kitchen because in many cases kitchens sell the house and save your money with the bathroom (you bought the house with it like this and still have not changed it).

The landscaping will give it great curb appeal, yet not much ROI (at least you upped your chances of selling the house faster and enjoyed the yard yourself). Your updated basement will also help fetch more money.

Not sure why you want to put a built-in bookcase if you are moving. I would save your money.

I'm in California and i'm erring on the side of saving your money.

I love the plan for the kitchen & bathroom. I think that is the perfect amount to do to make it turn-key.

As for the built-ins, that is very personal. My oldest's bedroom had shelving when we moved in, but I didn't want it because it limited our floorplan options. We removed 1 immediately so we could set the room up to fit our needs. And, if you are trying to save $ for your down payment, I'd forego the shelving expense. I doubt you'll get a return on that investment.

ETA: I would not offer a kitchen redo discount up front. If a buyer likes your house, they can always offer that into the offer: $350k for the purchase price, but would like a $10k kitchen update allowance.

I tend to think that you should leave it as is and add the note about discounting for the kitchen. You said yourself that everyone tells you that the bathroom is fine, but that YOU hated it from the day you moved in. I think that is coloring your perception of what you need to do in there. Don't do anything there, just refresh it with clean sparkling glass/windows/mirrors and a new rug/towels.

And I agree with the "half done" angle with the kitchen. If you only replace the counter, and the new owner will have to redo the floor, then you make it more difficult for them, because NOW they will have to match the counter. Where if you leave the old counters as well, they can choose BOTH to their liking, and it will open up more options for them when they are choosing.
Just give them a "discount" on the kitchen and leave it, clean and sparkling, but as is.

Oops... almost forgot: don't add permanent furniture to the bedrooms. Shelving is great, but if you are using up valuable floor space, you might be limiting what they want to do in that room. Perhaps they want it as a bedroom, or perhaps they want it as something else and need every inch of floor space (like for a home gym?). I would skip it.

We are in the market to buy a house, in my personal view if you are not redoing the whole kitchen leave it alone. We have seen many houses, some the kitchens or the bathrooms are partially done just to sell and it's a total turn off to me. Because when poeple upgrade for themselves, they pick better material put a little more thought into the design, but when it's for resell only, it's completely obvious. If I buy a house I am not going to rip the new counter top to put a new cabinet in, but if the kitchen was left alone, I could do it to my own taste. If everything else is in tip top shape, leave something for the future home owner to do on their own.

Have you looked at other houses in your neighborhood in the same price range?

I'll weigh in on your kitchen/bathroom idea.

We bought an older (early 1970's) two story home in 2009.

The family selling it was the original owners. It had been updated in lots of ways prior to putting it on the market. What they did in the kitchen was new appliances and a new (cheap) counter and a decent (stone) backsplash.

The powder room had a new vanity, new flooring and some cheap accessories.... all of those updates were "bottom of the line".

The other bath's had some cheap updates. ALL the house had new paint, including cabinets in the bath. Our main bath needs to be gutted, but we're going to wait a year or two more.

In all - what it did was give the home the appearance of updates, but we knew we'd be re-doing some of them once we moved in. We JUSt remodeled the powder room, less than 3 years after moving in.

I'd focus on things that make the photos look good (I am a firm believer in having REALLY good photos of your house up on the MLS listing since most people preshop online before going to look at a house).

Our kitchen needs to be remodeled, but, it's ok as is for now. Had they left it alone (no updates at all) I would not have bought the house. THey probably put about $2500-$3000 into the kitchen with appliances and painting cabinets and new counters. It updated a totally dated kitchen into a "ok for now" kitchen... if that makes sense.

Good luck!
J.

Talk to a realtor before you do any work (other than cleaning and painting to freshen up). Since you have remodeled your basement you should find out where you stand in this current market. You don't want to try and sell the most expensive house on the block.

There are also other inexpensive ways to update your kitchen and bath to sell your home. I would not put in any permanent shelving in the house, they make the rooms smaller and harder to fit furniture.

What you may think is awful is just right for others. Leave the main bath alone except for painting and let the new owner fix it for them. If you are not going to do the complete kitchen then give a discount that way she can make it her own. Because what you may not be what she wants.
Don't put the shelves in the bedroom. The new owner may have an idea of what they want and will have to tear out what you have done.

The best thing to do is to go out and look at what is out there and try to fix or paint in similar shades. This way you know what you can and should not change.

I once did an open house for a home where the sellers had orange shag carpet in it and were giving a carpet allowance because they knew the new owners would not like the carpet and color. The house did sell.

Make sure it is "move in ready" which means you move out and they can move it without having to paint or change anything. I guess I got that from being military and when they look they are ready to move in NOW not in four or five months. This is because household goods are on the move from one location to the next on the moving van and a date for delivery is in the works and they would prefer to have the house delivered to the new house rather than put it in storage with the moving company.

Good luck to you and I hope that your home sells quickly.

The other S.

PS Do check with the local realter for ideas and comments. It's free.

honestly, if you're not going to replace the tile, then I wouldn't bother with the counters either. I'd go for the "kitchen remodel discount" on the asking price.

if you think those tiles are ugly, then most others will too. Changing the counter will not enhance those tiles. & that's a waste of your money. :)

As for the built-ins, don't. Your furniture placement will vary from the new owners, & the shelving will be detrimental to their spatial planning. Use a moveable unit for your kids' bedrooms.... & take it with you!

My sister painted, put up personal styled border, all kinds of stuff. Her Realtor came in and told her she needed to make it as neutral as possible, she told her to take down all the borders in the house...lol.

My sister told her that if the people looking didn't like the borders they didn't need her house. I know, she's odd. Anyway, their house didn't sell for near as much as she thought it should.

I think that if you look at this from a buyers perspective you will get a better idea for what you need to do. Go out of your house, take a breath, clear your mind, pretend you are going to look at this house as your own prospective new home. Then go back in.

What do you smell? What assaults your eyes first...lol. What is the atmosphere?

These are what will make the house appealing or appalling.

I think painted every room a neutral color including that yellow bathroom, unless it can be totally toned down, many people do not like yellow, I am one of those unless it is a muted bland shade.

I would look for inexpensive wood vanity units. They do cost a bit but if the house and the bathroom don't flow it takes away from the whole experience.

Do you think that you can do the work yourself? That would save you thousands. My friends recently bought a vanity and counter tops and did it all. It cost them just a few hundred dollars and now the bathroom looks like a magazine layout.

Everyone has different likes and dislikes.

I don't think putting in shelves will make much of a difference. Some buyers may love it, others may have other visions for the room. Personally, since it good go either way, I wouldn't spend the money and the time.

As for the bathroom, I think a new vanity top and a fresh coat of paint will help. Add some nice new towels.

I also think new countertops might be a good investment.

You should check with your realator for recommendations.

There is a lot to be said for updating these areas and spending the money. But if you do this and your taste doesn't match what others are looking for, they you have just turned off those people with the new kitchen and bath.

How about reducing the price and have the realtor note that there is a "kitchen update" discount reflected in the price. Our neighbors did that with their home last year. They wanted new cabinets and countertops in the kitchen but were very unsure of style and colors that the new owner would like. So they discounted the price and realtor wrote a little blurb about how the discounted price could help they new owner "get the kitchen of the dreams." It worked!

Bathrooms and kitchens sell homes.

Curb appeal. I can tell you that when I look at homes? If I don't like the front yard? I will most likely pass it by. Our home was "under construction" when we looked at it. The owner was selling all of his rentals and our yard was in disarray so I took that into consideration.

I would talk to a real estate agent who has sold homes in your area and find out what the buyers are looking for. Get some quotes on how much it would cost to "bring it up-to-date" and see if it's worth it. Will it make your home sell at asking price fast? If so - then consider it.

Closets sell too. If you have the standard bar in the closet - people will most likely be put off. Four out five of our bedrooms have closet organizers in them. The one in the guest bedroom is going to be done by the end of August.

Garages. I know for us - a work bench and storage is important in a garage. That is not the same for everyone.

Bottom line? You need to find out your target audience for your home - and fix it so that they will want to buy it. You will NOT make everyone happy. Don't look to make everyone happy - make your target audience happy!!

you may have gotten this response already but another thing you can do is cut down on any personal items like tons of pictures of your family - you want them to picture themselves in your home. maybe make artwork minimal as well as it tends to be subjective.. also this totally works - bake something - cookies, bread, something that smells good and makes it feel homey. Good luck!

We just sold our house and bought another one so I can tell you what we did. Our house already had upgraded carpet and wood floors throughout. We had neutral paint already. A year before we put it on the market, we had granite installed in the kitchen-we had it done by Lowe's as it was more cheap than having new laminate countertops installed surprisingly! I installed glass tile backsplash in the kitchen (it was actually easy). We changed out all the doorknobs and faucets to oil rubbed bronze. Within 2 weeks of listing our house received multiple offers. My girlfriend listed her house on Friday and the first person to look at it made an offer $1000 below asking. She only had the house painted. Houses are selling like hotcakes around here as long as they are priced right and in good shape. Don't do built-ins..this would actually deter me from buying a house.

"Kitchens and bathrooms sell a house" but you'll never get that expense out if your house if you completely re-do/gut those rooms.
Spruce? Yes.
Update certain things? Sure.
But I'm with you on the theory NOT to put too much into them.
Clean, uncluttered, neat and room to expand (keep closets and cupboards HALF full when showing) are the things that will sell a house!