Best Remodels to Sell your Home
Remodeling your home in a way that makes it more functional and enjoyable for you and your family is usually worth the time and expense. However, if you are planning to sell your home, what is worthwhile to make your home more sellable? The Washington Metropolitan Area is chock full of beautiful homes that feature custom kitchens, bathrooms, decks, and finishes. Your home, when placed on the market, will need to compete with the best of the best.
So what can you do to a home that isn’t looking its best? There are a few remodeling projects that add enough equity value to your home to realize a profit or simply sell it quickly. Remember, every day that your home is on the market is a day costing you money in Mortgage, taxes, water, utilities, and more.
The best approach is to follow some industry rules of thumb and to do some research before committing to a project. Later in this article we will show you just how easy this can be with The Congressional Group, LLC’s P.E.N. Program.
Update your kitchen and bathrooms but only as needed
Our Relationship Estate Professionals will tell you that the kitchen and bathrooms are the most important parts of the house. However, that doesn't mean you have to completely overhaul those rooms before selling. To decide what's best in your situation, start by looking at the numbers. An upscale major kitchen remodel has a return on investment (ROI) of less than 60 percent, while a mid-range minor kitchen redo can return about 80 percent. Mid-Range Bathroom remodels return about 67 percent.
Looking at the numbers alone, it rarely makes sense to spend a lot on kitchen or bathroom renovations just to sell your home. However, because these are such high-profile areas that buyers pay a lot of attention to, there is a good deal of value in an inviting kitchen or bathroom—or at least a room that most buyers will feel they can live with. If a kitchen or bathroom is woefully outdated and unappealing, buyers may automatically add the cost of renovating it to the cost of the home. And if the home cost isn't low enough to compensate, the buyers may run.
Concentrate on Countertops
Countertops are generally the first thing buyers will see in a kitchen. So if you opt for any kind of expensive work within the kitchen or bathroom, countertops are a good place to start . Just keep in mind that countertops are a very personal choice. With years of experience and constant feedback from buyers, our professionals can assist you with a cost effective choice that will appeal to the masses.
Refresh Cabinets Rather Than Replace
Kitchen and bathroom cabinets are highly visible because they are at eye level. But replacing cabinets can easily erase any profit you hope to realize from the home sale. If your kitchen cabinets are in terrible condition, especially with the cabinet boxes falling apart, you have little choice but to install new cabinets. For cabinets that are in good structural shape, the better option that will return more value is to paint them or even reface them. Our painting professionals remove all doors and drawer fronts before spraying them for a smooth flawless finish.
Upgrading Fixtures and Hardware Pays Off
New cabinet fixtures and hardware are surprisingly effective as kitchen and bathroom upgrades. Do not assume that replacing kitchen and bathroom hardware is going to be cheap, though. Replacing all of your hardware can easily run into hundreds of dollars. On the upside, new fixtures and hardware are a “low hanging fruit” project that you can be taken on even in a time crunch. You can replace your kitchen and bathroom hardware in a few hours.
emphasize looks Over Function
When remodeling for sale, the best remodels are those that look good. It is better to spend money on paint or flooring rather than a water heater that still functions. As long as the water heater is safe and functional, keep it. A new water heater will not impress buyers. If a home inspector says the water heater must be replaced, that is the time to discuss replacing it or offering the buyer a credit. But looks are hard to negotiate. There are a few caveats however. With our sister companies such as Congressional HVAC, sometimes it is more cost effective to install a brand new efficient air conditioning unit at our locked-in rates than give a credit for a whole new system at closing.
New Paint Works Wonders
New paint, especially well-chosen light and airy hues, will transform a house. Be careful of deep shades that darken the home. Calm and bright colors reflect more ambient light and help in enlarging smaller spaces and those without ample natural light.
Consider the Market's Tastes, Not Yours
Home remodels done to make the home more attractive to buyers do not necessarily have to align with your style. This is less a case of grabbing the latest home design trends than it is about correcting personal tastes that turn off buyers. If our professionals say that you might want to avoid certain styles, this is the time to listen. We hear from countless buyers a month and take stock of each of their likes and dislikes. Every dated home that we show to a buyer is a learning experience for our next seller. Remember, you are not remodeling for your style. You are remodeling for your wallet!
Avoid Remodels With Low Resale Values
Some remodels are notoriously poor at returning resale value. Garage conversions and additions don’t typically payoff. However, replacing an old or damaged garage door offers an easy and cost effective home upgrade. Additions make more sense when you really need the added space and will stay in the home long enough to enjoy it. Other areas that tend not to have good resale value are media rooms, theaters, offices, basements, attic, decks, patios, and backyards. However our landscaping teams are experts at cleaning up properties, pruning unruly trees, and mulching flower beds so that your home has SERIOUS curb appeal.
Consider Break-Even Remodels to Attract Buyers
It's not necessarily a success to spend money on a bathroom remodel only to recoup the same amount from the sale. However, if your home has a critical area (such as a primary bathroom or a kitchen) that causes potential buyers to turn on their heels and walk out the door, a redo might be worthwhile. Even if the rest of your house is in acceptable condition, one unattractive area might drag down the rest of the house.
Our Professionals often advise clients to take care of minor problems, all with the understanding that the fixes serve only to support the sale of the rest of the house. Surface bathroom or kitchen remodels are often a better solution than a full-scale remodel.
what can the p.e.n. do for you?
Throughout our company’s history, the client has always come first; whether that be a home improvement project or a home sale. Our favorite jobs though are the ones where our two worlds collide. When you sell your home with the Rudden-Bobruska Team of Re/Max Realty Services, you really do get it all. Not only do you receive the finish advise on market conditions, pricing marketing and staging, The Congressional Group’s P.E.N. program will remove the stress of necessary upgrades and repairs. We will consult with you as the homeowner to identify areas of your home that could benefit from investment to impress potential home buyers. Our in-house team of carpenters, flooring experts, electricians, plumbers, painters, and landscapers can sweep in quickly to make agreed upon enhancements. Whether you have lived in your current home for 5 years or 50 years, fresh paint, kitchen upgrades, bathroom renovations, landscaping, cleaning and staging can all ensure the best possible contract price.
Perhaps the greatest feature of the P.E.N. program is the savings on the repairs. We have our own team of partners and we have negotiated rates that are well below retail. We pass these savings directly onto you thereby increasing your profitability while shortening the sales cycle of selling your home. As an additional option for our valued clients, we can carry the costs of these changes until closing.
Do you want to make your home sale stress free? Contact us today!