We get it. There is a lot of advice (online and from us) about how to prepare your home for sale. However, it’s just as important to recognize when to take a deep breath and leave well-enough alone.
You’ve heard the expression “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it?” This can be true with your house. Did you know – sometimes over-improving can lead to under-performing in the market?
What Should I Do?
Do you have a house with a big backyard?
You may decide that an impressive landscaping project is just the ticket to a quick home sale.
Before you do that, recognize that while beautiful gardens can certainly add value (and is important for curb appeal) if the new homeowner has no inclination to garden or thinks your yard looks time-consuming and expensive to maintain, it could end up backfiring on you. In this case, your “good intentions” could have shot you in the foot.
Instead focus on making your large yard, clean, clutter free and make it look inviting. People can then use their imaginations to decide if they want to add: landscaping, a pool, a fire pit etc.
What About Indoor / Kitchen Renovations:
Think that the next cook in your kitchen would love a shiny, stainless steel countertop, backsplash and gleaming professional-grade range appliances? Maybe, maybe not … if all the buyers can think of is “fingerprints everywhere” in their stainless steel reflections, then that could be a distraction in their decision.
While renovations to kitchens and bathrooms are usually considered money well spent, it doesn’t have to mean breaking the budget to completely overhaul them before your house or condo goes on the market.
We’ve talked about this before – it’s great to have consistency in the kitchen meaning have all appliances the same color, make sure cabinets are clean and updated, etc. You might not need to do anymore than that.
Both cost-effective and relatively simple projects — can go far in creating a new look for an old kitchen or bathroom.
What About The Bathroom Renovations:
The same rule applies. If your bathroom is modern-ish. It is clean (meaning no hard build up of water, mold, etc) it might need something simple like new pulls on the cabinets. It might help to add a fresh coat of paint.
It all depends on the situation.
Your real estate sales representative can advise you on which improvements are worth doing, and which ones would be considered “over-improving” and that would not only not provide the return on investment, but actually turn renovations early on in your home-selling plans.
As always if you need help buying or selling your home, or if you want a home evaluation, we can help.
Gregg Bamford and Ryan Bamford
