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to renovate or not to renovate?…….that is the question!

I am often asked by people if they should renovate their kitchen or bathroom before selling their loft, home, or condo.  Others ask; “Why should I spend any money on my property before I sell as there is no guarantee I’ll get it back, and any improvements made may not be to the liking of the purchaser?”

for sale sign

These are both very valid questions and there isn’t a concrete answer to either of them.  The right thing to do is contact your Realtor or better yet me before you even think about THINKING of selling your property.

For every property I have seen in nearly perfect condition, I have seen 100 that aren’t.  The majority of the dud properties wouldn’t require breaking the bank to make what’s wrong, right.  The consequence to having various deficiencies is the average buyer will cost out those flaws somewhere between 3 and 4 times more expensive then they actually are.

To properly assess if a major kitchen or bathroom renovation is advantageous to do, you have to consider if it will cost you more money not to do it?  This is nearly impossible to know unless you have seen tens of thousands of properties (magazines and TV shows don’t count) and have a trained eye for looking at a property.   Too many agents are interested in throwing their sign up and listing a property on MLS as soon as possible.  It’s much more advantageous to the Seller if time is spent in the preparation of the property going to market to ensure the highest possible sale price in the shortest period of time.

As far as whether to spend any money before selling, you should ask yourself:  would you take your car through the car wash first before you showed it to a potential buyer?  If the answer is no you need more help than you think.  If the answer is yes, then your next question should be; “Will, can you come to my home to evaluate what I need to do before it goes on the market?”

There are dozens of things that can be replaced, repaired or removed from a property to make it show better and ultimately sell for more.  Most buyers would rather pay fifty or one hundred dollars a month more on the mortgage than save forty thousand on the final purchase price if it meant they had to renovate in order to update the home they are considering buying.

I take passion in the process rather than treat the sale of your property like a job.