Should You Remodel Your Home Before Selling?
Remodeling your home is a daunting task for most sellers. Oftentimes this may be the first time you’re even experiencing selling a home, let alone remodeling. The initial scare typically comes from not knowing whether or not the upfront investment will be worth it. You are putting a lot of risk by making this decision, so I’d like to demystify the whole concept of remodeling your home.
You’ll get to learn the advantages of remodeling (backed by statistics) , what you should focus on if you do decide to remodel (again backed by statistics), and other aspects that you should consider before pulling the plug.
Advantages of Remodeling
Before you go and change your entire home layout, you should specify what is the reason you’re remodeling your home. Changing the color of the walls for you to enjoy is one thing, but making changes to your house right before you permanently leave is a whole another topic.
Strategic Remodeling
I’ll make an assumption that everyone reading this article is looking to sell and has ideally not made any big remodels yet. When it comes to making these remodels, you have to leave out as much personalization as possible. Don’t ask what you would prefer in a home, think about what the general public would like. Trendy home layouts are a good place to start.
If you do all the upgrades right, according to an article written by Zillow, you can expect buyers to pay 3.7% more for your property. Not only that, but your listing on Zillow is likely to get 26% more daily saves and 30% more shares than other listings on zillow. That’s a massive win for you as a seller. This isn’t back by pure luck or by hope, it’s thousands of homes collected by Zillow to use as data, data that you’ll use to net more from your home sale. However this means nothing if you end up making upgrades to parts of the home that don’t give you a proper return on your investment, so let’s find out what will!
Best Bang For Your Buck
Not all remodels are made equal, I’m sure you’ve already seen some homes that are poorly renovated. The key is good contractors yeah, but more importantly its knowing what to do. You liekly don’t have to redo your entire home, and that’s a good thing, so let’s focus on what really matters. What’s going to drive you the big bucks!
Fix What's Broken
It goes without saying that if you expect to sell for a high price, you better hope everything works. You may be tempted to immediately move into fixing the kitchen, bathroom, or even adding a new garage door, but sometimes the most basic fixes are what’s going to give you the most return on your money.
Anything baseline that needs to be swapped out should be changed. Remember, a buyer is most likely going to live in your home for a long time, so don’t give them a bucket list of repairs to do the next day after they buy. If things like the roof, water heater, AC, or even lightbulbs are near the end of their life, you should consider fixing them. They may cost a lot and not provide the most return on your investment, but it’ll make your home actually sellable. And what would the alternative be? Not fix anything, list your home for 1 year and blame the market as to why no one wants your home?
Consider getting a pre-sale inspection to find out what potential buyers will complain about in the future. The more you can solve their problems before they can bring it up, the more likely you’ll have an easier time selling.
Kitchen
The kitchen is considered the heart of the home. An outdated or dirty kitchen can completely ruin your home sale plans. So if you have the extra cash on hand, consider putting it here
Everything matters in the kitchen, from the functionality of the cabinets to the cleanliness of the flooring.
However you should be cautious, as kitchen remodels can quickly put you well above your budget. Focus on mandatory upgrades and ensuring long term stability over quick fixes. A minor kitchen remodel has an ROI of 86%, according to a Homelight research.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are the 2nd most important room buyers care, only after the kitchen. It’s more about having a really good deep cleaner come in to ensure there are no stains or dirty spots in the bathroom.
The biggest upgrade to consider making in the bathroom would be replacing any dirty grout, or just the flooring. Most of the time, the vanity and tub can be presentable with a really good cleaning.
Interior/Exterior Paint
This comes as no surprise to many buyers/sellers. Having a fresh, neutral color paint helps you as the seller in multiple ways.
First it gets rid of any personalization within the home, any bold colors are immediately stripped away in order to maximize appeal to buyers.
Second, by choosing a neutral tone color, you are actually able to make the rooms feel bigger. I don’t know color theory, but it’s true, many buyers and even myself included feel that a room with neutral colors as the walls feels bigger than it actually is.
Fresh Mulch
While it seems ridiculous to think that such a tiny difference to your front yard can actually make your home sell for more, it’s true! Whether you decide to hire a landscaper or decide to put mulch over your entire yard, having a clean, tidy looking front yard is becoming more and more important to buyers. The first impression of your home should be to ‘wow’ the buyers, not for them to criticize your poorly maintained lawn.
What to Consider before Remodeling
Remodeling might not be for everyone, but to find out if it’s for you, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. Would a buyer looking for their dream home picture themselves in yours?
One of the best ways to determine this is what I call the ‘honest walkthrough’. Call a friend or family that rarely comes to your home, have them walk through the entire house and point out everything that doesn’t make sense to them. By the end of the walkthrough (hopefully you’re taking notes) they will tell you whether or not they’d be comfortable moving their family into your home. If they are, the home passes and likely you don’t need much work. If they think it’d need work before they could live in it, then you should consider remodeling.
Of course, an agent can also provide great insight into whether or not you need to remodel. However some agents can be motivated to simply disagree with the idea of remodeling, just to get the home to sell faster and not have to wait. Ultimately the home is yours, and if you’re looking to get top dollar, then you should do the honest walkthrough first.
FAQs
What Not to Fix when Selling a House?
This will be broad, but major renovations should be avoided. Changing walls and layouts can often be a personal choice rather than an improvement for the entire home itself. Minor but necessary updates should be the goal.
Will My Home Sell for Less if I sell 'as-is'?
There isn’t exactly a one size fits all number to say, but the truth is you are likely to sell for less than expected when selling ‘as-is’. That’s because you probably have a reason for selling as-is, and it’s most likely the same reason why the buyer wants to offer less.
How much should I fix up Before Selling?
The general idea is to fix up anything that should be fixed or is broken. Then it’s a personal decision to fix up the highest return on investments, of course if you have the money to do so.
Is It Worth it? Final Thoughts from a Local Realtor
Fixing up your home before selling is 100% worth it. In fact, I recommend all of my sellers to do some type of work before we go onto the market. You only get one chance to sell your home for Top Dollar, and that’s the first time you come onto market.
If you want to do it right, to make an amazing first impression to buyers, and have a smooth fast sale, remodeling is your best friend.
Have questions about specific neighborhoods, I’d love to help.
