Archive for January, 2008
Selling A Home On The Cheap…..
January 2nd, 2008 Categories: Buyer and Seller Knowledge Center
You are planning to market your home and everyone is telling you what to do. I am not going to be any different….except to say “be cheap”.
Paint is the cheapest and easiest thing one can do. Spend the money for a good quality paint. It will do wonders for your home.
What do you paint? Take a look at the kitchen cabinets. If they look worn then paint them a neutral color…..white is OK but there are other colors that can make a kitchens first impressions look great. I have heard but seen that people do paint kitchen cabinets green but I do not think I would recommend that.
After a good coat of paint change the hardware on the cabinets. Kitchen is now done.
You ask about the new counter tops, new appliances. Forget it! If you have to do something look at the bathrooms.
Yep…..paint and replace bathroom fixtures. If the toilet is outdated, replace it. Whatever you do in the bathroom(s) is worth the time and money.
Look outside…..yep, you got it…..paint. Make sure the sidings are all in good shape. If there is one area that needs to be looked at, that would be windows. If you think replacement will help sell the house spend the money on good windows. Windows are called the soul of the home. The recovery cost replacing windows is approximately 80-85% of the cost. Not a bad investment. So do not look for the cheapest windows but get good reasonable priced windows….they will pay for themselves.
Do get a home inspection before you put the home on the market. It is interesting to see the differences between a buyer’s and seller’s home inspection reports. To be sure it can be somewhat revealing when two “experts” come to different conclusions. But from a seller’s stand point knowing what has to be fixed is essential. Sometimes it is far cheaper to replace the furnace than have the potential buyer asking for a $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 credit to complete the sale. What will cost the seller one dollar, the buyer will ask for $ 3 to $ 5 in credit or discount. So an expenditure of $ 2,000 is far better than giving a buyer a $ 10,000 discount on the purchase price.
Why do things on the cheap? First replacing anything in the house is simply to satisfy the owner (seller).
Secondly, when comps are made it is a strict comparison of what one house sold versus another. Very seldom are potential buyers interested in the big ticket items that were done to make the home “saleable”. In fact they may replace everything that you do.
Replacing the front door is another reasonable cost or painting it is better. If you live in a condo area you may have to get approval especially if you paint the front door a different color.
Wall paper….get rid of it. And that 1970’s cheese cake on the ceiling! Get rid of it but do not go over board. You will have to get an expert in to determine what you have on the ceiling and if it has asbestos material then rethink what you want to do.
Basic source: Wall Street Journal article by Amy Hoak, 1/2/2008.
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