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April 30, 2008
"Time of the Essence" Renovations
My wife and I want to renovate our kitchen and bathroom this Spring, in order to place our condo on the market asap. Can anyone recommend a reputable, insured and licensed home renovation contractor that is willing to include a "time of the essence" contract clause in the service contract?
Comments
No. That would be a bad business move on their part, unless there is an incentive.
If you offer a bonus for each day they complete the renovation prior to your deadline, they'll probably agree to that. Assumming you have a design comleted already and all finishes selected.
I have a contractor I've done that with before, but they only work in Manhattan.
Is YOUR wife pregnant, too!? Control your loins people!
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 7:56 AM
Think carefully about whether you really want to push that hard for a fast job. You may get a lousy job as a result. And double any time estimate a contractor gives you, and decide whether you can live with it.
Posted by: slopefarm at April 30, 2008 12:54 PM
Oftentimes its the kitchen cabinets that hold up that kind of renovation work; unless they are ALL stock sizes/finishes from somewhere
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 30, 2008 1:38 PM
Why bother renovating at all. I, for one am so tired of seeing these awful reno's and wish the sellers would just sell as is and leave the renovations to the buyer. How much more are you really going to sell for anyway with these renovations?
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 1:39 PM
1:39 has a good point...put it on the market now...see what happens. What was your budget for the renovation??? If this is anything larger than a studio or a 1 bedroom, 1:39 is right...one renovators dream is another owners nightmare...especially if you want a quick budget job
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 30, 2008 1:57 PM
I have to agree with 1:39. Think beyond this one transaction--you wind up taking that renovation and giving it to someone who's going to put it in a landfill.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 2:14 PM
I agree. When I sell my house, it will be "as is" because I'm sure the buyer will change things to suit himself/herself anyway. Instead, make cosmetic changes only to spruce things up. If the condo is not old, why bother going through the distruption, mess and angst of a renovation?
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 2:27 PM
Thank you for the helpful advice. We have a 1BR and want to buy a 2BR or larger.
We are also thinking that a RE broker may be less likely to take and market our listing if our BATH and KIT are not renovated. Maybe we've been watching too much HGTV?
The KIT is not bad -- less than one-year-old GE stainless steel appliances and pretty (but not new) shaker cabinets. We think we should replace the KIT counter top and sink (circa 1988). Everything in our BATH is circa 1988.
Any further thoughts? Thanks again!
Posted by: redhooklyn at April 30, 2008 5:09 PM
daveinbedstuy 1:57 -- We received a quote of $13k from a contractor to overhaul our BATH, and to replace the countertops and sink in our KIT. The quote ONLY included LABOR. It did NOT include cost of materials (e.g.; tub, sinks, countertops, vanity, etc.). Is that a reasonable price?
Posted by: redhooklyn at April 30, 2008 5:41 PM
redhooklyn
Don't worry about the real estate brokers so much.
They take any listing from anybody.
Just make sure the place is clean and clutter free with no pets running around when you show it and you might be able to sell it yourself.
You can lower the price slightly if you do it on your own.
Split the difference with the seller.
Potential buyers appreciate dealing with the sellers directly.
Just don't sign an exclusivee with a broker.
That is where the trouble starts.
Posted by: Ysabelle at April 30, 2008 5:42 PM
I highly reccommend Leonard Lushi.
His phone number is !-646-209-1245.
He is competent and reliable.
There is no charge for the estimate.
He has a department of consumer affairs HIC license number and he has a $1 million dollar liability policy.
When you call him ask him to bring it when he comes out for the estimate.
On top of everything else he is reasonanbly priced.
He is not a con artist.
He is nice.
Posted by: Ysabelle at April 30, 2008 6:00 PM
Circa 1988 is in...or will be in a year or so. You'll see...
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 6:26 PM
If you want to sell ASAP, forget the reno. You can't reno and get it on the market this spring - no way. Clean it up, fix anything broken, move out the clutter and extraneous stuff, and stage the furniture you have left, and it will sell (by broker or FSBO - whichever you prefer - brokers will take stuff not perfect - where do you get your ideas?).
Let the new owner change things to their liking. Believe it or not, older kitchens and baths appeal to many who hate the new trend of kitchen and bath renos anyway and don't want to pay you for them (they will not make an offer if your new reno is not to their taste.)
My advice (and I sold a coop a year ago) is to contact some brokers at the big ones who co-broke, have them take a look, sign one (unless you decide to go FSBO), set a date for an open house, then clean up, clear out, and get that thing sold before the hot summer weekends set in. This is prime selling season - now through mid-June - just do it.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 7:14 PM
I think it is the brokers who push sellers into renovating. It ups their price but I don't think the seller recoups in the end when you add in the time and expense.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 7:23 PM
It depends upon the extent of the bath work. The $13,000 doesn't sound that bad at all for a complete bath including tile and the kitchen work. Does that include any tile work or just replacing each fixture with a new one. If he's just replacing a Bath sink and a toilet, that should only take about 3-4 hours!!!
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 30, 2008 8:09 PM
8:09 - It includes tile work. Good to know that I am not getting fleeced.
Also, thanks to everyone else for your insights on broker v. FSBO; reno vs. no reno; etc.
Posted by: redhooklyn at April 30, 2008 9:41 PM
We sold a home in Rockland County about a year ago. I know that's a significantly different market, but still worth considering:
We first tried the 1:39's approach, but didn't get any (realistic) offers after 3 months on the market. After a $20K spruce up (mostly of kitchen and baths), we put it back on the market for $40K higher and sold it within a week.
We're just convinced that most people have limited imaginations ("gosh, I don't know if my sofa will fit"), except when it comes to the worst ("this bathroom MUST be GUTTED--and that will cost AT LEAST $50,000").
Good luck!
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at April 30, 2008 10:34 PM
sure, it could sell for more, and more quickly, with nice renovations, but given that it is May, it isn't going to happen this spring with renovations - they don't happen that fast here.
Posted by: guest at May 1, 2008 12:18 AM
We knew that Ysabelle finally got laid, now we know who it was-poor Leonard.
Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 3:54 AM
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