Makes sense to renovate?
Does it make sense to renovate our kitchen if we need to sell, say when the RE market improves in some years? Right now, the place has not been touched for let’s say, 50 years. There are no cabinets or countertops (only shelves), walls are a patchworked mess, appliances are worth only as junk, no…
Does it make sense to renovate our kitchen if we need to sell, say when the RE market improves in some years? Right now, the place has not been touched for let’s say, 50 years. There are no cabinets or countertops (only shelves), walls are a patchworked mess, appliances are worth only as junk, no proper outlets, ceiling was taken down to the beams, electrical is ancient, floors are old plastic tile, plumbing lines are exposed, etc.
I am making plans to renovate, thinking that in the current state, this kitchen (and adjoining bath, laundry, dining area) would bring down the value of the house, just because it makes the house a fixer-upper (the other floors are in much better shape). It’s going to cost an arm and a leg (150K maybe). Is it wise to go to this expense or better to save and sell as is down the road?
I guess I’d want to do something if only to make it livable. A few years is a long time to have a wreck for a kitchen. I’ve found that when I am done with renovations I often think “why didn’t I do that earlier?” Reminds me that I need to put some hardware on some doors…
I guess it depends on what timeframe you are envisioning. I can’t imagine bothering to go through a renovation if I was planning to move in a little while. Its not just the money – its the aggravation level.
Another rationale for going ahead — you will find contractor’s more available for work and negotiable in this market than you will when the market picks up….and it always seems like people stay in their homes longer than they ever expect.
Wow – $150K? That’s a fair sized chunk of change. If it really needs that much work, and you definitely plan to sell in two years, (and of course you have the money available), I think I’d consider it. Talk to a real estate agent and try to get a feel for the size of haircut you’d have to take to sell it in the current state its in. Ordinarily, I’d say don’t renovate, but if its in such bad shape that its really going to scare away a large portion of potential buyers, and you know you are going to sell, it may be worth it. I’d think it would have to be a $1 mln or more house to make a renovation like that worthwhile. With that many problems though, you might find only the vultures interested….
Smart people care MORE about infrastructure.
But my experience in owning in a coop, and comments I see on this board, tell me that there aren’t that many smart people in this market. Smart about what counts in a house purchase anyway.
At times I feel so grateful for the people on this forum and their support. This is one such time.
To add: A lot of the improvement is going to be in the infrastructure, and I have heard, that buyers don’t care about that. Who cares how much you spent pouring your slab or sistering a beam when they are buying?
But Guest 11:58, you did sell, right? If you renovate to sell and you sold, you won. But if you renovate with the sole purpose of selling you can’t get too emotionally invested in the job.
For the OP, I was thinking they’d have a few years to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and though they probably don’t want to buy the Granite of Their Dreams knowing it won’t be theirs for long, they can make some personal choices on colors and cabinets because they will be living with them for awhile.
When the market picks up, I’d rather be in the OP’s position with a house that’s move-in condition instead of a “needs some TLC” place.
Not to play devil’s advocate. . .but we had the opposite experience. We renovated a very tired old kitchen in order to sell and the new owners, who took out every original architectural detail of the house, also took out the entire kitchen. It broke our hearts to drive by and see slabs of granite in the dumpster. My husband has now sworn to never renovate a kitchen again!
Renovate, renovate, renovate. It doesn’t sound like you’re selling anytime soon (next 1-2 years), so you will get the use out of the upgrades. In its current state, the kitchen/bath/laundry is only going to get uglier and dingier and depress the value of the house more.
We owned a coop in Brooklyn Heights, which we bought in 1999 knowing we’d need to redo the kitchen, and procrastined and delayed and ended up selling in 2007 with the old kitchen in place. The ONLY negative comments we received from potential buyers while the place was on the market were about the tired state of the kitchen, and I’m convinced that we would have sold much more quickly and for closer to asking price if the kitchen had been redone.