In the interest of domestic tranquility I won't post photos (tonight) of the kitchen as is.
As for the why... the cabinets were... shall we say... inexpensive when my wife's ex put them in 18 years ago... they're in sad shape and we've put off replacing the for other considerations for quite awhile.
Thanks all... and in order...
Be careful what you spend there. Realtors love to talk about things like "90% return on investment" and things like that, but remember that a 90% ROA is still a 10% LOSS.
Yeah, you'll get a better price if you upgrade, but you won't get all your costs back. It might be better to do some less expensive cosmetics, and let the buyer put his/her own money into doing the major rebuilds to their own tastes.
Jim,
Lori is very resourceful, and has found a source much cheaper than the Big Box for the cabinets... 10% would be a cheap price to enjoy a better kitchen/ house even for a few months.
Are the two attachments new options? What is the layout now?
The top one is the current layout, the bottom is the 'proposed'.
The second attachment layout works better to me than the first, your work triangle (stove, fridge, sink) isn't perfect on either, but that one seems to have a better flow.
I have to agree with Jim though (not seeing pics of what you're working with), you may still take a loss just to make the realtors job easier.
Clean and well kept will sell just as well as new and fresh if it looks like they have very little to do.
Some suggestions:
Appliance you have that are missing parts or need new seals can be replaced very inexpensively and easily to make an appliance appear well kept (
http://www.repairclinic.com is one of my favs).
Re-use any cabinetry by relocating and only buying/building new where you have to, possibly reface or paint and install new hardware.
we're at or beyond freshening and into 'must' regarding the cabinetry.
Use fresh and inexpensive laminate counter tops to freshen the look and update colors.
Stock Borg counters aye
Faucets are cheap to replace.
an
d will be done
Replace older receptacles/light switches and face plates for a cleaner/updated look.
Don't personalize, use neutral colors.
Replace trim work or strip and clean up woodwork that has too many layers of paint. Caulk and paint all gaps, no matter how small, this may be picky, but makes for a much cleaner look.
Lori's ex had a thing about dark stain, we're going to paint and freshen with off white etc...
I'll take all the tips and tricks I can get! We're only going to replace the range, the rest are 'young' enough (<4 years)to be servicable and won't be a problem. The range is going on 25 years old, I'll take a look at that appliance site.
My thoughts exactly.
Realtors are interested in making a sale the easiest way possible. No matter what they say they have their own interests at heart.
As long as everything is clean, neat, freshly painted, furniture placed so it's pleasing to the eye, and appliances are fairly modern looking and in good working condition you shouldn't have a problem selling it.
If a floor needs finishing, a rug replaced or a new stove or similar, you can offer the buyer a thousand or so dollars back at closing to take care of those issues. If your house is a starter, the type of buyer thats interested is not going to have a ton of extra cash kicking around. They will be willing to get a mortgage closer to the asking price in order to get unexpected cash back to fix a few things.
Clean and well kept will sell just as well as new and fresh if it looks like they have very little to do.
This is the epitome of a starter home, and needs a bit of tlc before I would be comfortable putting it on the market. Neutral pallette will be the rule as we go through and freshen everything up.
+1 on what Jim said. Unless you really, really want to do it, it might be easier to let the new owners do what they want...
I may be a glutton for punishment, but I've put off doing it for so long, I'm actually looking forward to making the house nice for the time we have left here, it Has needed work for awhile, but until this year we haven't had the money to put into it.
Another thing to consider, cosmetic changes don't typically wont require permits. A large renovation that requires electrical and plumbing to be moved will, which also adds $$$s. Though you can do the work yourself, just be prepared to back up the disclosures, as they always ask if permits were pulled if it's obvious that something major has changed.
Also, Bob's advice to just give an allowance at closing is a good idea, have done that with paint and flooring on one house we sold, but I'd only suggest this when negotiating or if you're in competition with new housing where you have to be competitive with those sales.
There is a new development going in a couple of miles away, but this is more of an established if quirky neighborhood, formerly an area where folks from the two larger cities (relative term only) nearby kept 'camps', that has evolved into a mix of that plus typical residential structures. Both of our neighbors on either side are seasonal, one brand new after a fire, the other a total gut and upgrade in progress. We split the difference between them.
This won't actually require any electrical or water to be moved, we have a wet wall on the 'left' wall, shared with the bathroom, so drains etc are existing and well within reach. The only thing we will have to have moved is the gas line for the stove, which will simply have to be extended about 8 feet to the left.
This bears repeating. Any improvement you make to the property -- regardless of its cost -- translates into more money for the real estate agent. Not only is the sale easier, but the commission is bigger. I realize these are your Lodge brothers and not out to take advantage of you, but I suspect they're conditioned into thinking this way.
Extreme example...say you spend $50K upgrading the house, but it only results in increasing the selling price by $1000. The Realtor doesn't care, since he's still getting a bigger commission than he would had you not done the upgrades. There are some relatively low-cost cosmetic expenses that are worth the money, like a fresh coat of paint or new switches and receptacles, or even flooring if the existing stuff is worn out, but I don't think I'd be installing any cabinets.
We're looking at a budget of 10 to 15K total for upgrades, no way in heck we'd sink 50K into this joint, unless we were going to be here awhile. I truly believe that we won't be able to move this place if we don't do some basic upgrades. Paint, flooring and the planned reno of the kitchen are all we're planning, but those are all Nescessary.
if you want to upgrade the kitchen and then sell the house, keep the same floor plan but just add new cabinets.
Why?
Because that way you save on having to move the plumbing, electrical and or gas.
keep it simple.
just my 1 cent contribution.
joe
Joe, see above, only one utility gets to move, and shouldn't be too hard, and we have someone capable of that job already on tap.
As for the rest of the house, we're going to have plenty of 'give' on the siding and possibly the roof when we get right down to brass tacks. Updating/freshening is simply so we can stick to our guns on some points, while making concessions for the exterior.
We're not making this any more complex than we absolutely Have to. We're not expecting to make a killing when we sell this, but in order for it to move at all, we feel we need to make it 'presentable', which it is Not in its current state. Yep it's a bit of work, but it is all stuff we're going to do ourselves as much as we can. (only trade is the plumber for the gas service).