Reno WWYD

DH and I are planning to sell our house in about 2 years. It is a cape in s. shore nassau. 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, full finished basement. There are some small things I want done before we sell (preferably soon):

One of our bathrooms is hideous. It’s functional but outdated and ugly. I want to redo it- nothing crazy, just new tub, toilet, vanity and re-tile.

Our kitchen floor is also ugly and some of the tiles are cracked. I want to re-tile the floor.

There are no railings on the front or back steps. I want to add railings.

We just spent about $5k to install heat in the basement and re-do the floors (they were lifting so we didn’t have a choice).

DH is giving me a hard time like you wouldn’t believe. I know we will not recoup all the money we spend. I do think we will sell the house quicker and possibly for a small amount more with these “upgrades” (I wouldn’t even call them that, I’d call them “normalizing.”)

What would you do? Leave it or re-do it?

Re: Reno WWYD

This is a hard one. I would do the bathroom if you really hate it that much in a budget friendly way. It will help you sell. Just try to keep the cost down. The rest I would probably just leave as is unless you need the rail for kids etc

Reno WWYD

I would do the railing bc when it comes to sell it might be a requirement to bring to code.
The bathroom seems like a big expensive job so I would skip, especially if your other bathroom is nice.
The kitchen floor I might redo. I guess it depends on the condition of your kitchen. You also have 2 years in this house so if it would make you happy I would go for it.

Re: Reno WWYD

You never really recoup the money you spend on renovations, so I usually recommend selling a house as is, if you were ready to put it on the market tomorrow, as opposed to spending a ton of money on a full kitchen renovation, or that sort of thing. Aside from the fact that you don't profit on these types of major renovations, you also don't know what the buyer's taste will be. So you don't want to spend a ton on dark granite counters when a buyer wants white marble, or whatever.

However, doing some minor upgrades/cosmetic fixes often do pay off in terms of getting a quicker sale.

I would definitely add handrails -- certain types of loans (FHA, VA) require it and it's a safety feature that home inspectors will point out if it's missing. And you don't want people falling when they come to look at the house.

The kitchen and bathroom is a tougher call. Sometimes doing part of something (like a floor in a dated kitchen) can make it almost look worse. Like putting lipstick on a pig, we say. You don't want to put some new features in a dated room if it will draw attention to how dated and old everything else is and look like it doesn't "go." If the entire kitchen is dated, then I might just leave the floor (I'm assuming you don't have extra tiles to just replace what's broken). If the kitchen is decent and floor is a real eyesore, then it may be worth it.

The bathroom, too, is hard to say without seeing it. Sometimes just swapping out the vanity and/or light fixture and putting a fresh coat of paint is inexpensive and makes a world of difference.

If you are staying another few years and want to do these things for yourself, then by all means, do them. But if you are thinking of doing them strictly to appeal to future buyers when you sell, then maybe have a realtor come in and take a look and give you some advice on what makes sense to do and what not to do.

I often meet with people long before they are ready to sell to give this type of advice, so feel free to reach out if I can help!

Reno WWYD

Thanks guys. The rest of the kitchen is fine. Our backsplash is beautiful and while our cabinets are not what I would have picked myself, they’re not ugly or outdated. Nice granite countertops. All stainless steel appliances. The floor is really, really ugly. It’s like white with pink. We’d have to fix the broken tiles regardless and there is no way these things are still made.

The bathroom is mustard yellow with brown and mustard tile.

The kitchen floor would be about $2-3k and the bathroom between $3-5k (hopefully).

ETA my reason for wanting to do the stuff now as opposed to later is if we’re going to do it anyway I’d like to enjoy it while we’re still here. The bathroom would be very basic- white and gray. The new owners could spruce it it with any shower curtain, towels, etc they like.

Message edited 2/12/2018 2:04:33 PM.

Re: Reno WWYD

It sounds like it's worth it to do the kitchen floor, based on the additional info that you provided.

If you were doing it strictly to sell, I'd still say no on the bathroom. If it's totally dated, some people may just prefer to do a renovation to their own taste from scratch (versus having a more inexpensive update done). I think people wouldn't be put off by that, especially given that it's a 2 bathroom house, so they could do the second bathroom renovation while living there and still have a functional bathroom.

If you are not sure you will eventually move, and still plan to be there for a few years, and you have the money to update the bath, then I'd say go for it!

Reno WWYD

Do the floor not the bathroom - not worth it.