When you go to sell your home, you obviously want the most money. So you may be thinking of what can you do to your house to upgrade it right before you put it on the market.
You want to be smart in your upgrades and get the most bang for your buck.
The mistake I see people doing is either cheap “upgrades” ,and I say that in quotes because they are obviously cheap, to give the house a face lift but it looks terrible or expensive upgrades right before selling which will usually not get you back your money. If you are going to completely redo your kitchen and bathrooms for example, do it way before you put your house on the market so you can at least enjoy it.
And not all upgrades are created equal. You can have two houses with the same beautiful renovated kitchen but if one of them has a nice backyard and 2 car garage and the other one doesn’t, the houses will sell for significantly different prices, even with the same kitchen. So be mindful of what your house looks like compared to Similar homes- in other words, apples to apples. You want to make sure you get the best ROI or return on your investment before spending tons of money that you will never see again. So, let’s go through the upgrades you should AVOID when selling your home because they won’t get you back your money.
Lets dive right in
Now, there are certain things you should do to your home regardless of whether it doesn’t have as nice a backyard or garage as your neighbor to get the most value. So let’s go through them now and then we’ll get to the upgrades you should avoid.
Paint- Painting your home will get you the most bang for your buck. Does this mean you have to paint every room? Probably not. Do a walk through. Look at the walls and the ceilings. Hopefully with your realtor because they will have a fresh set of eyes.
If certain rooms are painted dark, like my teenage sons room, you may want to consider lightening them up. A new buyer may not have the same taste as you do and the more neutral the better. Also if there are a lot of pictures and other stuff on the walls that will be coming down, you may want to consider painting those rooms to cover up all of the holes.
Something to be aware of is if each room on the main level is a different color, it will create an illusion of a choppy floor plan without changing the walls. You want a clean look so all of the rooms on the main living level should be the same color. Light and bright with a contrast to your trim. Don’t forget the trim! The trendy colors today are still a lighter warm grey like a Balboa mist or Revere Pewter from Benjamin moor or if you want something lighter, take a look at Egret White by Sherwin Williams. Remember, you are selling your home. This is not about you- at least the aesthetic part of it. The money is- and you will get more with a clean looking flow.
Let’s move onto floors and carpet. If your carpet is not too old, try getting it professionally cleaned before choosing to replace it. If it’s old and looks terrible, I always recommend replacing the carpet. It’s just not that expensive and with the fresh paint, it will give your house an updated clean look.
And here’s the trick if you do decide to get new carpet. Get a light color. The lighter the carpet, the larger the room looks. And it will look light and bright for pictures.
Now, a more expensive upgrade is to get hardwood or lvp floors. LVP is luxury vinyl product. Here’s my take on that. If there is hardwood under the existing carpet, by all means, rip the carpet up and finish the wood. You will wish you had done this a long time ago! And it’s worth it.
But if there isn’t hardwood under the carpet, I would simply replace carpet with carpet. Esp if this is a last minute fix. If you are a few years out from selling, it may be worth pricing out hard wood or LVP now so you can enjoy it for a while.
Heres an upgrade I would AVOID. Do NOT get hardwood floors all over your house right before selling and expect to get your money out of it. It may help sell your house faster and maybe for more money, but not the best bang for your buck.
A couple of more things you really should do and then we’ll tackle other costly upgrades you should avoid.
Grout, calk, and roll. Go around to each of your bathrooms and check the grout & the caulk. It’s an easy fix and you can probably do it yourself, if not, hire a handyman. Sometimes you will see black marks on your grout and caulk and you think you need to replace it. First try dousing it with bleach. Use one of the foaming bleach cleaners. Squirt some foam on the black spots and leave it. If it cleans itself and the grout/caulk is in good condition, you don’t need to replace it. If it is cracking or still stained, replace it.
Landscaping- Always put fresh mulch before taking pictures of the house. It will instantly brighten the landscaping. Also, make sure the trees are trimmed away from the house- a hot button for inspectors and the decks and patios are power washed and stained if needed. Speaking of power washing, dont forget your siding and your gutters. Once again, right before taking the professional photos of your house, make sure the entire exterior is clean and washed.
Rodents/Ants/anything that moves..except your pets!
Remember when once upon a time, you saw a mouse or mouse droppings and put traps or those black triangle bait stations all over your house. Come on. Don’t judge me…you know you’ve done it.
Or if not mice, then maybe ants. Or in my case, we had hornets right in front of our garage, just waiting for us to walk by their nest.
I had a client that did such a great job getting his house ready for the market. It was a super cute house in Bethesda Md that sold right away. But he forgot to check all the nooks and crannies for the mice traps and lo and behold the inspector opened a little access panel and found one dead little mouse.
Now, in this case, we offered a year warranty with a pest company and the deal went through to closing but I can imagine a scenario where it would freak a buyer out and they would walk. So, do yourself a favor. Walk through every room in your house and garage and look for traps or bait stations and remove them! If you used a pest company before, have them come out and look for them and remove them. You’ll be happy you did.
Ok, the time in the video you all have been waiting for- what upgrades should you AVOID doing right before putting your house on the market.
Let’s start with your roof. If your roof is old BUT it is NOT leaking, do not replace it right before selling. You will most likely not get your money back. If it comes up in inspection as needing replacement, you can deal with it then. If it has stains on it, you can actually clean your roof. They have companies that will clean your roof and it’s not a lot of money. And well worth the rate of return.
Replacing kitchen cabinets.
This is a high priced project and you will not get a great rate of return. Rather than replacing your kitchen (and bathroom) cabinets, if they are in decent shape, try painting them. But be careful who does the job. Make sure they have painted cabinets before. This is one of those cheap upgrades I mentioned at the beginning of the video. If the painted cabinets are done cheaply with someone who doesn’t have experience, they can look really bad and actually hurt your value. If they are done well, they will look really good!
Another way to give your kitchen a lift without breaking the bank is to replace your hardware on your cabinets. But it yourself at a Home Depot or online and have a handyman replace it. This will give the cabinets an updated look and well worth the money.
Replacing windows.
Windows are expensive. If they are not broken or stuck, just simply old, do not replace them. Around here in the DC area, we have a lot of homes built before 1979 so if you decide to replace your windows, you would need a lead based paint specialist to do so and it cost a lot of money. If you have a few windows that are painted shut, and you absolutely cant open them without breaking them, simply disclose and put “as is” for those windows when selling. It’s just not worth the cost of replacing all of the windows for a few stuck ones.
Now, if you have broken glass, you need to replace it. Nothing screams money to a buyer like cracked glass. And it’s not as expensive as a buyer thinks so its better to do it yourself before putting your house on the market.
In fact, while we’re on the subject of broken things- if it is broken, fix it. If a buyer walks around your home and sees a bunch of broken things – from the doorbell to a window, to a loose knob on a closet, they will immediately start discounting your home.
First impressions are important! So if it’s broken- fix it.
Onto your systems. Your HVAC- furnace, a/c and hot water heater.
If they work, but are old, do not replace them. One thing you may consider if you are in a down market, is to get a home warranty that will cover the appliances. This way, you are saying to the buyer, they work but they’re old and we’ve got you covered for a year so don’t worry.
And I say a down market because if you are in a hot market, you may not even need to do that.
Get them serviced before going on the market- you should actually get them serviced once or twice a year- so you have that fresh service tag on the furnace which always looks good to the buyers and inspectors. The important thing to remember here is that they DO work. Like I said before, if they are broken, fix them. And if you cant fix them, replace them. These are big ticket items that really make a difference to a buyer.
Other big ticket items that home sellers think they need to replace but they really don’t are repaving driveways, removing trees and remodeling bathrooms. I get this a lot. Let’s take them one by one.
Driveways- Unless you have severe cracks in your driveway that will damage a car, you most likely dont need to repave it. It may not be the prettiest driveway you’ve seen and you may hate it every day you come home, but it’s just not worth the money. I had a client that insisted on repaving his driveway and while he was at it, he repainted his garage floor. I think he secretly always wanted to do it but his wife said no so he took selling the house to finally do it. I have to admit, they both looked great when completed but in my opinion, it was a waste of money. I don’t think the new buyer paid much attention to the driveway and garage floor at all. Just wasn’t their thing. They were focused on the neighborhood, schools and open floor plan.
Moral to the story…consult your realtor first before making such aesthetic changes.
Trees- trees are expensive to remove. Much more than you think. So if you can trim the tree, you are much better off. If the tree is impeding the house’s foundation, well, then you have much bigger issues. But if it’s an aesthetic thing, you just don’t like the tree, save your money.
And finally bathrooms. Remodeled bathrooms are lovely. Especially the primary bathroom. But you will rarely get your money out of a newly remodeled bathroom to sell if it’s done right. If you can enjoy it for a few years, by all means, do it. But if its just to sell, your better off cleaning it up, possibly painting the cabinets, maybe replacing the vanity- they have some nice options at Home Depot that aren’t too expensive and if you can tile over the existing floor, thats a great way to give a bathroom an upgrade. But demoing the floor and replacing the tub/shower, cabinets and lighting- it’s just not worth the money if it’s right before you sell.
If you have any questions about anything I’ve said in this video, send me an email and we can chat. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and happy to help. And remember, every house is different so these are general ideas, but consult a professional that knows your neighborhood before making any changes to be sure you are spending your money wisely.
If you missed my video on how to make your home look more expensive, check that out next.
