selling a house - how much to improve

[KellyJef]

My house is assessed at $67,000. We bought it for $42,000 in l980 and have put in about $40,000 (gutted and remodeled the kitchen and bath, raised the roof and now have beautiful cathedral ceilings in the two huge bedrooms upstairs which have 14 foot long closets, put on a porch, etc.)

But there are things that could be done to improve the house. For example, we have a large finished basement, but some of the floor tiles are cracked/missing as are some of the ceiling tiles. I don't really want to put any more money into those projects unless absolutely necessary. There is no way to simply repair the cracked/missing tiles -- the whole basement would have to be done since the cracked/missing tiles are spread out over the basement.

Another example is that the bathtub is a little worn but it is a tub with jets so we've been told it would be very difficult if we ever needed to replace it someday, but DH had his heart set on this tub, so we went ahead and had it installed years ago.

So, how do I decide what's "necessary" to do and what really won't help sell the house?

We did just spend $4,000 to gut and re-do the laundry room in the basement since it was really dark and depressing since it had never been worked on. It is now a beautiful, bright room that any woman would appreciate.

[jIM_Ohio]

Contact a realtor and ask them.

We installed new carpet before selling many years ago.

The question to ask
do you want this house now? If not, at what cost to you is it worth getting rid of?

Regardless of the 40k you put into it 20 years ago, you need to look at here and now... if you do not want the house, and want to get rid of it, you may incur costs to make it sellable.

[sweeps]

My opinion... If you can do some inexpensive "quick wins" to improve buyers' first impressions, I would probably do that. For example, planting some flowers in front of the house, replacing an old front door, or replacing stained carpet in the front room.

I personally would not go beyond that because every buyer has different views about what is important and what isn't. An interested buyer will let you know what he or she doesn't like, and then you can negotiate with them on replacing, fixing, or comping them on whatever that turns out to be.

[littleroc02us]

I would say that unless you expect one of these upgrades to give you a return of 100% I wouldn't do it. Your profit margin probably will shrink each time you attempt to spend say $1000 here and there just trying to better your house. Focus on the appearence at this point, curb appeal and such.

[wincrasher]

You need to have a realtor come and look at the house and give you some advice. They know the market best and what would need to be done to compete with what's out there.

If the house is only worth $67k, then most buyers are going to expect to do some work. Clean and neat, maybe some fresh paint, may have the best bang for your buck.

You may come to find out that it's worth much more than the assessment (assuming that's a tax assessment your talking about). Then you're in a different ballgame. Generally people don't want to do major repairs - like a new roof or furnace - so you may have to address some items that would put a big hit on a new buyer.

You could always pay for a home inspection and get a report of defects (about $400). Your potential buyers will do that and you'll have to address their findings one way or another.

Good luck!

[PMMM]

If it is a tax assessment in my neck of the woods tax assessments used to be about 20% below market value. But in the last 2 years the gap has narrowed significantly. For instance my house has an assessed valuation for tax purposes of $251,200. But Zillow has it valued at $276,000. A spread of about 9.8%. A formal appraisal may come in higher or lower than the Zillow value and will be based on local sales in my neighborhood. As previously stated most Realtors will give you an appraisal at no charge though it is not really good for loan purposes etc.

It really depends on the homes in your area. I would check my neighbors house and see what they have by comparison. This may give you an idea of what will give you the most bang for the buck.

[KellyJef]

Thanks for all the responses and the helpful suggestions -- I will take them to heart

[jpg7n16]

You basically want to ask the realtor (see advice above)

But make sure you ask the right questions. Not "what would make the house more likely to sell?" , but "how much value would this improvement add to my sale price?"

If you could install French doors for $5k, but it adds $2k in value to the home - not worth it.

If painting the home (guess - $500?) adds $1k-2k in curb appeal, that's a good investment. If $700 in new carpet adds $1000, that's a good investment. If $500 in new tiles adds $500 in value, that's a push - so don't bother.


So take the realtor a list of all the potential improvements you would like to make, and get his/her opinion on how much value each improvement would add to your home. Then determine the cost of each. Make the ones that gain the most, and ignore the ones that add less than cost.


-Even if it's a major repair, like a new water heater costs say $7k, but only adds $6k in value, that's still a loss and should likely be ignored. (unless it makes it impossible to sell the home)

[jIM_Ohio]

I would say that unless you expect one of these upgrades to give you a return of 100% I wouldn't do it. Your profit margin probably will shrink each time you attempt to spend say $1000 here and there just trying to better your house. Focus on the appearence at this point, curb appeal and such.

I disagree with needing to get 100% return of money back. It would be nice, but it also changes who gives an offer on the house.

Some home buyers and realtors will negotiate, others will not. The goal is to make house available to as many people as possible. People buying a 70k home will not want to make lots of repairs, so its important the house is livable when they walk thru it and make an offer.


If the OP needs to sell the house and if OP might need to sell quickly, its better to spend $1000 but get only $500 of that back or they risk having a house they do not want. If the risk of carrying house until it sells is not high, then making the repairs is less important.

For example OP said this

My house is assessed at $67,000.

If that 67k is already spent, or if that assessment is "wrong", then 3 possibilities exist

1) the house if everything works will be worth 67k
2) the house might be worth much much less than 67k because needed repairs are lowering value of the house
3) the house might be worth more than 67k and when listed for 67k offers will come pouring in.


No way any of us know 1) or 2)... which is why you want to contact a realtor.

[bjl584]

Is the assessment figure from the tax office? If so, then that number is below the market value. Contact a realtor and ask for comparable properties in the area that have sold recently. That will give you a better idea of its actual market value. As for the repairs, do what you need to do. The highly visible things. Carpet, walls, front entrance, etc. Spruce things up, do some painting, maybe some minor landscaping. Make it appealing visually to potential buyers. If there are major repairs that need done, you are required to disclose those items. You can gamble whether it is worth doing them, or if you want to sell as is and let buyers negotiate price based on those repairs that need done.

[snafu]

Ditto to have 3 realtors assess your home and the items they see as important to generate the sale. It's very important that the house look clean, uncluttered and smell good. If you have too much furniture, stuffed cupboards, closets or storage, pack it up and store it with friends. If taps leak replace washers, if gyprock has hairline cracks, fill them and touch up paint. Add higher wattage light bulbs to make rooms look as large and bright as possible and set the table to look ready for lunch. Kitchens and bathrooms sell as house! I don't know if it's cost effective but painters can spray the bathtub with appropriate product to look like new. This is not a DIY job.

Ask a floor tile salesman for a suggestions about your damaged floor tiles. They sometimes have solutions we haven't thought of. Perhaps a gently used, appropriate sized carpet from Craigs List or Kijjiji would help that floor.