No more scuffed wood paneling, peeling paint, and worn carpets. This season educated buyers are spurning the fixer-upper for turn-key houses where they can simply drop their bags and start their new lives.
For years, houses that needed a little TLC were in demand for buyers who didn’t mind taking on do-it-yourself projects in the hope of flipping the house and turning a nice profit.
But now, buyers want their homes in move-in condition. It used to be location, location, location, but noticeably, especially in the past year, if the house is not in near-perfect condition, it could be on the best street but nobody wants to touch it.
One of the main reasons for this is that Millennials – the largest group of buyers these days – are working overtime on their careers and families and are spoiled by reality TV shows in which homes are spiffed and sparkling in a half-hour. They prefer their “gem” of a home already polished, not in the rough.
Sprucing up your home for sale need not be an expensive undertaking. Sometimes it can cost between a few hundred dollars for light staging to a few thousand for heavier repairs. But that investment will almost certainly translate to a much higher sale price. Using classic fixtures and furnishings from mid-range sources such as Home Depot generally makes more sense than buying at high-end stores, where most items are custom-made and would appeal to more specific tastes anyway.
Doing the work up front can add hundreds of thousands of dollars on a sale price and can save months, or even years on the market. If you pay $50 to $100,000 to replace the bathrooms or kitchen – the two key areas that will help sway a buyer – the successful sale price might go up as much as $300,00 or $400,000.
For example, former Rye residents Abbie and John Morrison spent $18,000 on home improvements to their Soundview Avenue property before selling it to move to northern California. That extra effort – repainting, refreshing bathroom tile, replacing carpeting and fixtures and some other work – enabled them to boost the asking price to $1,399,000, about $200,000 beyond what they otherwise might have listed their house. It sold for an even $1.4 million within a week.
It’s really all about making your house look like a model home so someone can imagine living there. Careful cosmetic improvements send a signal to buyers that the home is well maintained down to its foundation. If the house looks shabby or a little dated, the buyer often fears that there are deeper problems waiting to surprise them. A good Realtor should have a list of trusted home repair experts and a relationship with a professional stager, all of whom can help make your place look its best.
The good news is that after two to four weeks fixing up a home, it can often sell in 10 days, or even less. A fixer-upper, or one that looks like it needs a lot of work might linger on the market a year or two. The truth is that about one in a hundred buyers is looking for a home that needs work, and then it really has to be at a bargain price. And even those who think it’s a good idea to take on the projects themselves generally do it only once. After that, they say, ‘I’m never doing that again.”
Fiona Dogan is a Licensed Realtor® in the Rye office of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. She is a Westchester Five Star Real Estate Agent, Platinum Award winner, and an Accredited Buyer Representative. For more information, please contact Fiona Dogan at: fiona.dogan@jbfsir.com or visit her website at www.fionadogan.com.
How to Manage the Emotional Side of Selling Your Family Home
read moreFiona Helps NYC Transplants Find Their Dream Home in Purchase, NY
read moreFrom List to Accepted Offer in 24 Hours: Our Experience With Fiona
read more‘We Made the Right Choice in Fiona and in Rye’
read moreLet Fiona help you sell or find your dream home. Contact Fiona at 914-414-5147 or email her directly.