If you’re thinking about selling your house in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, you’re probably asking this question: “How much work should I do to sell my Martinsburg and Hagerstown house?” That’s an easy one to answer because the answer is the same in every case: it depends. The amount of work you should do depends primarily on the area and market and, especially, the amount of potential return on the investment in repairs and updating.
Area and Market
The first way to go about answering the question “How much work should I do to sell my Martinsburg and Hagerstown house?” is to look carefully at local property values and what the local market is doing. For example, in competitive markets with already very high prices, like many areas in New York City and San Francisco, there’s not really much point in doing much in the way of repairs and renovations. Prices are high and inventory low, so you’re already in a good position to get a good price with little work on your house.
Potential Returns
In other markets where inventory is high and pricing is competitive, it may pay you to do some work on your house before selling. When you ask, “How much work should I do to sell my Martinsburg and Hagerstown house?” in this context, the answer hangs on whether the work will yield a justifiable return at sale time.
Doors – First, when you ask”How much work should I do to sell my Martinsburg and Hagerstown house?”, keep in mind that what is obvious and shows up the best will have the most impact on potential buyers. A new steel front door is (comparatively) a fairly inexpensive improvement, but every buyer who comes to your house will see it. In addition, it’s estimated that a new front door can get you at least a 101% return on the investment.
Floors and Walls – Replacing or improving flooring and painting walls are the easiest and least expensive – and so likely to yield a good return – ways to make your house look more appealing to buyers. In most cases, these improvements will allow you to increase the asking price by 15%.
Just keep in mind that for painting color is important, and it’s probably best to hire professional painters for best results and greatest return. As for flooring, new carpet or tiling is a good idea, but replacing a hardwood floor would be cost-prohibitive.
Kitchen – A shiny, up-to-date kitchen is a top attraction for buyers. But trying to re-do a dated kitchen would probably cost too much. Even installing new appliances, while not cheap, can add a lot of value and so a lot to the sale price.
Still, there are a lot of less-expensive things you can do to improve your kitchen’s appeal. You could, for example, install new drawer pulls and cabinet handles (and even new cabinets), replace worn countertops and upgrad light fixtures. These improvements will add a lot of sparkle to your kitchen and are among those you should consider.
Don’t . . .
The work to avoid before selling your Martinsburg and Hagerstown is that which includes things buyers usually want to do themselves – adding a deck for instance. Not only is this fairly pricey, but buyers prefer to do these to their own specifications. Similarly, experts also recommend that you avoid renovating bathrooms and home offices.
So if you’re asking “How much work should I do to sell my Martinsburg and Hagerstown house?” now you know. You should do only the work that will net you a good return on time and money invested. Still, there remains a good bit more to consider, and we can help you with all that.