If you have selling on your mind... how do you know what projects to pick?

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ActuariallySpeaking

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We bought our house last May as a 201k and we're not really in love with the location. It made sense at the time, and the house payment is affordable which is nice, but we're now realizing that we kind of jumped the gun.

Anyhow, we have selling on the brain and want to know, of the list of things that we think would add to the house, how do you pick what offers the best return? A few things we're considering are:

1. replacing the countertop and adding an island/bar seating. Also- our cabinets are typical 90s oak cabinets (I don't mind them, but I could see somebody else thinking they were dated)- so perhaps refinishing them? I'm not sure how hard that is to do (well, I'm in the process of refinishing the bathroom vanity, which pretty much matched the kitchen cabinets, so I have some idea. We would most likely hire somebody to at least do the countertop)

2. Adding a deck that you can access from the kitchen (right now, if you want to grill, you have to walk from the kitchen, down the hallway and out the breezeway to get to the grill, which sits in the driveway) The deck would also be facing the lake, which would be nice, since it seems like the natural meeting place right now, when we have company over in the summer, is where the grill is, which faces the neighbors house. I may be able to hire my brother to do this, who is a great carpenter, however otherwise I think we'd have to hire this one out.

3. When we bought the house we converted a sunroom-like room into part of our living room. Because of this, the two rooms have two different kinds of flooring (original is hardwood, converted room is laminate) and two different kinds of ceiling (original is textured drywall-like, converted room is wood) I'm thinking trying to make it look a bit more seamless would be great- however, the floor in the converted room is about 1/2" higher so we currently have this cheap looking laminate "lip". Matching the flooring and replacing the ceiling may be something my husband is comfortable with. We'd also have to refinish the floors so they'd match. They look pretty rough right now, and I believe that's something you have to hire out? I don't want to ruin the floors, unless it's something that's pretty easy to do.

4. tiling the bathroom (currently linoleum) and possibly adding a window (401k construction crew said it was a bad idea because of the eaves? It doesn't make sense to me since we have windows all over the house with the same eaves? But maybe there's something to do with it being in a bathroom? I'll try to figure out more of why they poo-poo'd it) I think we'd be willing to try this, however, we are both new when it comes to tiling

5. This is my husbands idea and I personally don't like it- but I'll throw it out here- expanding the driveway, which would require paving. Right now we have a 1 car garage and a driveway that can fit about 3 cars, but the 3rd car would be blocking the 1st two cars. He wants to create a horseshoe-ish driveway. This is something we'd have to hire out

6. and last but not least, adding a 1/2 bathroom in the basement (this might be more expensive because we would need an up-flush toilet) Currently, if you're down by the lakefront, you either have to go through the basement, up the stairs or walk up a big hill and into the front door to use the bathroom, which is kind of a pain, especially if you're older- which seems to be the majority of homeowners in this area. Our basement isn't finished though, so would this look ridiculous? The septic is approved for an additional bedroom, or it would make an awesome additional hang-out room or office.

This would all be coming out of our pocket and dipping into possible downpayment money, so I don't think we can cover all of this! (Especially that driveway! :p ) Do you have any thoughts on what would help sell things more quickly? I know I have to take cost into consideration, and I know that's a decision more on my end- so if you were to rank things, what would be the most important/useful in selling this house? (BTW we're in NH)

Thanks!
 
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Im not famiar with the 401k purchase. Is this an idea where you sink your retirement savings into a house purchase with the hope of turning a profit?
 
There are many ways to look at it and it requires some guessing. It is made easier when you are the one going to live there as you know your tastes and you should do it the way you like.

But now you are talking flipping and dealing with the masses. Here is where I would start with two simple numbers one is how much do you now have in it invested and owed and two what will the market bear. That is based on other places nearby that are similar or even greater in size and cost. If you bought on the low end and also distressed the sky may be the limit as far as upgrading and getting back a return on the money spent on the upgrade. On the other hand if you over improve or make improvements that people don’t realize the value of you take a hit on them. A good example might be the fancy driveway. If you live there the cost of having it the way he wants it will be a reward every time your car stays clean or you don’t have to move one to get at another or just the convivence of not having to back out. So you spend 20k on the finished driveway or 1k on a load of crushed stone that looks nice to sell. Most people looking will say wow a nice driveway but are not going to pay 20k more because it has that not to mention any profit on your effort.

Kitchens and baths are what I always hear sells a house. We didn’t plan on flipping and we liked the oak look and bought a beautiful used oak kitchen off craigslist with new stove dishwasher sink and fridge for $1300. They had only had the appliances 6 months in all black when the woman wanted all white and stainless. IMO they put in $40k to have particle board cabinets and we hauled away their hardwood. Ours looks 1980’s theirs looks 2020. They love their white and granite and silver and it was a great upgrade but it will never pay back what they put into it. Given the rest of the house and location.

For me the no brain things are no clutter clean and smelling new no signs of problems fresh paint and neat landscaping. With a lake house like you have the deck may well be a great one because it expands the sq ft of the house for little cost and the lake is the attraction it should be showcased. Countertops will go a long way to making it feel new but get into stone and someone for sure will say those have to go I want lighter or darker etc.

I look at it all based on risk reward and cost.
 
There are buyers markets and sellers markets and timing is essential.

Develop your project into a comprehensive list, the obtain a couple of estimates from contractors, including the circular driveway and have them include any curb cut and easements.

These will give you "bang for your buck" yardstick of the marketability.

Keep in mind that you can, with all good intensions, create a situation where you have to live in the house while you wait for the area comps to increase and match your break even point.
 
There are buyers markets and sellers markets and timing is essential.

Develop your project into a comprehensive list, the obtain a couple of estimates from contractors, including the circular driveway and have them include any curb cut and easements.

These will give you "bang for your buck" yardstick of the marketability.

Keep in mind that you can, with all good intensions, create a situation where you have to live in the house while you wait for the area comps to increase and match your break even point.

Thanks for the thoughts on getting started... I guess it can't hurt just to get a quote. The "scary" part is, while the houses in our area are moving (for more than we'd ask- but the ones that recently sold are also have an additional bed and bath), the zillow estimate is lower than our current mortgage. Looking at the similar properties/where the get their "comps", they're pulling in houses that are from a couple of towns over (probably necessary because it's a rural area). I'm not sure how much consumers rely on that estimate, but it doesn't seem very fair! It's hard to judge, because there aren't a lot of houses around here that are just like this one. Realtor is higher than our current mortgage value, however.
 
Bud sums it up pretty well. See what comparable houses in the area have sold for and try not to overprice yourself. Then you will know if - and what - you can safely afford to spend on improvements.

The deck sounds like a no-brainer to me. And if you have someone in the family who knows how to build, they supply the knowledge and you can supply the manual labor to make this a low budget improvement.
There seems to be a constant debate as to whether or not you need to meet up-to-date fashions when you make improvements. Fashions change more slowly on houses but things tend to come full circle eventually. You may find oak cabinets are trés-chic next year.
 
So, you are now becoming aware of the realtors world of, start high with room to negotiate down, long listings, and whoever said "they will guarantee fairness"?

Hopes and dreams, are just that.
 
Thanks for the response! A few thoughts...

There are many ways to look at it and it requires some guessing. It is made easier when you are the one going to live there as you know your tastes and you should do it the way you like.

But now you are talking flipping and dealing with the masses. Here is where I would start with two simple numbers one is how much do you now have in it invested and owed and two what will the market bear. That is based on other places nearby that are similar or even greater in size and cost. If you bought on the low end and also distressed the sky may be the limit as far as upgrading and getting back a return on the money spent on the upgrade. On the other hand if you over improve or make improvements that people don’t realize the value of you take a hit on them. A good example might be the fancy driveway. If you live there the cost of having it the way he wants it will be a reward every time your car stays clean or you don’t have to move one to get at another or just the convivence of not having to back out. So you spend 20k on the finished driveway or 1k on a load of crushed stone that looks nice to sell. Most people looking will say wow a nice driveway but are not going to pay 20k more because it has that not to mention any profit on your effort.

I guess this is where I'm just unsure. I'm not sure how much the house would sell for... The neighbors two houses down just sold their house for 230k, but they have an extra bedroom, and extra bathroom and better landscaping. (Would be willing to put some work into it but I have no idea where to start) We bought this house and put 30,000 into renos for finishing that room and a whole lot of new, efficient windows and now owe about 150k. I didn't really think of crushed stone, but I suppose that's an option!

Kitchens and baths are what I always hear sells a house. We didn’t plan on flipping and we liked the oak look and bought a beautiful used oak kitchen off craigslist with new stove dishwasher sink and fridge for $1300. They had only had the appliances 6 months in all black when the woman wanted all white and stainless. IMO they put in $40k to have particle board cabinets and we hauled away their hardwood. Ours looks 1980’s theirs looks 2020. They love their white and granite and silver and it was a great upgrade but it will never pay back what they put into it. Given the rest of the house and location.

For me the no brain things are no clutter clean and smelling new no signs of problems fresh paint and neat landscaping. With a lake house like you have the deck may well be a great one because it expands the sq ft of the house for little cost and the lake is the attraction it should be showcased. Countertops will go a long way to making it feel new but get into stone and someone for sure will say those have to go I want lighter or darker etc.

I think maybe the cabinets/countertop/wood in the living room/matching the ceilings are relatively cosmetic fixes and we probably could do these ourselves... and with some nice decor (what we are also seriously lacking... not my forte!), we could make it look buttoned up. Everything else probably needs to go in the quote category in case it's out of our comfort zone.

Also... what are your thoughts on replacing doors? We have smaller standard doors and they are currently all hollow core. We replaced our front door (not hollow core of course, but it was like a leftover door from a school or hospital or something- it was so ugly) but wondering if it would be worth doing this to every door in the house. Does that scream cheap (hollow core?) We gave them all a new paint job this past summer... but they still aren't wooden!
 
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So, you are now becoming aware of the realtors world of, start high with room to negotiate down, long listings, and whoever said "they will guarantee fairness"?

Hopes and dreams, are just that.

We haven't listed the house, so no rude awakenings yet, unless you mean what we bought the house for. Moreso frustrated with Zillow and I think they are underestimating their "Zestimate", which I wouldn't care about it consumers didn't consider it a data source.
 
Flat hollow core doors do yell “1960 The summer of love.” Only thing worse would be bead curtains and multi-color shag carpets with knotty pine paneling. Interior doors are not a huge expense with new hardware can give the look of a 4 panel without breaking the bank and are DIY friendly.

Along with your cost list breakdown you should have a list of what is going to be DIY. In our short sale house by far the biggest reason no one bought it to flip was labor cost. Because I did 100% of the labor at no cost to us it changed the whole dynamic of the project. I looked at it as a part time job for a year and instead of making money I was saving money and not paying tax on the income. Everyone can’t do that so be honest in what you can do and will be committed to do to save money. My golf clubs stayed in the garage for two years.
 
We haven't listed the house, so no rude awakenings yet, unless you mean what we bought the house for. Moreso frustrated with Zillow and I think they are underestimating their "Zestimate", which I wouldn't care about it consumers didn't consider it a data source.


Anything is only worth what someone will pay. You were an informed consumer not long ago when you bought the property and felt it was a good deal. Just put yourself back in the place of buying your house after improvements and what you would say was a good price that you would pay. Chances are that’s what you will likely get.
 
Bathroom window. Are you sure, he didn't talk about the structure of the roof as well as pointing to the gutter.
 
Zillow historically undervalues home prices. When I purchased my house 2 years ago, they said my house was valued at $499k, but yet I paid $550K, and feel I got one heck of a deal. As said above, the sales prices in your area will be the true value of your house.
 
Flat hollow core doors do yell “1960 The summer of love.” Only thing worse would be bead curtains and multi-color shag carpets with knotty pine paneling. Interior doors are not a huge expense with new hardware can give the look of a 4 panel without breaking the bank and are DIY friendly.

Ha ok... we have a discount warehouse where we got our front door... I don't think that would be too expensive of a fix, we only have 5 doors in the house
 
No location, not a single picture.
Talked to a local realtor to see what they would suggest?
 

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