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The Best Renovations To Do Before Selling (And 3 That Can Wait)

person doing home renovations

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If you’re planning on selling your home in the near future, or if you’ve invested in a property to resell, then you may be wondering what pre-sale renovation projects make sense to do before you put your home on the market.

You also may be wondering what renovations are the best to do before selling. Here’s what you should consider, and what you should leave for the new homeowners.

Renovations You Should Do Before Selling

Reface Kitchen Cabinets

A new kitchen can cost upwards of $25,000. However, painting the fronts of your cabinets and replacing the hardware can get them a new look for a fraction of the cost. And the best part is, according to the Kiplinger newsletter, you’ll recoup about 83% of your expenditures.

Swap Bathroom Hardware

New bathroom hardware is an easy and inexpensive way to freshen up your bathroom without replacing the toilet and tub.

Purchase some new pull knobs for the drawers and cabinets, replace towel rungs and the swap out the toilet paper holder. Adding a new toilet handle can also make your toilet look a little newer.

Replacing the faucet can also do wonders! While you can do all of this yourself, hiring a professional for these tasks is quick and cheap.

Update Your Landscaping

You want potential buyers to be attracted to your home’s curb appeal, not turned off by it. Old, overgrown bushes and trees can hide the beauty of the exterior of your home and make the interior appear dark and unwelcoming. Trim back overgrown plants or replace them with low bushes like hydrangeas or under story trees like dogwoods or lilacs.

Renovations You Should Leave to the New Homeowners

Adding a Swimming Pool

While a swimming pool may seem glamorous, it can be a lot of work and money to maintain. You’ll most likely never see your money back and installation can be very expensive. Plus, a pool is very difficult to remove if it’s not being used. Save your cash and let the new owners decide if a pool is worth the expense.

Installing High-end Finishes

That Viking stove, gold-plated faucet, and marble dining room floor you’ve been drooling over are beautiful, but unfortunately, they are unlikely to dramatically increase the value of your home. If you want to buy these things because you like them and want to enhance your space, do it. Just don’t install them in an attempt to make more money when you sell.

Building a Home Office

Money” magazine says home office remodeling projects are one of the worst investments you can make in your home. Since sellers are usually taking away one of the home’s bedrooms to create an office, it lessens the home’s appeal to large families. The only caveat is if you’re selling a starter home that would appeal to young first time buyers with no kids, it may be worthwhile to stage a work space. Research has shown that a home office can be a good way to get younger buyers interested in your property.

Past market performance indicates that frugal fixes that make a big visual impact are going to be your best bet to recoup costs, get a better final sale price, and attract more buyers to your listing.

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