On Jun 23, 7:25*am, "John Grabowski" wrote:
"mm" wrote in message

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getting a home ready for sale, how much repair?

I have friends who have to move because the wife needs some place more
accessible.

Their current house is about 50 years old, two adults and two almost
grown children, in good but not great condition, mid-quality house.
Whole-house AC, good sized lot, 3BR but nothing else that's really
fancy. *While prices have gone down in some parts of Baltimore, I'm
told that they haven't gone down on the 5 blocks around this house,
because all the houses are well taken care off, inhabited by owners,
all the yards look very nice, and it's tucked away and gets almost no
traffic, while still close to shopping and the xway.

How much repair and remodeling is necessary or advisable to get the
best net price for the house?

Is it better to spend 10,000 (or maybe thousands more than that) on
repairs for a house that may sell for 300,000, or 350 or to take
10,000** off the price and let the buyers do the repairs/remodeling
with that money and get exactly what they want? *Also with the
economy, wouldn't some potential buyers rather buy a house that's
cheaper, and gradually do the repairs?

**Or take even more than the cost of fixing it up, take 15 or 20,000
off the price because doing all this will be an enormous headache for
all who live their now, three of the four work more than full time, 6
days a week, plus two of them have big allergies to dust, as from
sanding the dining room floor or scraping paint. *And they are
supposed to close on their "new" but old house on 9/23, and of course
they'd like to have their old one sold by then.

Then the new owners could do all the repairs and remodeling before
they move in, while the house is vacant. * My friends the sellers
could further discount the house to pay the buyer's extra cost for
having two homes for one or two months.

One real estate agent recommends fixing everything.

The dining room floor has a big rug in the middle, but the finish
underneath is very worn and needs sanding and finishing. * But maybe
the new owners will put in wall-to-wall carpeting there and don't care
what the wood looks like. *Maybe they'd rather have 1000 dollars to do
other things than refinish a floor they'll never see.

The finished basemeent family room has 9x9 inch acoustic ceiling
tiles, a few of which are damaged, some just a little and 4 a lot and
4 water damaged. *The REAgent recommends replacing the whole ceiling,
probably 1000 dollars. *Someone suggested painting it, costs much
less, but might look bad and won't fix the broken tiles.

Remodelling the kitchen and at least one bathroom. * Versus just
removing the wall paper from one wall in the kitchen. * Kitchen has
new appliances, new ceramic tile on floor and backsplash, and new
ceramic tile on counters, but still looks old-fashioned. *REAgent
wants to redo the whole thing and the bathrooms.

Putting aluminum siding over what I'm told is asphalt tile, about 12
inches by 16 inches, in good condition but old-fashioned, on two or
three outside walls, except for the wall facing the street. *Owner was
told that asphalt tiles are much better insulation than the
replacement will be, but putting the siding on while the asphalt tiles
are still there is very difficult. *Holes have to be drilled, because
he says nails won't go through the tile.

I've talked with several real estate agents regarding the current market
here in NJ. *They all said the same thing. *The houses that are selling are
the ones that are in really good condition and are priced right. *Get other
opinions, but your friends are probably going to have to do the repairs and
some upgrades that they failed to do while living there. *The other option
is a ridiculously low selling price.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


It's very hard to answer this kind of question without actually seeing
how the house presents itself. In general, I'd say do the wood floor
refinishing because it's relatively quick and inexpensive and will
stand out. I'd also replace the basement ceiling for the same
reason.

Kitchen is much more difficult and impossible without seeing it.
Clearly, doing a total remodel of a kitchen is a MAJOR expense. You
can easily spend $25-50K. It has new appliances, new tile floor
already, and it's impossible to evaluate what else is wrong. Tile
counters clearly aren't the preferred choice for re-sale. Depending
on what the whole thing looks like, you might be able to go with new
granite or similar countertops. But it also may not be worth it
because of other issues. It's probably best to either do something
simple for a few thousand or else go with a whole remodel.

Same thing with the siding, without seeing it, impossible to say.

Keep in mind that the real estate agents goals are somewhat at odds
with those of the seller. For the agent, it will always be better to
have a house in absolute stunning condition, because it will be easier
to sell and close a lot quicker. So, if you put $50K into it and
only get $20K back, it's still a good thing for the agent. I'd start
going to open houses in the area and see what features similar houses
have.