I would suggest not fixing them (unless they're really bad). the realtor
will probably try to pressure you into spending money to make them look
better. when I've been selling or buying properties, I'v always left things
as they were (as long as they weren't too bad), and had the realtor explain
to prospective buyers that the (insert item here) is a bit "used", but its
also 20 years old. Rather than fixing it up tio what I think a buyer would
want, I adjusted the price down to allow them enough $$ to do what they
want. If a buyer really wants me to replace the item before they buy, I'll
take care of it, but add theprice to the cost....

when I've bene on the buying side, I've walked away from properties because
the "fixing" was clearly a quick and dirty "make it pretty to sell", or
because the taste of the seller was very different from mine, and I wasn't
going to pay the seller the cost of the fix, knowing that I'd just be
ripping it out. I *have* made offers on properties where I've subtracted the
cost of making a seller-made fix into something I could live with. On the
other hand, I have had a number of good discussions with sellers that have
left things as they are, and reduced their selling price accordingly. I have
owned a number of these properties, andthink that they're the best all
around solution. Typically, the seller underestimates the cost fo the fix a
bit, but its such a small amount that it gets lost in the overall prioce of
the buy. So I pay a little bit extra, but get to renovate into what I want.

YMMV
--JD



"workinprogress" wrote in message
...
I'm preparing to sell my house. It's a modest dwelling, 2br 1 bath. My
kitchen cabinets are slab particle board with a thin veneer. They look
"ok". Some parts have the veneer starting to come off if you look
closely,
which a prospective buyer probably would. The bathroom vanity looks worse
as moisture has taken it's tool on the particle board; I'll probably just
replace that outright.

I'm just trying to get a feel for which direction I should go in the
kitchen. I've heard of cabinet refacing and if that would make it look
decent at a lower cost I'd go with that. I think I could install
everything
myself even if I got all new cabinets. My main goal is that the house
shows
well enough without me having to spend thousands of dollars that I won't
get
back on resale.