Watch a few HDTV shows, which are often based in Canada, and you may think you are committing home seller suicide if you put your home on the market without doing a major kitchen remodel. Modern buyers, it seems, won’t even bother with the kitchen without stainless appliances, granite countertops, fancy backsplashes, and clear sightlines to the rest of the living space. If your kitchen does not tow the line, will your house even sell?
Should You Remodel Your Kitchen To Sell?
There’s no question about it; buyers like a clean, fresh-looking kitchen. Some will demand only the finest upgrades even in homes in price ranges that do not support a stainless and granite renovation. Most will opt for a kitchen that is well laid out and somewhat modernized, even if it is not the trendiest.
As a Realtor®, I often discourage people from making huge kitchen remodels. These projects often do not represent a good ROI and may even outprice the home for the neighborhood. A more modest renovation is a better investment.
Seven Tips For Modernizing Your Kitchen When Selling Your House
Here are a few tips for bringing your kitchen into this century without overdoing it:
1. Rather than replacing cabinets, repaint them. Ask a paint store about the proper type of paints you should use for the type of woof you have to assure great coverage. Use good quality paint and remove the hardware before you do the job. To avoid brush marks, consider professional spraying
2. If the cabinets are in bad shape, consider just replacing the doors. Often the boxes that make them cabinets only need painting and some new doors to modernize them.
3. Consider the best quality countertop you can afford. Granite or quartz can set you back quite a bit of money, but often you can find miscuts at a granite or marble company that will work for you. Even if you don’t want to spring for stone everywhere, having a granite island and maybe butcher block or laminate counters will offer the best blend of function, appearance, and economy.
4. Revamp your lighting fixtures. Dramatic lighting is more in vogue these days than pendant lighting. For a modest investment in lighting, you can chop decades off the appearance of your kitchen.
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5. Adding a backsplash is a fairly easy, yet attractive update, even for an inexperienced homeowner. Cutting the tiles at the top or bottom of the surface can be tricky, but otherwise, the project is manageable for many homeowners. Not feeling up to the task? Hire it out.
6. Should you update appliances? If you have relatively modern appliances that all match and all work, you might keep them as is. If you live in an upscale neighborhood, you may need to upgrade to keep your home competitive. In most cases, it is a waste of money to add top-of-the-line appliances.
7. Don’t forget to stage in the kitchen. If your kitchen contains furniture, paint and polish it up so it enhances the kitchen. If you have upholstered chair seats, consider reupholstering them in a fresh fabric.
Modest remodeling projects are a good way for people to learn how to do things. If you don’t have the time or aren’t very handy, it will not set you back much if you outsource some of the work to professionals for small-scale kitchen updates.
Get Advice Before Undertaking A Major Kitchen Remodel
Modernizing the kitchen without overdoing it can make your home sell faster. I don’t usually suggest major remodels, but if you are looking for some insight on improvements you should do before listing your home, give me a call. I have neighbourhood comparable values that will show you how much kitchen remodels have impacted recent sales figures.
Looking to sell your home? Give me a call today.
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Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
