I was speaking with a neighbor the other day, who related that her Realtor® advised her to paint her whole house cream, and replace all of her carpets with hardwood. And then sell. And then sell???
Why would a homeowner want to put all of that time and money into doing some fairly expensive renovations just to sell? Having done renovations myself, and moved into homes that had been renovated, I do not give my sellers that advice at all.
Here’s my point of view from a purchaser’s stand point. My husband and I moved into a house that had just been painted and re-carpeted. Seven years on, the carpet looked like it had been down since the house was built in 1984 because the individual purchased the cheapest builder-grade carpet she could. It didn’t last, and both my husband and I hated it. Additionally, the whole house had been painted masking-tape yellow. Blech! I would have preferred to pay less for the house (and there’s the rub…) and put my own decorating taste and renovation dollars into it. We would have purchased a higher quality of carpeting that would have lasted longer, been a better colour for us (NOT an insanely light cream!) and not ended up in the landfill after such a short time. The former owner only applied the lipstick in order to get the date! Of course, you could ask why we purchased…well, at the end of 2006 in Calgary the market was hot, and houses didn’t last long. There were, and are, an awful lot of awful houses on the market that are not cared for, not clean, and don’t show well, so when we found a nice house, we had to move on it. We waited for as long as we could and put up with frayed and pulled carpet that we couldn’t keep clean because we couldn’t justify changing something that we knew was, well, new!
As a seller who has done renovations and then ended up selling, and then found out that the new carpet I had installed had been removed for hardwood flooring, I felt bad that those resources were just thrown away, both monetarily and physically. The carpet was perhaps 2 years old when I sold, and it was decent and clean carpeting and underlay. So, essentially, the money I spent ended up in the landfill. I had also moved the washer and dryer out of the garage, and joined a small bathroom with another separate small room to make a decent-sized laundry room/bathroom combination. This was all undone too, and a shower put in. Well, ok. Previously, the house only had 1 bathroom with bathing and showing capabilities, so that makes sense.
What advice would I give to my neighbor then? I would advise her to paint. Good quality paint is still a bargain, especially if you can do the painting yourself (and do a good job). Even hiring a painter is not a huge expense. A couple of coats of paint go incredibly far to making your home look spruced up and cared for. Tired and dinged walls get fixed, and the marks get covered over. Suddenly, the home looks sparkling clean. I also would say to this individual to not just go white or cream on the walls. Pick a neutral, certainly, and something not too dark, but something that has a bit of life in it and that works with the other colours. If there is tired old wallpaper, remove it and paint! Chicken-themed wallpaper in the kitchen is not going to appeal to anyone.
She should also do some repairs to things like sagging screen doors, doors that don’t work properly. Don’t defer the maintenance, because that gives the impression that nothing in the place is cared for. She could also de-clutter. She’s moving anyway, right? So why not get some boxes and do some packing. Less stuff will make the place look more open, hence larger, and the depersonalization will allow the new purchasers to envision themselves there.
If the carpet is old, but still in decent condition, I’d suggest this neighbor get it cleaned, and that’s it. I would suggest she NOT remove it only to put hardwood in. Who knows what the next buyer is going to like, or be like? If they have allergies, they’re likely to remove the carpet, but then look for a product that won’t react with their allergies. Is a seller likely to do that? Nope. Whatever is cheap and adds the lipstick is likely to be the choice, and then those products end up in the landfill prior to their life cycle just because they don’t work for the new owner.
I would also advise her to clean, clean, and then clean again. Clean behind the fridge, under the stove, the hood fan, get the cobwebs out of the top corners of the rooms – dig deep! If it’s sparkling clean, it shows well.
A seller can price her home accordingly, so less than others that have had expensive and extensive renovations, but then put the renovation money into the home she is going to be in for a while. She will get to enjoy the renovations herself, rather than just renovating for somebody else.
