That’s right, I said it. Don’t remodel your kitchen. As a matter of fact, don’t remodel the house. The only exception is if you or the designer you hire have designed multiple properties for resale and have a true pulse on the real estate market you are in.
Here are three reasons to avoid remodeling:
- Your taste isn’t everyone’s: You like granite counter tops in your kitchen? Many would disagree. Nowadays in Los Angeles people prefer quartz or marble. You could be wasting time and money. I have seen gorgeous restoration of homes that go for millions of dollars be torn apart because it wasn’t what the next buyer was looking for. Don’t take it personally, it is just that everyone has different taste.
- Where do you start with the remodel and where do you stop? Kitchen and bathrooms looks great, but what if the rest of the house looks tired. One option is to keep remodeling, spending more time and money. Or you can take the risk and see what happens. However, when buyers walk through, they will focus more on what’s tired and less on what’s new. This will become especially true if once the buyers remodel the other parts of the home, it may not flow well with the remodel you did. An argument can be made that it doesn’t add value because most buyers look at the bigger picture of the house.
- Chances are you are paying dollar for dollar on the remodel: What’s one reason why flippers do well? Because they get a discounted rate on the construction and materials. This is primarily because they have pre-negotiated pricing with their vendors due to the volume of business they bring. This allows them to get the value out of their remodel. The same can’t be said for those small one-off projects. Therefore, your home value may go up because of the remodeled changes, but if you compare it to what you spent, it may not make a difference.
So, what should you focus on? My recommendation is to focus on the systems (such as the chimney, sewer, and roof). Many buyers are going in with an army of inspectors and high construction bids in the hope to renegotiate the price once in escrow. By having the systems in good shape, it can prevent buyers from what is called the “claw back”.
Of course, every home is different, but consulting a competent real estate agent is always a good start.
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[…] might recall one of my past articles, Stop Remodeling Your Kitchen Before a Sale, where I describe why you shouldn’t do remodels on your home before a sale. However, that […]