Which renovations are a smart investment before selling? (Framingham: for sale, condos)

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by G-fused

Do not listen to people here about this question! Ask your realtor and listen to them. A good realtor will look at your place and know this much better than any of us, it is what they do for a living and one of the values they provide. They are in tune with what buyers want so let them advise you and stage the place.

Best of luck.

Unfortunately there are a lot of really lousy realtors. I've bought and sold several properties in the last couple of months and can say unequivocally, some of them have become too accustomed to just opening the door for buyers and nothing else. Some strive for a quick turnover and don't care about getting top dollar for their client. It's not too hard to look at listings, see what is selling , what is sitting and expectations for price points. Selling a home is a partnership. The owner should be actively engaged and educated.

[MikePRU]

It's really hard to advise someone on this subject without seeing their home first, but generally I find myself recommending the following to most of my clients:

-Deep cleaning
-Decluttering
-Staging
-Painting

Real life and HGTV are two very different things. HGTV makes everyone think in order to sell your house you need to renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, and put in all new flooring before you put your house on the market but that's not reality. Really, you just want to make the house look as best as possible in its current condition. At the end of your work, everything should function as intended and everything should look clean and bright and that's really the best way to approach it. Renovating a kitchen or bathroom or replacing flooring is generally just throwing good money after bad.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Why would you randomly paint the kitchen cabinets white?

If the OP does decide to paint their cabinets, I recommend having professionals do it. The DIY method will chip and wear after a few years. The pros have a paint that is cured by heat.
Our dark kitchen was painted antique white with a blue island, and it looks much brighter and cleaner. It cost about $7,000, but we think I worth the money.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

If the OP does decide to paint their cabinets, I recommend having professionals do it. The DIY method will chip and wear after a few years. The pros have a paint that is cured by heat.
Our dark kitchen was painted antique white with a blue island, and it looks much brighter and cleaner. It cost about $7,000, but we think I worth the money.

Welp I think DIY is part of the advantage to the sellers. If it's good for a few years that has nothing to do with the seller. I think people try to cut costs wherever they can these days.

[msRB311]

Also 7k to paint cabinets seems insane.

[bostongymjunkie]

I guess if you have old grungy cabinets a coat of white paint can enhance the appearance. The "looks cleaner" part I'm not getting. To me it's either clean, or it ain't. I prefer a richer look with character. I think white is too generic looking. Yeah 7K for a paint job sounds wild.

[mdovell]

If you have trees that need to be cut and they are by power lines contact the electric Co. I'm getting one removed for free this summer.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

If the OP does decide to paint their cabinets, I recommend having professionals do it. The DIY method will chip and wear after a few years. The pros have a paint that is cured by heat.
Our dark kitchen was painted antique white with a blue island, and it looks much brighter and cleaner. It cost about $7,000, but we think I worth the money.

Absolutely. A contractor who specializes in cabinet refinishing will be more expensive but will also achieve superior and longer lasting results.

I remember last year I was in a house in Framingham with a client and the homeowner had painted the original cabinets from the '50s gray. You could see the roller marks on the cabinet doors so clearly a DIY job.

Originally Posted by msRB311

Welp I think DIY is part of the advantage to the sellers. If it's good for a few years that has nothing to do with the seller. I think people try to cut costs wherever they can these days.

I don't think that's a "these days" kind of thing. People are always looking to save money. Personally, I'm a golden rule kind of guy and I tend to treat people how I want to be treated and if I handed someone hundreds of thousands of dollars for their house I'd be pretty miffed if the white cabinets started peeling a year later.

Originally Posted by msRB311

Also 7k to paint cabinets seems insane.

Cabinet refinishing is expensive. It's more than just slapping a coat of Benjamin Moore on there. They're disassembling the cabinets, spraying on the finish, and for the cabinet boxes which can't be taken to the shop not only is there a ton of taping off to do but they usually create a paint booth around them with ventilation, etc.

$7K actually isn't a bad price unless this was a super small kitchen that was refinished.

[msRB311]

I think most people who have some experience with painting would do that painting before hiring someone else.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

......
Cabinet refinishing is expensive. It's more than just slapping a coat of Benjamin Moore on there. They're disassembling the cabinets, spraying on the finish, and for the cabinet boxes which can't be taken to the shop not only is there a ton of taping off to do but they usually create a paint booth around them with ventilation, etc.

$7K actually isn't a bad price unless this was a super small kitchen that was refinished.

Actually, $7K is cheaper that replacing all the cabinets. You are correct about the contractor's methods. We did it planning to stay the rest of our lives in the house, so we did not want the DIY method. We have a large house in North Carolina, so our labor rates were less. However there were 2 men spending 4 and a half days inside the house, plus a day for painting the doors in the shop.

If the job is for resale, I also would not want to present a DIY job where I could see the roller marks. Instead, I would vote for cleaning up the cabinets, and let the next buyer decide what to do.