20 May Weekly Real Estate Article #27
Recently I met with a family who is considering selling their home and they were asking if they should redo their kitchen. The kitchen was in perfect condition however, the cabinets were a golden oak and they had white tile counters. First, we talked about their moving timeline. They said it their plan was to sell when he retired in about 5 years. The next question to them was why would they be changing or updating the kitchen? Their response was that they were perfectly happy with it, they just thought it would give them a higher price. I agreed with their thoughts given the rest of the home had a more updated look, that said, I encouraged them to consider waiting until closer to the time they were seriously thinking of moving. The reasoning is that when redoing something for a purely financial not personal standpoint, consider what will be in demand at the time of sale. A fad was polished concrete, Corian used to be a big thing, then granite tiles, then granite counters; now quartz is popular. Colors also change. Grey was/is the new neutral. Same with flooring, there is a big difference in the types of laminate flooring in just 5 years. A final thought, let’s have a discussion! Figure out what is most important to you. If you want to change it for you personally, great, if it is purely from a profit standpoint, let’s have a very strong discussion about what will give you the highest return for your money!