Do You Need To Renovate Your House Before Selling?

When you start thinking about selling, it's easy to wonder whether you need to renovate your home to make it more appealing to home buyers. But the real question is, with housing inventory in such short supply and demand at all-time highs, do you even need to invest in renovations to get the best price for your home? In this article, we'll go over what gets you the most bang for your buck in today's housing market and some other tips to know whether renovating your home before selling is the right choice.

Reasons why you SHOULD renovate before selling

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Despite the surge of home buyers on the market snatching up homes - even doing so while waiving home inspections or other contingencies, move-in-ready homes are still the most attractive homes on the market for buyers. So, if you manage to choose the right renovation projects for what buyers in your area are interested in, you could see increased interest from buyers. Increased buyer interest means more offers and more offers could mean a higher return on investment for your home. 

However, it's important to remember that the best way for you to know what buyers are most interested in for your area is to work with an experienced real estate agent. Why? Because an experienced agent has most likely shown numerous homes in the past several years during the buyer frenzy and they've heard countless opinions of what buyers love - and more importantly - what buyers have hated about the homes they've seen. This insight can save you time and renovation costs getting your house ready to sell. 

Finally, carefully choosing which updates or renovations to make will also put you in a great position for a higher home appraisal, further adding to your potential return.

Reasons why you SHOULDN'T renovate before selling

With the lack of inventory and the market moving at such a frenzied pace, the supply of houses available for sale is under one month here in the Charleston, South Carolina area. In the past, a typical real estate market would have a 6-month supply at any given time. The result? A competitive market among prospective buyers with homes only staying on the market for around 21 days and even less in our experience.

With homes selling for above asking price and in some cases, going under contract in a matter of hours - it doesn't seem to make sense to perform extensive renovations eating up time and money when you could miss a window of opportunity to sell your home for a good price.

Of course, some repairs will probably be required to complete the sale, and there are simple DIY improvements you can do to make your home look better, but your time will be better spent working with an experienced real estate agent to sort out what improvements or repairs are needed. If the buyer may make changes anyway and just wants the home right now, why spend the money?

Home Renovations that make the most sense before selling

What may be even more cost-effective than renovating an entire room? Getting a pre-listing inspection. If you're considering potentially expensive improvements to the home anyway, a pre-listing inspection can give you a comprehensive list of things that could cause snags in the sale of your home. Plus, the repairs or updates you make as a result of the pre-listing inspection could provide you with all the "renovation" you need to hit the mark with potential home buyers. Fixing a leaky faucet, replacing an exhaust fan, or a fresh coat of paint can be far less expensive than an entire bathroom remodel, for example. Just keep in mind that there's a difference between a home inspection vs. a home appraisal, but making the repairs suggested as a result of the pre-listing inspection will certainly help with the appraisal later on.

Kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces are all areas where potential buyers will spend a lot of their time. So, making improvements in these areas is generally a good bet for increasing the appeal of a listing. 

Kitchen Renovations

Before spending tens of thousands of dollars on a complete kitchen remodel, consider some low-cost/high-ROI projects that can still make big improvements to the space. Replacing older, energy-inefficient appliances with mid-range ones, repainting cabinets, updating their hardware, and repairing any floor damage can greatly improve the look of your kitchen space without breaking the bank.

Bathroom Renovations