 Avoid
costly updating when selling your home
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 Dear
Real Estate Adviser,
My husband wants to replace the carpet in the bedrooms and put a hardwood floor in the downstairs living area in the hopes of helping sell our home. Is this worth the money?
-- Tory
 Dear
Tory,
As much as I hate to cast doubt on the logic of a fellow homeowning
male, you probably should tell him gently that he just might be
ever-so-slightly in error, while adding that he is quite wise to
be thinking in terms of "home improvement" at this juncture.
Or -- depending on his sensitivity level -- the use of the term
"lunkhead" may be substituted. But I kid.
Professional remodelers, however, will tell you that
replacing old or damaged flooring with much better flooring might
make the place look spiffy, but it is very costly and is not what
floats the boat in the minds of potential buyers. On the other hand,
minor cosmetic improvements to your home's facade, such as a new
coat of paint, and to your landscape, such as flowers, plants and
shrubs, are not awfully costly, and they're much more apt to increase
your house's marketability and not become a huge losing proposition
for you.
The highest average returns on remodeling
costs, according to the latest survey by Remodeling
Online, are an upscale siding replacement (103.6 percent), midrange
bathroom remodel (102.2 percent), minor kitchen remodel (98.5 percent),
midrange siding replacement (95.5 percent) and midrange two-story
addition (94.6 percent). By contrast, bedroom and living room remodels,
which would include the new flooring your hubby is talking about,
returned less than 85 percent of costs. In other words, if you put
$5,000 into new carpets and hardwood flooring, it would increase
the value of your home by less than $4,250.
If your carpets are really that bad, consider replacing
them with the least expensive flooring that you, or your agent,
feel is acceptable for a home in your price range and neighborhood.
Adding lustrous, expensive carpeting or shiny new hardwood floors
will certainly help your place show well, but you will probably
lose money in the long run. Besides, home shoppers often have very
specific tastes in carpet color and other flooring, and who's to
say your choices will jibe with theirs? It's not unusual for both
the buying and selling parties in a transaction to come away from
a transaction muttering to their spouses or partners, "Well,
there's no accounting for taste!"
About the only thing worse than losing money by replacing
carpet at a loss is finding out that the new owner ripped it out
two weeks later and tossed it on the trash heap.
It's important to note here that the amount recouped
from any remodeling effort is also contingent on the location and
overall condition of a house, the rate of its appreciation, and
the pricing and layouts of similar for-sale homes nearby. For instance,
if a home seller doesn't have a second bathroom, and every other
house in the area does, then a bathroom addition might pay off a
little better than the average return of 86.4 percent, as estimated
by Remodeling Online.
In your case, Tory, shampoo those carpets or replace
them with something tasteful but inexpensive -- and in a neutral
color -- if you must. But save the big money for something with
a better payoff.
To ask a question of the Real Estate Adviser, go
to the "Ask the Experts"
page, and select "buying, selling a home" as the topic.
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