Getting Ready to Sell? What to Fix and What to Skip

Getting Ready to Sell? 

What to Fix and What to Skip

[Ocean City, MD.   Susan Antigone - ShoreFun4U.                                                                                                                         

Buying and Selling a home at the beach - know what to look for and what not to waste your time on]

Thinking of selling your home?  Is now the right time?

That’s the question on homeowners’ minds as house prices just realized their largest annual gain since 2005. Congrats to those no longer “under water” on their mortgages, even as interest rates remain tantalizingly low. But here’s the catch: Those same higher prices can make buyers as choosy as a restaurant reviewer.

“A house with a $1,600 mortgage payment last year now has a $2,000 mortgage payment,” one broker told the Wall Street Journal. “Buyers are saying, ‘I better like it.’”

To increase your home’s “like” frequency, read on to see which upgrades are worth making and which are really not.  You may be surprised.

Worth It: A new front door. Strictly in terms of return on investment, a steel
one topped the list of Remodeling magazine’s annual “Cost vs.  Value Report for 2014” – recouping 96.6% of the average price. But, a fresh coat of paint can work wonders, too.

Not Worth It: A home-office remodel. We know what you’re thinking: With so many more people working from home, wouldn’t it be brilliant to rewire the
space for electronic equipment, say, and install commercial-grade carpeting? Not really. The magazine gave it the lowest return on investment (48.9%).  According to the study’s administrator, “Home offices don’t sell houses.”

Worth It: A back-up power generator. It’s the biggest gainer in the study, jumping 28% over last year, and plays especially well in areas brutalized by storms.

Not Worth It: Major bathroom work. “You could install the most spectacular jetted tub, and it still might not suit a buyer,” says Patsy O’Neill, a sales associate in Montclair, N.J. “Meanwhile, you’d have spent tens of thousands of dollars.”

Worth It: Roofing replacement. There’s a reason this ultimate “curb appeal” enhancer consistently makes Remodeling’s list and is up 11.2% over even last year: A roof is the first thing prospective buyers notice even before exiting their cars, and you can kiss that sale good-bye if yours looks like it’s been through hell.

Not Worth It: Major kitchen renovations. Again, the key word is “major,” and again it’s an issue of individual tastes.