Home reno-ers: hellllppppp meee

alpacalunch

So I've managed to convince my parents they need to move to a retirement home. This has taken years, and there are still many steps until they move. However, I can now start on fixing up their house for sale! And boy, does it need it. The kitchen hasn't been touched since I was born. There is godawful wallpaper in the hallways, and (sigh) knob-n-tube wiring, which is apparently incredibly unsafe. 

So for those who have bought/sold homes, or just fixed things up; What is worth doing?

I'm an only child and they're both disabled so it's just me and FI, and a pretty tight budget. 

So far I've bought wine, and wallpaper stripper. 

luckya23

I don't think you can expect to get the total cost of a reno back (despite what HGTV says), so I would just factor things like a kitchen update (which is personal preference) in the sale price.  Things I would focus on would be updating wiring, getting 200 amp service while you're at it, making sure the roof and furnace are serviceable for a number of years, otherwise replacing them. 

Oh, and maybe new windows depending on their condition.

Gustafson28

Make sure everything will pass inspection. As PP said, kitchen upgrades make the biggest impact and bang for your buck. Curb appeal and proper staging will also make a big difference.

[Deleted User]

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

alpacalunch

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

esstee33

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

Yeah, updated electric, heating/cooling, roof, etc. should be a big priority over renoing the whole kitchen. Small cosmetic updates will go a long way. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint the walls a nice neutral color. If the kitchen linoleum is trashed, redo the floor. If it's in decent condition and maybe just not that attractive, I'd leave it. 

What do the kitchen cabinets look like now? Wood? In decent shape? Or totally tragic? 

[Deleted User]

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

No, no new lineoleum, because when I buy the house, I'm going to put in hardwood.  And no painting the cabinets, because you're probably going to go with a neutral wood tone or white, and I'm going to paint the bottoms gray, the uppers red, and I'll be taking out the bulkhead and raising the uppers to the ceiling.  Why would you put work and money into making changes that I'm going to change again as soon as I walk in the door?

[Deleted User]

esstee33 said:

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

Yeah, updated electric, heating/cooling, roof, etc. should be a big priority over renoing the whole kitchen. Small cosmetic updates will go a long way. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint the walls a nice neutral color. If the kitchen linoleum is trashed, redo the floor. If it's in decent condition and maybe just not that attractive, I'd leave it. 

What do the kitchen cabinets look like now? Wood? In decent shape? Or totally tragic? 

If the kitchen cabinets are totally tragic, take off the fronts.  Call it open-shelving.  When you stage it for selling, put four glasses in one cabinet, four plates in another, a couple pots and pans in a third.

esstee33

adk19 said:

esstee33 said:

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

Yeah, updated electric, heating/cooling, roof, etc. should be a big priority over renoing the whole kitchen. Small cosmetic updates will go a long way. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint the walls a nice neutral color. If the kitchen linoleum is trashed, redo the floor. If it's in decent condition and maybe just not that attractive, I'd leave it. 

What do the kitchen cabinets look like now? Wood? In decent shape? Or totally tragic? 

If the kitchen cabinets are totally tragic, take off the fronts.  Call it open-shelving.  When you stage it for selling, put four glasses in one cabinet, four plates in another, a couple pots and pans in a third.

See, if I was looking at a house and I saw this sort of shelving situation in the kitchen, I'd be like "WTF is with these weird-ass cabinets?" 

sarahufl

We just bought a very expensive, very well taken care of home.

That has knob and tube wiring. They pretended to not know it existed. But at least they knocked the cost of replacing it off the sale price of the house.

But seriously, they put this place on the market without getting that shit checked. Our inspector found it about 2 minutes.

alpacalunch

Cabinets are in good condition but dated. Maybe I'll just change the hardware. Like the hardwood idea, but they're wood cabinets. I'll snag a pic, because I am terrible at descriptions.

penguin44

Definitely update the wiring. Add a few outlets in each room too. Most older homes need more outlets.

I agree that updating the kitchen most likely isn't worth it. I would get so mad when looking at older homes when they would have builder grade crap cabinets and sink in the kitchen. I would rather have the original wood cabinets that I can paint/stain. 

Removing wallpaper sucks. I think when we did my parents' kitchen, we renter a steamer thing. That seemed to make it go faster. 

Depending on cost, I would replace things like cabinet hardware and sink hardware in the kitchen/bathrooms. 

I would have a professional come in to see if there are any major problems (i.e. roof, structure, chimney). 

jenna8984

Honestly bring in a realtor and they should be able to tell exactly what to do and how much to spend. We are fixing up my 50's house to sell right now and I've gotten great advice from people on here but also from 3 different realtors. Despite how much DH and my father wanted new kitchen cabinets, all 3 experts told me it would be a waste of my money and wouldn't get a return on investment. But they all did suggest painting the cabinets just to make them look a little less of a disaster. We just re-did our whole bathroom for $2,000 and that will definitely be returned since it's the only one in the house. DH did all the work otherwise it would have been $7,000 for a contractor (we got quotes). Definitely get a realtor opinion before you go too far. 

CMGragain

The house needs to pass an inspection.  Things like wiring, roof, anything not to code must be repaired or you will not be able to sell.  (Financing issues.)
My Mom's house was in poor structural condition.  Her idea of maintaining her house was to buy new carpeting.  We could have spent $50,000 on repairs, or we could price it right.  An investor bought it (Cash sale).  She got $90,000 at settlement.  If the repairs had been done, it could have sold for $140,000 on the market, but we would have paid real estate commission. 
Easy things to do are repainting with neutral paint colors (builder beige) and pulling up old carpet if there are hardwood floors underneath.  Get rid of heavy, old fashioned curtains.

beethery

esstee33 said:

adk19 said:

esstee33 said:

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

Yeah, updated electric, heating/cooling, roof, etc. should be a big priority over renoing the whole kitchen. Small cosmetic updates will go a long way. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint the walls a nice neutral color. If the kitchen linoleum is trashed, redo the floor. If it's in decent condition and maybe just not that attractive, I'd leave it. 

What do the kitchen cabinets look like now? Wood? In decent shape? Or totally tragic? 

If the kitchen cabinets are totally tragic, take off the fronts.  Call it open-shelving.  When you stage it for selling, put four glasses in one cabinet, four plates in another, a couple pots and pans in a third.

See, if I was looking at a house and I saw this sort of shelving situation in the kitchen, I'd be like "WTF is with these weird-ass cabinets?" 

Every time I see open shelving I always think, "These people did NOOOOOOOOT have any cats."

lyndausvi

beethery said:

esstee33 said:

adk19 said:

esstee33 said:

alpacalunch said:

adk19 said:

Don't reno the kitchen.  I just bought a house and my parents are looking to sell theirs, so I'm giving this same advice to my parents.  The houses that made me mad were the ones where the kitchen was obviously recently remodeled, but with only middle or bottom-of-the-line items.  So, it's too nice a kitchen to completely gut, but too lousy to keep as-is for too long.  Just charge less for the house so I have money left to redo the kitchen to my likes and specifications.

Truly, that's what I was thinking. This is an old house, in an older neighbourhood. People know what they're getting into. If they want a new kitchen, cool. But at least a facelift? Like, painting out the cabinets, new linoleum? Thanks for all the help, this is so overwhelming. And good call about inspections! That's why I'm calling an electrician tonight.

Yeah, updated electric, heating/cooling, roof, etc. should be a big priority over renoing the whole kitchen. Small cosmetic updates will go a long way. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint the walls a nice neutral color. If the kitchen linoleum is trashed, redo the floor. If it's in decent condition and maybe just not that attractive, I'd leave it. 

What do the kitchen cabinets look like now? Wood? In decent shape? Or totally tragic? 

If the kitchen cabinets are totally tragic, take off the fronts.  Call it open-shelving.  When you stage it for selling, put four glasses in one cabinet, four plates in another, a couple pots and pans in a third.

See, if I was looking at a house and I saw this sort of shelving situation in the kitchen, I'd be like "WTF is with these weird-ass cabinets?" 

Every time I see open shelving I always think, "These people did NOOOOOOOOT have any cats."

Or are incredibly neat.    I'm too messy to have open cabinets.  One is fine, actually liked.   More than that hell no.

I agree that figuring out if you can even pass inspection is priority number one. Or updating things that need to be replaced soon.   

  We are looking at houses now.   A lot are older homes.  The roof, hot water heater, updated wiring are more important to us than an outdated kitchen.      An outdated kitchen is livable until you are able to get it re-done, a leaky roof, electrical fires, not so much.

alpacalunch

The actual inner workings of the house are fine, heat and a/c were both done in the last few years, Windows are fine, roof was done about 5yrs ago. So the big things (aside from electrical) are good. My list so far: Sand, restain hardwood, pull up the carpeting on the stairs Take down wallpaper (where necessary) and paint, even over the bright purple in my old bedroom from when I was 15 and awesome Something with the kitchen. Anything is better than now. So 80s. Purge this house of forty years worth of stuff. Literally thousands of books. I don't know why the thumbnail for this is upside down? But that's the kitchen.

lyndausvi

those cabinets, while NMS, look good.  I would just put new knobs on them.   Not much you can do about the backslash other than replace it, which might be too much.  But get rid of the wallpaper and repaint to a neutral color will do a lot.   

Declutter, declutter, declutter.  That will make a difference too.

esstee33

Aw, yeah, those cabinets aren't bad. New knobs will help a ton.

Wegl13

New knobs are totally worth it- iffins you don't have too many. We just bought a house with a decent sized kitchen (not huge but nice sized) and.... There are 60 knobs to replace. We spent ALMOST $200 on knobs alone.

So ideas from someone that just bought a house that had been sitting on the market for over a year:

1. Get rid of most of the stuff. Obviously the 40 years worth of clutter has got to go, but after that, KEEP GOING. Basically, keep personal decorations and belongs to an absolute minimum, and take down personal photographs. Apparently people have no imagination, so picturing themselves in your home while all your shit is out is.... Hard.
2. Ditto PPs on making sure everything works properly and there aren't any glaring safety issues. You can hire a home inspector for a pre-sale inspection if you aren't sure about things. Reasons I have not bought otherwise decent homes: sagging roof, poorly maintained siding, DIY wiring. I'm always looking to make sure that the previous owners took pride in the maintenance of their home. Check those outlets in the kitchen and bath, too, and replace them if needed. Super cheap fix that shows you care.
3. Paint is cheap, if a bit labor intensive. No one likes wallpaper anymore. Pick something bland and buy in bulk- paint the entire house in a neutral off-white. Again, the new owner will probably paint over this color, but the idea here is not to make it what THE new owner wants- it's to make it accessible to a broad market.
4. Do NOT do major reno of kitchen or bathroom just to sell. That is a BIG chunk of change that you won't get completely back.
5. Staging is your friend. If you are hiring a realtor, it is there job to help you with putting your furniture in a way that shows the house off. Let them do this!
6. DO NOT FORGET CURB APPEAL. Our new house that we bought? I was with my realtor driving to see a different house.... And I went "that house. I want THAT HOUSE." From the road. The outside needs to be cleaned and maintained AT ALL TIMES while in the market (even if no one is living there). Mow the yard. Rake the leaves. Pressure wash the siding. Paint the door. Plant flowers and keep them watered. My parents sold a tiny, older home that was in a fine, if not desired part of town in 2004. The rooms and the closets were SMALL. And yet... They had it in the market for

Edit to add: I would check trulia and zillow for a lot more advice. My parents sold their home without a realtor, basically by my mother looking things up online and following their advice to a T.

jenna8984

giiirl leave those cabinets, they are not even considered outdated where I live. 

I would love those, considering I bought mine looking like this... (google cuz I couldn't one of my own) 

jenna8984

But if you want something quick and cheap, these wainscotting panels were only $20 each from Home Depot and they look so good! (this is actually my house) 

Gustafson28

Reno doesn't mean demolish. In your case OP, it's just making it look a bit nicer. So the knobs are a great investment , we put up smart tile backsplash which looks awesome. My dad is among the top realtors here so I promise I'm not leading you astray. You can't listen to just opinion, it needs to be what sells best in your area, whatever that may be

NYCMercedes

two things from an agent: 

1. Fix the things that are deal breakers, like the electrical, where the new owners couldn't get a mortgage. 

2. Make the place move-in-able. That means clean, clean, and clean and then paint in one neutral color. Especially on a lower-price home, the DIY-ers need to be able to move in and live there while they save or fix up each room. Maybe they want hardwood, but with fresh carpeting, they can live there until they get to that redo. Maybe they want red walls, but with fresh neutral paint, they can get by until they get around to painting. Maybe they want a fancy kitchen, but they can live in the house while they renovate, if the kitchen isn't too horribly offensive. 

RebeccaB88

Things I learned when I bought my house:

Fix the potentially dangerous stuff before anything else. My house wiring was fine, but it had an old fashioned fuse box. I'd much rather the previous owner had replaced it with an up to code breaker box than just about anything else he did.  Because, I ended up having to spend money to do that myself so my new appliances could be installed. The old fuse box was becoming a hazard.

The HVAC, windows, roof, plumbing, and foundation had already been addressed, which was one of the reasons I bought the house. The heat and AC units were both less than 5 years old, roof 5 years old, new energy efficient windows the year previously, plumbing had been replaced with PVC pipe and cleared out to the street, and the foundation had been piered 10 years before.  Very, very appealing to me.

Paint?  I'd rather he'd have left the paint alone than painted it the ugly baby poop yellow he chose. I didn't buy the house because it was recently painted. I bought it IN SPITE of the paint. If you think you're choosing a neutral color, look at it in many different lights first. Take a sample home. Take it out into the sun. Paint a large piece of something and look at it at night, in the day, the dusk, etc. Make sure it truly is neutral. The color he chose might have been ok had it been 5 or 6 shades lighter.  It ended up just looking like there had been an explosion in the German mustard factory. I painted right over all of it. I'd much rather have had a much lighter cream or soft white. I think he just thought it was neutral.

Almost any neutral backsplash is better than none. I wish I had a backsplash of any kind. Neutral being the key. You can often find decent ceramic tile on sale.

If there are wood floors, work on them. Refinish if you must, but often just spot treating and a good professional cleaning will be fine.  I wish my previous owner had done that instead of spending the money on carpet to cover up the beautiful original hardwoods in the house, because the money was wasted when I pulled it all up and threw it in a dumpster. And I still had to pay to have the floors worked on. ANYTHING that reduces the work that new owners will have to do before they move in is appreciated, especially when it's just maximizing  what's already there, not something that is more taste-specific.

Fix wood rot. Please. Not fill it in with cheap epoxy and paint over it. (Ask me how I know this.)  I'm going to have to knock down a great wood arbor next spring thanks to wood rot and carpenter ants. It could have been replaced easily and for a few hundred by a good DIY-er, but since it was just covered up and I didn't find that out until too late, it's trash.

Other things I wish had been addressed before purchase: driveway (needs new concrete poured), siding (I'm going to have to figure out how to afford to replace the old wood stuff), garage door (the old manual one was too heavy for me, I had to buy a new one and an automatic system, and who has a manual garage door anymore?), and outdoor lighting (I had to put in one over the garage where there was no light).

If you want to do something to the cabinets, paint them a not too bright white and replace the hardware. White makes the kitchen look bigger, and I think cleaner. New hardware helps if you can do nothing else. Countertops are very taste-specific, so I wouldn't mess with those. I appreciate the old solid wood cabinets in the house, but again, the poop yellow is an eyesore. People seem to like brown, though, so I think you're ok.

Make the landscaping clean, neat, and easy care. Clear out brush and dead bushes and trees. Make sure you can see the house. Mow, put down grass seed if needed. Trim bushes (and not into fancy shapes that no one will care to keep up - ask me how I know this one too). Put down wood chip or nut shell mulch in any flower beds, and in warm climates/weather, add some inexpensive and hardy flowering annuals. Remove any trees or bushes that are too close to the home foundation and could cause problems with that later on, and remove dead wood from big old beautiful trees to show them off. This way, it's easy to maintain for those who aren't interested in gardening, but a clean slate ready to be personalized by those who are.

When you list it, specify if appliances stay, and if so, what. Just so there's no question.  At closing, give the new owners any warrantee paperwork and instruction manuals for new appliances. Mine did this and it's been incredibly appreciated.

My mom had the greatest idea ever. She had her house inspected by a regular home inspector before she put it on the market. She fixed everything he told her to fix. Then she and her agent went through and decided what was necessary to do inside and what wasn't.  There wasn't a lot, since the big things (wood rot, termite damage, roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical) had already been addressed where necessary.  Both inspections helped her price it right at value and well for the neighborhood. She got her money out for those fixes, and the house was on the market less than a week when she got a full price all cash offer. I will do the same thing if/when I ever sell this one.

alpacalunch

Thanks for the advice, guys! It's in a desirable neighbourhood with a garage and a reasonable yard (unheard of in most of Toronto). I know the house would sell in any condition, but I really want them to get the most out of their investment. And now, I can triage what to do/ignore. All this has been very helpful! Hurray!