Remodeling A Kitchen For Resale
For potential buyers, the kitchen is the room that can make or break the sale. An upgraded, attractive kitchen can make your home irresistible. Ideally, your kitchen renovation should earn a 70 percent return on investment when you sell your home. But this depends on the features you choose, how much you spend remodeling and whether your priority is to create a dream kitchen for yourself or a kitchen that will appeal to potential buyers.
Remodeling for resale means choosing materials that appeal to the masses. This means opting for stainless steel appliances that are high quality rather than professional-grade models. Spend on functional features like pantry drawers, soft close cabinet drawers and doors, waste-recycling cabinetry. But don’t over-personalize the space. You may appreciate the art-deco drawer pulls that cost $50 a pop, but chances are your buyers will not.
The biggest mistake homeowners make is spending more on the remodeling project than their home value can support. Don’t expect to get optimum return on a $65,000 kitchen if the home is valued at $300,000. Generally speaking, you can spend between 6 and 10 percent of the total home value and get fair returns. You also can be too thrifty and overlook items that buyers look for in your price range.
Sure, you have a list of “wants” for your renovation, but since you need to realize a nice ROI on this project come home-sale time, you must set priorities based on what sells a kitchen. Keep in mind cost of every project. Even if cabinets are outdated, is it worth the cost to replace them, or will changing out the hardware refresh the look enough to give the kitchen an updated appearance? “If you rip out cabinets, you’re getting into big bucks and that adds to the bottom line,” says Lori Carroll, president of Tucson, Ariz.-based Lori Carroll & Associates.
No matter what changes you make in your kitchen with resale in mind, never compromise the architecture of your home. “When you sell your home, buyers fall in love with the exterior of the home first. That will engage them,” says Ellen Rady, president, Ellen Rady Designs, Cleveland, Ohio. “If someone really likes your traditional home and you put in a contemporary kitchen, you are setting yourself up for such a niche market of a buyer who is willing to live in a traditional exterior home and who will be happy with a very contemporary kitchen.”
Always a safe bet: “Go transitional,” Rady says.
*Source: www.hgtv.com
When thinking about a kitchen remodel, remember to call the crew at A Step Above Flooring so we can get the job done right for you at (843) 606-0758!