Key Takeaways:
- Sellers should take advantage of this year’s housing market while also making informed home improvement decisions.
- The primary consideration for sellers is whether or not renovations will increase their return on investment when selling their home.
- Need assistance navigating the housing market in 2021? Contact Linda Craft & Team at 919-235-0007 for advice from the top real estate team in the Triangle area.
Is Demo Day Worth the Selling Delay?
If you’re trying to sell your home right now, odds are it may be sold by the time you finish reading this article—or let’s just say it’s probably going to sell at lightning speed. In today’s sellers’ market, homes stay on the market for about 21 days, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, it may not stay this way for long, so it’s important as a seller that you take advantage of this rare window of opportunity.
Many homeowners are tempted to get their homes in tip-top shape before placing them on the market. But first, you should consider if putting more money into your home is worth the money you’re going to make from selling it. This leads us to the question all sellers are asking right now: To renovate or not to renovate?
There are good reasons to renovate
Contrary to the home renovations glamorized on HGTV shows, the reality is that some buyers don’t want to take on the renovation process themselves. If you as the seller are willing to make the necessary improvements to your home before placing it on the market, you will likely open up your home to more prospective buyers than you would have pre-renovations.
Ultimately, you have to know the target market to which you are aiming to sell your home. As Home Advisor explains, younger homebuyers are more willing to take on home improvement projects compared to older generations.
What is worth renovating?
In addition to considering whether or not to renovate, you also have to know which parts of your home are worth renovating. The truth is that what you value as a homeowner may not match exactly what your home’s next buyer values. Therefore, you should avoid over-investing in your home with costly renovations and instead focus on minor cosmetic updates.
Simple landscaping—because we know the grass is always greener on the other side—and fresh paint are examples of simple ways to revamp your home before it hits the market.
Renovations aren’t always worth the investment
With homes selling quickly right now, it does make sense to skip the renovations and list your home as soon as possible. According to NAR, a normal market has a 6-month supply of homes for sale, yet there is only a 1.9-month supply available today. Due to this scarcity of supply, homebuyers are more likely to look past minor issues in prospective homes.
Let’s talk about last year…
Ultimately, your deciding factor regarding renovations must be whether or not renovations will increase your return on investment when selling your home. The answer partially lies in the 2020 Cost vs. Value report, which analyzed the costs for remodeling projects and their relationship to home values at the time of sale.
According to last year’s report, there was a consistent decrease in the perceived value of remodeling projects at the time of home sale, which led to a downturn in the return of investment for almost all renovation projects.
Eager To Buy or Sell? Let Us Help!
In today’s competitive housing market, you have to move quickly toward what you want. If you’re unsure of what steps to take next, Linda Craft & Team will walk you through the home-buying and -selling processes to ensure you receive the highest return on your investment. Contact us at 919-235-0007 to get the help you need in navigating today’s housing market.