If the house is only 30 years old, if it looks good, leave it alone. Make everything look as new as possible, whether that involves cleaning, painting, or replacement (like for a very dated light fixture). Sand and fill in stain on damaged doors, if that will do to make it look new. If not, paint. I only like bright white trim and would never go with off-white.
In your baths, get very modern looking fixtures, and paint all walls. Just changing hardware makes a huge difference.
New light fixtures that are modern looking can be had for very little on Amazon. Changing out a light fixture is a huge bang for the buck. That and simple neutral tones like pale gray or Sherwin Williams “Seasalt” will help sell a house.
Agreed on wall repainting, updating hardware, lighting and plumbing fixtures throughout. I would also consider new window blinds, remove a bathtub glass enclosure, and regrout old tile in all bathrooms and the foyer. Sometimes new grout makes a huge difference, especially if you choose the color well. I would not touch anything else.
I have an old house, circa 1913, where a prior owner painted all of the beautiful oak doors and trim. It was a crime. It is brutally hard to strip, and you can just about never regain the original without a lot of flaws.
It doesn’t sound as if it would be a crime in your house, unless the original wood is something more special than standard factory trim of the 80s. (Am I correct in thinking that is when it was built?) If the house was built with special wood details, don’t paint them! The “oak mantel” for example. It’s one thing to paint standard Andersen factory windows. It’s another thing to paint something more special.
This may just be me, and a reflection of my own experiences, but I really wish the owners of the homes we have bought would have sold the house with the flooring as is, and offer an allowance for carpeting or flooring, rather than to have replaced the old carpeting with the cheapest possible beige carpet and (even worse) cheapest pad underneath.
IMO, house buyers come in two flavors: the kind that wants a perfect move-in house and the kind that likes to renovate things to their taste. The first kind would be turned off by anything that needs more than a coat of paint, and the other would want to tackle the project themselves and would be put off by partial renovations. You can ask a realtor to do a little market research to get a feel for what the majority of the buyers looking at your specific neighborhood and the house type would want.
Interesting on the painting the wood trim, I think it is quite regional, here in the PNW, having clear fir wrapped windows and fir doors & baseboards is an expensive popular upgrade. But my DD’s house (20+ years old) has oak windowsills and skinny oak baseboard that has to go eventually.
@TranquilMind I am preparing to repaint a gray with greenish undertones and SW Seasalt leans very baby blue in my lighting. I have a dozen gray swatches on the wall, crazy how different they look in larger chunks then on the chip and how the light in your home dramatically affects the color you see
I like Sherwin Williams Seasalt, too, but it definitely reads as a color (pale, greyed-down blue green).
For a white with grey undertones that looks fabulous when paired with bright white trim and is more neutral, I love Benjamin Moore Paper White. It is a very contemporary-looking white.
Don’t paint the trim unless it is an eyesore rather than a feature. I love natural wood. NO painting of the mantle fire place. Let the new owner go for it if they want. Painting is easy, removal of paint is not.
Personally I’d update bathroom/kitchen fixtures if needed as a start.
I might replace some lighting if needed. Replace or take down fans.
Amazing what new knobs do for kitchen cabinets (if they are in good shape to start with).
I’ve always been able to “look beyond” pretty well.
The main thing I see on most “flip” shows as the big plus is really cohesive color selection. So boring beige.
Eliminate clutter.
Anything to make your closets appear bigger is good–could just be some stock closet organizer but an empty space no matter how large is not as good as something with shelves.
Shelving in the garage is a big plus if you have room for it.
Have you looked on Zillow or realtor.com to see what is going in your area? We just sold our house in December and houses in our area were not getting the HGTV treatment. We did a lot of repairs -but did not replace all the brass doorknobs or paint everything white etc… like you see on TV. Around here people aren’t doing it -and we would not have been able to sell high enough to recoop those costs.
The home inspection really focused on any kind of water damage. I would replace any rotten wood, windows that have obviously lost their seal, and paint any ceilings that have even a hint of a water mark.
I agree with the others about talking with a realtor or two or three to see what they recommend. I would NOT paint trim that isn’t an eyesore either, since there are many (including me and many on this thread) who prefer natural wood and removing paint is much tougher than adding it.
I would NOT invest in remodeling a bathroom but might install new fixtures if the old ones are dated and/or stained/aging. As others have said, new lighting fixtures are inexpensive and can really add to update the place, so I’d consider those. Knobs are easy and inexpensive. Decluttering & no pets in the home is a must, even if that means you need to rent a storage facility and/or find a place for the pet during any showings.
I would be very careful not to spend much getting your place ready for sale unless there is a particular reason. Remodeling can be very expensive and the new owners likely will have other ideas of what they want done.
Thanks to all! I’m reading all these responses to hubby. W
e’re in upstate New York and not sure of the relative popularity of stained vs painted wood in this region. Houses on the street are approximately the same age (1990).
In our retirement house we used Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter walls and White Dove trim. Loved the look.
Re: carpet, for now, the carpet on stairs, second floor landing and two of the bedrooms is Teal :-S, commercial grade, with an unobtrusive geometric design. I’ve been dying to get rid of it for years.
Unless the carpet is absolutely hideous, do not replace it. We just looked at a house with new carpet throughout and thought it was a waste - the house asked for wood floors.
We will probably move sometime in the future. I’m glad we have updated things in this house recently…so WE can get the benefit of enjoyment. We’ve had floors refinished, and interior walls painted. Next up is upstairs carpeting. We will get it done so WE can enjoy it.
One of the design sites said the pales grays are out for 2017.
If you have a honey oak house you will need to update.
I know some areas of the country think it is okay for tile in the foyer or in the kitchen and hardwood elsewhere but I think floors should be the same material on a given level.
I have a tile in our front hall and the original oak on the rest of the first floor and corki in the kitchen addition. I would never change out the front hall tile. First, it’s very practical, second that part of t;he house was originally a terrace so you couldn’t like up wood without removing a layer of concrete.
I do live in an area of older houses, and no one expects them to be perfect. The more updated ones go more quickly, but we had one sell in no time on our block despite the world’s stupidest kitchen. (Remodeled badly in the 90s I’d guess.)
I renovate homes for a living and flip houses, so I tend on the side of trying to appeal to the buyers who do not want to lift a finger.
Everything depends on your neighborhood. Is it a Seller’s Market? What do all the other homes listed for sale look like? Do the houses with crisp white trim and updated fixtures and flooring sell really quickly for a higher price? It requires a really detailed analysis of the comparable sales in the neighborhood.
For example, in my neighborhoods there are two types of buyers mentioned above. A dated house (1990) with oak trim, old carpet and mismatched flooring will linger on the market forever because the buyers around here want move-in ready. They will only buy the dated house if the price is significantly lower than the other ones on the market. This is because buyers see dated kitchens, baths and flooring and $100k to renovate just sticks in their minds. Not $20k to renovate or $35k to renovate… it’s $100k no matter what.
Do what is appropriate for your market. I watch HGTV and have the Houzz app. But the truth of the matter, most of the homes where I live are nothing like what I see on these. I live in a small city hours from any major metropolitan area.
However, if you live in a big city or metropolitan area, then you need to make the home feel modern and fresh. But every choice you make may not be what the prospective buyer would have made. It’s a tough decision. You can improve, but buyers may not like your choice. Or you can sell for cheaper price and allow buyers to make their own choice. But some people want move in ready and do not want to do renovations. Again, it depends on your market and the availability of the housing stock.
