Kitchen remodel on the cheap...

[Midpack]

How old are the appliances? How much more out-dated will the kitchen look when you sell "in a few years"? Why not redo all the kitchen stuff now and enjoy it til then.

Because it will cost $20 to $30K to do it all, just not worth it for 2 years IMO.

 

[Midpack]

What we've learned, though, is that we are in the microscopic minority of open-house visitors. The vast majority of the HGTV generation cannot see the potential in a place. They can't visualize what it would look like with granite counters. They can look at a granite counter and decide whether or not they like it, but they don't want to have to look at Formica and think about how it would look in granite.

So not only is "do nothing" not an option, but a decorating allowance is not an option either. You can do what the realtor suggests and make it attractive to a high percentage of the viewers, while charging them a higher price for having done the upgrades, and with less time/hassle.

Wow, my sister used to be a realtor and this is exactly what she said almost verbatim. I was just hoping she was wrong.

I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and do the counters and floor. I can change all the appliances in a day or two, so I won't do that without testing the waters first. I may live to regret it, but I don't want to replace the cabinets, and painted cabinets look awful to me so I'm not going that route.

 

[pb4uski]

Because it will cost $20 to $30K to do it all, just not worth it for 2 years IMO.

Having recently built a house and sold a house, I would suggest that you replace the countertops, appliances, flooring and refinish the cabinets. We shopped around a lot and I think you can do it for a lot less than $20k (possibly 1/2 of that or less) particularly if you do some of the work yourself.

We decided on Corian rather than granite as DW liked the integrated sink and was worried about dropping a heavy pan on the countertop and cracking the granite. I will admit that the granite looked nice. We took advantage of a sale and the Corian was $39/sf, including a free sink, about $2,200 in total. We also shopped around for our appliances as well and were able to buy good quality Kenmore SS appliances (French door fridge, dishwasher, stove, microhood) for a little over $3,000 and picked them up ourselves in our truck.

On the countertops, there are products out there to refinish Formica countertops and make them "look" like stone, but the result looks a bit chintzy to my eye. There are also some nice products out there for refinishing the cabinets.

 

[Moemg]

I would do the counter tops ,floor & appliances . The old appliances will drag down the other updates and an appliance package is not that much more money .

 

[HFWR]

Costco occasionally offers a Whirlpool kitchen suite of appliances for, well, I forget, maybe $3000...

 

[Meadbh]

I agree with those who have recommended replacing countertops and appliances, but refinishing the cabinets provided they are well made, in good structural shape and the layout works. I've seen some beautiful cabinet refinishing jobs.

 

[Gatordoc50]

Spouse and I are the kind of open-house junkies who can walk into a place and see its potential... and of course the things that are screwed up. We can appreciate the layout, the walls & ceilings, and the things that are difficult to change. Decor is just decor, it's not as hard to change, and the crappier it looks then the better for us as potential buyers.

What we've learned, though, is that we are in the microscopic minority of open-house visitors. The vast majority of the HGTV generation cannot see the potential in a place. They can't visualize what it would look like with granite counters. They can look at a granite counter and decide whether or not they like it, but they don't want to have to look at Formica and think about how it would look in granite.

So not only is "do nothing" not an option, but a decorating allowance is not an option either. You can do what the realtor suggests and make it attractive to a high percentage of the viewers, while charging them a higher price for having done the upgrades, and with less time/hassle.

Or you can wait a long time for the one customer who can see the potential in the place, and who knows enough about what they're doing to lowball you. I think the time/hassle will outweigh the potential savings of not doing the upgrades.

We're much happier with Corian too, and it doesn't need maintenance.

The suggested asking price you will get from realtors will be 20 % less than what you think your house worth. Add to that the 7% of closing and realtor costs. If you want to make things worse go ahead and spend more money on your home. HGTV is a good lesson. They make improvements and then have an open house. And the house never sells. And that's with doing 20k of improvements for 2 thousand bucks. Lol.

 

[REWahoo]

The suggested asking price you will get from realtors will be 20 % less than what you think your house worth. Add to that the 7% of closing and realtor costs. If you want to make things worse go ahead and spend more money on your home. HGTV is a good lesson. They make improvements and then have an open house. And the house never sells. And that's with doing 20k of improvements for 2 thousand bucks. Lol.

Spoken like a true veteran of the Florida real estate bust...

 

[Gatordoc50]

Spoken like a true veteran of the Florida real estate bust...

Good point. If you look at the thousands of foreclosures, many were remodeled before they were taken back by the bank.

 

[Gatordoc50]

Spoken like a true veteran of the Florida real estate bust...

I'll add that it is so bad down here that you can buy a home for the cost of a kitchen remodel. It's hard to ask much more than 100 bucks/sq.ft. So, that is part of my bias. For sure.

 

[calmloki]

Regarding rock counter tops:

A stonemason ex-neighbor told me that statues in Europe are preserved against acid rain with paraffin. I'd asked about a slab of white marble that I want to use on top of the tile counter. The slab has been out in the weather and was all stained and nasty - asked about polishing it and sealants so it would work in the coffee making area as well as a surface to knead bread.

He claimed that I didn't want a high polish for my purpose, but rather a gloss which I could achieve with 400 grit silicone carbide paper (also said Harbor Freight had a random orbital set of pads for wet use/high production for $15 or so). After cleaning and polishing he said I could put the marble into the oven at 250 degrees, then paint with melted paraffin. He said it penetrated very well, was highly resistant to staining, and was easy to touch-up or repair. Also said that putting the marble on a good hot chunk of asphalt for a while would also do the heating trick.

The pad sander with sandpaper has brought the marble back to white and a smooth glossy finish - hot pavement is readily available down south, so I'll be giving his method a try.


Regarding tile counter tops: I do not like them; grout joints are dirt and stain magnets

 

[Midpack]

I would not choose granite myself. But right or wrong, if you watch HGTV House Hunters and other programs like it (as I have been since we've started planning to sell our house), almost invariably couples seem to be looking for granite and stainless steel. Some of them insist they want granite and then can't even tell what they are looking at, have to ask the realtor 'is this granite?'

Kitchen floors aren't quite as well defined, but we have vinyl which no one seems to be looking for (and I agree frankly). And cabinets seem to be a wild card too, though high end is of course preferred. Fortunately our kitchen size and layout are good...

 

[Dawg52]

I will have to do some updating when I sell my house down the road. In my neighborhood, granite counter tops is overkill. Will just do Formica or something similar. Floors, will go with vinyl. And will need a new stove. Hate to even spend all that as this house will not go for top dollar due to poor location. But maybe it will help sell it.

 

[W2R]

I will have to do some updating when I sell my house down the road. In my neighborhood, granite counter tops is overkill. Will just do Formica or something similar. Floors, will go with vinyl. And will need a new stove. Hate to even spend all that as this house will not go for top dollar due to poor location. But maybe it will help sell it.

I would suggest that you go to see your realtor before doing anything, to get his/her recommendations, and then follow those recommendations as closely as your budget for upgrades will allow. Realtors are glad to help sellers make the house more appealing, so that they have a better chance of selling the house quickly.

 

[Purron]

Regarding rock counter tops:

Regarding tile counter tops: I do not like them; grout joints are dirt and stain magnets

Put tile over formica in our former rental soon to be main residence. Turned out nice. Given I use glass/plastic chopping boards, I'm hoping this won't be a problem. Time will tell though!

 

[travelover]

Put tile over formica in our former rental soon to be main residence. Turned out nice. Given I use glass/plastic chopping boards, I'm hoping this won't be a problem. Time will tell though!

When I redid my kitchen 15 years ago I went with tile with a dark grout. Like you, I always use a cutting board and I think it has worked out well. It is nice to be able to put a hot pan directly on the counter. I think I'd have to replace it with granite if I sold, though, as that is all the rage.

 

[calmloki]

This is the spot I want to cover with the marble slab:

The grout joints are pretty large - like maybe 3/8" - and are filled with a very sandy whitish grout that just loves to suck up coffee. "Rustic" tile and execution (read, unskilled poor workmanship), not at all like the fine 1/8" or less joints in my shower up here, which is done with white subway tile.

 

[Nords]

Wow, my sister used to be a realtor and this is exactly what she said almost verbatim. I was just hoping she was wrong.
I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and do the counters and floor.
I may live to regret it, but I don't want to replace the cabinets, and painted cabinets look awful to me so I'm not going that route.

I agree with you that it's "wrong", but it's a lot faster & cheaper than being "right".

We had 30-year-old wooden cabinets refaced for a kitchen remodel. They used some sort of high-quality contact paper on the cabinet frames. The doors were replaced with rigid thermofoil (same material used to resurface the cabinet frames) which is waterproof and mostly stainproof.

I would not choose granite myself. But right or wrong, if you watch HGTV House Hunters and other programs like it (as I have been since we've started planning to sell our house), almost invariably couples seem to be looking for granite and stainless steel. Some of them insist they want granite and then can't even tell what they are looking at, have to ask the realtor 'is this granite?'

If you aren't happy with granite or Corian, a good compromise might be synthetic silestone... especially if it's made to look like granite!

Put tile over formica in our former rental soon to be main residence. Turned out nice. Given I use glass/plastic chopping boards, I'm hoping this won't be a problem. Time will tell though!

Our counters were 3" white tile squares with "white" grout that was impossible to keep clean. Every time you wrote on a piece of paper your pen dropped into a grout line. Every liquid would show us exactly where the grout sealer was wearing out.

We've been much happier with Corian.

 

[Dawg52]

I would suggest that you go to see your realtor before doing anything, to get his/her recommendations, and then follow those recommendations as closely as your budget for upgrades will allow. Realtors are glad to help sellers make the house more appealing, so that they have a better chance of selling the house quickly.

I sold my last 2 houses on my own and may give it ago solo this time. Not sure though. My parents have lived in this neighborhood for the last 40+ years and I have lived in the area the last eight, so I have a good idea what most houses look like. What I suggested in my previous post is right in line with other homes in the area.

Good suggestion and I would do it if unfamiliar with the neighborhood.

 

[calmloki]

I sold my last 2 houses on my own and may give it ago solo this time. Not sure though. My parents have lived in this neighborhood for the last 40+ years and I have lived in the area the last eight, so I have a good idea what most houses look like. What I suggested in my previous post is right in line with other homes in the area.

Good suggestion and I would do it if unfamiliar with the neighborhood.

Last house we sold I knew the price I wanted, a realtor suggested about $10000 less plus the drag of his 6% commission. I ended up maintaining and showing that place for a year, finally a realtor brought me a buyer and handled all the issues with the bank - getting the house a new roof and some other repairs. Paid the realtor 3% as he was not the listing agent. He really earned his money, and at the end we ended up with just a bit more in our pocket than the first realtor had suggested as an asking price. Figure we did about $15,000 better by going it on our own.

Take away for me was to be sure the local real estate agents know you will pay them 3% to bring you a deal that gets done and understand that agents are like all people - they want to do as little as possible to get paid - they can and will work both the buyer and the seller. If a place is priced really cheap it's easy to sell. Too high and it won't sell at all. As a seller you want to strike that delicate point just above where the agent has a really easy time of it because those are your dollars being dickered away.

 

[HFWR]

I replaced all appliances - the old ones were mismatched, and well, old...

Replaced cabinets and went with granite countertops and tile backsplash, plus tiled the floor, to replace the carpet over two layers of vinyl... Also widened the 32" doorway to a 72" opening, to make the K and DR "flow".

Cost, thereabouts i.e. from memory: appliances - $4000; cabinets - $5500; countertop - $2000; backsplash - don't remember, maybe $400 materials, labor unknown...

Don't expect to get much if any back from a sale, but it might make it sell faster, compared to comps in the neighborhood with the original builder-grade kitchens.

And the kitchen is so much nicer!

 

[Midpack]

It does like nice, well done.

 

[HFWR]

It does like nice, well done.

Couldn't find a "before" pic, but it's much improved.

 

[remodelingdan]

Regardless of what you decide it is a bit risky. If you dont update the kitchen it may "devalue" the other nice features of your home. OR if you do..it may add no value because the buyer may want to totally redo the kitchen and discount everything you added.

Although I am a big fan of remodeling - for quality of life and as an investment unless your kitchen really detracts from your home overall I would leave it as is. If it is an eyesore then redoing the floor _hardwood is my preference and granite (or quartz i prefer quartz not as many patterns and colors but really really tough and easy to care for) and paint and or new knobs on the cabinets is a good bet.

3 parting comments.
1. see if you can have a good real estate agent come in and tell you what they think. Better have 3. They are the ones that deal with this every day and can be very objective.
2. consider if your 2 years staying turns into 5 or 10??! Maybe an update would make your time in this home that much better..then it is worth doing.
3. before deciding also get a good estimate of the cost to do what you are planning. You cant make an investment decision like this without knowing true costs.

With all that done....you wont be able to make a bad decision!

 

[Skybird]

I may be moving to a place with particle board kitchen cabinets and I can't afford to do new ones so I am trying to figure out how to fix them up. But I would suggest countertop and flooring.