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Hilton Head Home Improvements: Cost vs. Value

Posted by Bill True on Wednesday, May 6th, 2015 at 5:44pm.

You want to sell your home, but it needs some work before you put it on the market. There are no major structural issues, the roof is good, the siding has held up well; it just needs some tweaking to get it up to standard with —and preferably beyond—comparables currently on the market. What are the best upgrades and replacements for the money?  Well, it depends on the house, and, of course, the location.  But more than that, it depends on the market to whom you are selling.

Let’s say you have a home near the beach.  Maybe it’s oceanfront, second-row, third-row (or even further back) and it was built after 1977 (so it conforms to FEMA flood elevation standards).  It’s been a good house, it’s a great size, it was built well, has a garage and maybe even a finished room above the garage for the kids to play ping-pong and watch television; but, since it was a second home and you used it only occasionally through the years, it needs some cosmetic work (exterior and interior painting, carpet), new landscaping (a lush new lawn makes for great head-turns), the black appliances need to be replaced with the sleek stainewnless steel ones, and the laminate kitchen/bath countertops needed to go ten years ago. Oh, and the kitchen and bath cabinets are showing their age, too.  Now that you are giving it serious consideration, everything needs to go.  But wait.  You want to sell it.  Why would you put so much into selling it when you can’t possibly get it all back when it closes?

Look around you.  Have the owners of neighboring properties sold recently?  What were the conditions of their homes?  The value of your home might be in the value of your lot.  Perhaps the buyer of your property intends to tear it down and re-build.  Or, maybe not.  While new construction (and major remodeling) is picking up on the Island (building permits are at new highs), older homes that once languished for months with few showings and no buyer interest due to their lack of curb appeal and interior finishes are now in high demand. Today’s buyer is savvy and sophisticated; they want properties they can work with—and retro is back in style for many younger buyers working within a budget.

Bill True can guide you in pricing your property properly—and he will get it sold!  Give him a call today at 843.384-9088 to discuss listing your property.

-Bill True

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