The Repairs That Will Help Sell Your House in a Cooling Market
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The Repairs That Will Help Sell Your House in a Cooling Market

More sellers are remodelling properties to avoid cutting prices, though some projects pay off more than others

By VERONICA DAGHER
Tue, Oct 11, 2022 8:52amGrey Clock 3 min

The playbook for selling a home needs a makeover, and often so do the houses.

Selling a house takes much more elbow grease than it did a year ago. Homeowners earlier could expect a bidding war the moment they staked the for-sale sign in the front yard, even if the property was in dire need of updating.

With mortgage rates now pushing 7%, buyers are harder to come by and easier to turn off, real-estate agents say. Making repairs or even small cosmetic improvements that buyers care about could make the difference between getting your asking price or giving a discount.

Between mid-July and mid-August, about 95% of home sellers made updates or repairs before listing their properties, up from 71% of sellers six to 12 months ago, according to Realtor.com. They spent an average of $14,163.

Not all renovations are worth the cost for sellers, data suggest. The top three interior remodelling projects with the highest return on investment are a hardwood-flooring refinish, new wood flooring and an insulation upgrade, according to a recent National Association of Realtors report.

Some sellers might find that smaller fixes such as a fresh paint job can make a bigger impression on buyers than pricier changes such as a renovated third bathroom, real-estate agents said.

“Sometimes, the upgrades that aren’t the sexiest pay off the most,” said Judy Dutton, executive editor at Realtor.com.

A big remodelling project, such as a new kitchen or deck, might not be worth the investment and delay a seller’s timeline, given supply and labor shortages, said Jessica Lautz, a vice president at NAR. Focus on more affordable projects that appeal to buyers and look beautiful in photos, such as refinishing hardwood floors, she said.

A hardwood-flooring refinish has a 147% cost recovery, meaning homeowners are likely to recoup well more than the cost, said Ms. Lautz. For comparison, a kitchen upgrade has a 67% cost recovery.

Consider the smaller things that are likely to turn buyers off and fix them fast. Mitigating strong odours is a relatively low-cost fix that helps sell a home, said Mark Barnes, a Realtor in Charleston, S.C.

Mr. Barnes got one client’s home a deep cleaning before showing it to potential buyers, because the scent of the owner’s dog overpowered the house.

The owner paid about $400 for the service, which included two carpet cleanings. The house sold for $475,000, about 5% over the list price, Mr. Barnes said. A deep cleaning could add $3,731 to the sale of a home, according to a recent report by HomeLight, a marketplace that connects home sellers with real-estate agents.

Enhancing curb appeal helps a home stand out to buyers and reduces seller concessions, said Darin Eppich, a Realtor in Los Angeles.

Mr. Eppich recommended his client David Garonzik resod the front lawn of a three-bedroom Woodland Hills, Calif., home as an improvement from the lawn that was dying from the drought. Mr. Garonzik considered putting in a desert landscape with rocks, but Mr. Eppich didn’t think the roughly $10,000 cost would be worth it or would seem as appealing to buyers.

Mr. Garonzik is hoping the $4,000 improvement will help him land more than the home’s $1 million asking price, though it is too soon to know whether the gambit worked.

For apartment sellers, focus on cosmetic upgrades—unless there is an apparent flaw such as a leaky faucet or nonworking appliances, said Renée Lee, a real-estate agent in New York City.

Anything that isn’t broken, is costly to replace and isn’t overtly visible, such as a new central air-conditioning system, won’t impress buyers as much as improvements they can see, such as new doors for the kitchen cabinets or customisable closet shelves, she said. Aim to fix anything that an inspection would turn up, real-estate agents said.

Rising material costs are one reason to be judicious with the projects you choose. Utility is another.

Cindy Scholz said one of her clients wasted more than $1,000 repainting his home’s garage floor and re-wallpapering the inside of closets.

“Don’t fixate on items that don’t matter,” said Ms. Scholz, a Realtor in East Hampton, N.Y.



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London’s Luxury Property Market Turns a Corner

After more than a year, prices have finally levelled out in prime central London, while outer London saw a small uptick in high-end prices from the previous quarter

By CASEY FARMER
Fri, Mar 29, 2024 2 min

The first quarter of the year brought some long-awaited signs of recovery in London’s luxury housing market, offering the first positive quarterly price growth since September 2022, according to a report from Savills on Wednesday.

After six consecutive quarterly price falls, luxury home prices in central London levelled out in the first three months of the year, with a 0.1% quarterly uptick in prices. The £3 million to £5 million (US$3.79 million to US$6.32 million) market saw a slightly larger increase of 0.3%.

Outer London’s luxury market saw greater quarterly price growth, with home prices up 0.8%, as some stability returned to mortgage costs and lured more buyers back to the market, according to the report.

All of this is evidence that the market is “in early stages of recovery,” according to Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills.

“The outlook for the housing market has certainly improved, partly because the mortgage market has recovered more quickly than expected,” Cook said in the report. “With the first rate cut rapidly coming into view and recessionary risks easing, greater stability has returned to the cost of mortgage debt, which has positively impacted domestic prime markets, where many buyers rely on borrowing, most notably in leafy outer prime South and West London, as well as the commuter belt.”

Outside of London, prices across the U.K. saw no quarterly growth heading into the beginning of the spring market, which is expected to bring higher levels of buyer activity in many regions.

Suburban regions saw prices dip just 0.1%, while urban areas—like Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and Bath and Oxford in England—saw prices increase by 0.6%.

Cook said regional buyers are more likely to be concerned about market uncertainty than London buyers in the lead up to the general election.

“As a result, buyers are still expected to be less committed until the dust has settled,” he said.

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This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan

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