Kitchen Ideas: 8 Ways to Prep for Resale

Lori is correct. It is still a seller's market in Atlanta, too. Three things sell homes: Price, Condition, Location. If you have all three your house will sell in hours, if not days. If your house sells quickly then you've followed the advice of your Realtor regarding price, purged and staged to make the condition be exceptional. Since you have no control over location, it's vitally important that you listen to your trusted advisor, your Realtor, to make sure you are stacking the cards in your favor!

Exactly, it depends where you live. I live in a city in Europe where everything under 1 million euro is sold within a week, no matter how beaten up the kitchen looks (when you're paying a million for a home, adding the price of renovating a kitchen doesn't make a big difference anymore). And "renovating" a kitchen/bathroom is just another excuse for the seller to add 100 000 more to the selling price. This is precisely why I hate it so much, I don't WANT to pay more for something renovated but ugly. I'd much rather buy something with a kitchen from the seventies and decide for myself how I'm going to refurbish it.

Another comment about this article....most likely some repetitions of others’ words of wisdom: I strongly disagree with the first suggestion! NO ONE wants a wood-look laminate, esp. not in homes above $200000.....people want the real thing, imo even in “not so expensive” homes. And, honestly, at least here in NC, tile is not much cheaper, if at all, esp. if it looks nice. Point #2: Again, most buyers in the $200000+ price range (at least here in NC) will not want a DIY kitchen cab paint job! We looked into having our cabs painted professionally, which not all painters do, and were quoted at least $8000-12000.....FAR above the mentioned price point of $2000, clearly. And “designer backsplashes”, whatever that means, are also tricky. We did replace our slate backsplash in the kitchen (too dark and hard to clean) a few years ago, but we did it for us, not resale. We chose a light, linear glass tile (Opera glass Stilato by Artistic Tile), no mixed colors for a “speckled” look, which so many people do these days....we hate this multi-color look, esp. with a granite that has color variations and/or lots of movement.....way too busy. In conclusion I would say this: unless you have a house with some truly hideous (maybe from a previous owner’s reno) or outdated features, it’s not worth to renovate prior to selling; everyone has their own taste and will likely make changes themselves. If you must replace something I suggest choosing more neutral, “boring” styles, otherwise too many buyers will dislike it. And to all those who are fortunate to live in a hot seller’s market: don’t worry about any of the above! Declutter, clean, show that you care, and have cared, for your house, and it will sell.