There will be a day that your condo will be going on market eventually. Regardless of your situation and location, the place has to be presentable before real estate agents walk in with potential clients and we will discuss how to make it look better. There are condos that will sell below hundred thousand dollars and there are prime location luxury places that will enter the market with price above ten million. The question is how to present the place for ideal buyer.
Our team came up with 10 condo renovation tips in all markets:
- Tiny touch ups and paint job
- Upgrade hardware and outlets
- New Flooring Installation
- Open room separations and bulkheads
- Remodel bathrooms
- Complete kitchen transformation
- Install new appliances
- Walk in closet
- Upgrade lights
- Get new doors and door handles
Some of touch ups you can do by yourself within few days and some remodeling jobs will require month and month of work with contractors.
Tiny Touch ups and Paint Job
In situation where your place is relatively new and there are no damages than you might get away with work that will not cost much to bring condo unit back to its original state.
Moving in and out furniture even in brand new condo will have marks on the walls and drywall dents that will require fixes. You can easily do it by yourself or hire local painter and within few days it will look fresh again.
Fixing dents and repainting works for all types of condos. It can be very cheap place for quick flip or luxurious unit that has nothing wrong with it to get back on market.
Upgrade Hardware and Outlets
Another quick item to change in condo before selling it is hardware and electrical outlets. These things wear out in time and have out-dated look that turns away some clients.
Outlets and hardware does not cost too much to change. Some people may think you need to hire licensed electrician for this work, but in reality you just need a screwdriver. Obviously if you don’t want to get involved in any physical work you can hire handyman.
Hardware is something that people pay attention to all the time. It gets loose and starts showing rust on edges. You can easily purchase it online or in local chain shop like Lowes for quick condo fix.
Condo Renovation tips and New Flooring Installation
Floor definitely can brighten up new condo or underline specific style look. One specific reason to update the floor is because in older condos carpet was popular and now it is not. Forget that it is old, dirty and has many holes in it; the problem is that carpets are not in trend anymore.
In some condos previous owners could have had beautiful hardwood, but after moving furniture or living with pets, hardwood will have tons of permanent scratches. If you have leftovers of that floor material it can be very quick fix to replace damaged planks but in most cases you would need to change entire floor.
Expect to spend over $10,000 on materials and installation for new floors.
Open Room Separations and Bulkheads
After 2020 it is hard to find people that don’t go for modern, and modern style screams open concept. Our idea to make your condo sell faster is to open up unnecessary walls and bulkheads.
We often see those ugly bulks by the window that were built to hide connection of the curtains. There are separation walls between kitchen and living room that make entire concept look just wrong.
Our team suggest thinking of open concept looks as one of your condo renovation tips before selling it. Be careful with removing walls, because flooring will need to be filled in those areas.
Remodel Bathrooms with Tips
Recommendation of remodeling bathrooms before sale can be heard everywhere. The only two situations when we suggest renovating bathrooms before market set up are:
- When your condo value is higher than average and updating bathroom with match the needs of buyer
- When bathroom is in horrible condition with broken tiles, mold, or other damaged items that turn off all buyers immediately
Keep in mind that bathroom remodeling is expensive upgrade and performing it requires a lot of time. If bathroom remodeling is absolutely not required for condo before resale due to damages items or intensive upgrade we recommend not doing it.
Complete Kitchen Transformation
Most of kitchens in condos are very basic. Builders use same materials and layout to complete the job. If you open up real estate website and find listings in the same building we almost guarantee that kitchens are going to look the same.
Our idea to increase the chance of selling the unit is to attract with unique kitchen cabinets and countertop that would differentiate from everything else they see.
There are many ideas and materials for kitchen remodeling and it can range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands, and the requirement for this upgrade will depend on location of your condo.
Install New Appliances
When you want to purchase a place and move in without any issues, old appliances could become the barrier you don’t want. On Point Remodeling suggests buying new appliances for kitchen and laundry before selling to increase chance of selling faster and at higher price.
Of course this method works best when current appliances are completely out-dated. Newer condos will not need you spend all these money for appliances if they will look similar to what you already have.
A trick we suggest for home buyers to notice this upgrade is to leave plastic on new appliances.
Walk-In Closet Cabinets
The extra space in your close could sell the place in no time. Women love walk in closet and new organizers and shelves with beautiful lighting is something they have been dreaming of.
Two issues with building walk in cabinets is first of all you need to have walk in closet already and the return value has to be higher than you spend. In other words your condo is in higher bracket.
Custom cabinets in walk in closet average $12000 for work and materials with amazing features and lights, but can spike up the interest of buyers.
Upgrade Lights Inside and on Exterior
It is very easy and cost efficient to upgrade lights in condo renovation tips. Sometimes you can simply change light bulb and have completely different look.
Suggested areas where to upgrade your lighting for condo resale are: kitchen area and cabinet under lights; bathroom vanity fixture lights and front entrance with hallway lights.
Some condos do not have living or dining area lights and we suggest to install them there if you have a chance.
New Doors and Handles
Door hands are one of the cheapest upgrades that you can think of in condo apartment, but may have significant difference in overall look. You can literally get awesome door hands for under $30 a piece and with screwdriver install them in less than an hour.
Actual door change is suggested when they are damaged or in really poor condition. Most builders originally install hallow doors and upgrading them to solid doors with modern design.
Conclusion For Condo Remodeling Tips Article
If you want to get detailed analysis of your situation with suggestions in what you should be remodeling for reselling purposes you can contact On Point Remodeling directly be email. Subscribe to our newsletter for more upcoming articles.
