House needs work? What should you fix first?
Avoid investing more into repairing your house than what it is worth.
When making repairs to your house, it is important to keep a budget. It makes financial sense to be aware of the current worth of the house you bought. Real estate markets fluctuate, and your house could be worth more or less than when you originally purchased it. You want to make sure you have more equity in your house than the amount of renovation you want to do. This way you will avoid problems if you later need to sell the house for any reason.
What areas provide the most value to the house?
Making repairs or updates to the kitchen & bathrooms generally add the most value to the house. If the kitchen cabinets are outdated or in disrepair, it really adds to the value of the house to replace them. There are many choices to make when it comes to what materials to use. In updated homes it is common to find ceramic tile used for flooring. This adds value, as they are very durable, and last a very long time. A ceramic tile is easy to replace if one does break, vs replacing an entire laminate floor.
Using ceramic tile as flooring in the kitchen and bathroom is a good investment into the house. Other materials you may want to consider using are granite countertops and cherry kitchen cabinets.
These cabinets hit a middle ground in terms of price and value. They are more expensive than cabinets made from particleboard but not as expensive as other higher quality woods.
Especially if you plan on living in the house for a long time, granite countertops are a good investment into the house. They show little to no wear, and can last the lifetime of the house.
Bedrooms, Living Rooms, & dining rooms – should you update them?
If the choice you must make is between renovating the kitchen or updating the carpets and wall colors. The kitchen provides a better return on your investment. The reason is because new home buyers are prone to change the wall colors and carpets to the colors they want, and will overlook the colors and condition. However, if you update the kitchen it will stand out against the other houses in the area that do not have their kitchens updated. If you are updating the bedrooms and living areas, painting the walls a neutral color is recommended as it is easy to match furniture to the color.
Your house needs work and you need to sell it. – You have options.
You can sell your house as is. You can list the property with a realtor, or avoid commissions and sell directly to a real estate investment group. A real estate investment group will buy the house in cash and do the renovations, then either sell it or rent the property.
A real estate professional can help you with more information. These are a few tips to get you started on the right track.