The Numbers: How Much Certain Improvements Add To Your Sales Price

Listing agents tell sellers repeatedly that certain improvements will add dollars to their sales price.  They tell owners to repaint, to de-clutter, update kitchen and bathrooms and replace carpet.  Many sellers resist making these changes.  This was evident as I perused the new listings on the market this week. I saw numerous photos where sellers didn't listen.  There was clutter, brightly painted walls, dated fixtures and appliances.  Ugh.  

 (Beautifully edited but buyers don't want a red and yellow dining room)

Two articles recently took the improvements mentioned above (or lack therefore) and added values.  Quantifying these steps emphasizes the importance of performing these tweaks before selling your property.  The first article I referenced in an earlier blog post:  "The Top 5 Home Improvements Based on Average Cost and Return on Investment."  This is fascinating:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering – ($290 cost / $1,990 price increase / 586% ROI)
2. Lightening and brightening – ($375 cost / $1,550 price increase / 313% ROI)
3. Home staging – ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase / 299% ROI)
4. Landscaping – ($540 cost / $1,932 price increase / 258% ROI)
5. Repairing electrical or plumbing – ($535 cost / $1,505 price increase / 181% ROI)

Another article that notes various improvements and how much they add or subtract from your price is "To Sell An Apartment, No Detail Is Too Small." from the NY Times.  Below are a few of the topics discussed in the article:


1. Clutter: Subtract 5 to 15 percent. 
2. Dirty rugs: subtract $5,000.
3. Replacing cabinets: add $107,000.
 
At the end of the day, a Realtors job is to get the best possible price for their client.  In order to do so, implementing the ideas a Realtor suggests will give sellers the results they desire.  Here's the numbers to prove it.