So the time has come to start the next chapter of your life. You’re selling your home and moving on to bigger and better things. There’s a buzz in the air of heightened anticipation and what feels like endless questions and possibilities to consider. 

One thing you might not have figured out yet is whether or not to renovate before you put your house on the market. This can be a very tricky thing to commit to as it has numerous pros and cons that go along with it. So, how do you decide the best course of action?

What to consider

Firstly, let’s get inquisitive. You’ll need to establish exactly what you’re hoping to achieve and why. Is it your plan to get a better return on investment? What is your current financial situation? Are you (and your family) in a good head space to take on the stress of refurbishing? How much time do you have before listing your property for sale? These are all questions that you’ll need to address before going forward.

Renovating before you sell

If at this stage, you’re leaning more towards the idea of taking on some renovations before putting your house on the market, then you’ll need to start thinking about what type of restorations you want to undertake. Are you just thinking of adding a new coat of paint to the living room, or are you planning on going all out and doing a complete overhaul of the kitchen and bathroom? Whatever you do is going to have a significant impact on the perceived value of your home, so make sure you do your research before making any huge commitments.

Have a read of our article Clever Ways to Boost the Value of Your Home for Under $10,000, or The Renovation Do’s & Don’ts of Boosting Your Property Value to get a good idea about some of the best jobs to tackle if you’re looking to increase the value of your home. 

Reno life

So, once you decide on which renovations you want to tackle, you’ll then be dealing with the reality of what it means to live and breath through the restoration process. Again, the impact that this has on your day to day life will ultimately depend on the level of refurbishments that you’ve decided to undertake. If you’re making smaller scale improvements then you might only need to deal with minor irritations. However, if you’re going full-blown demolition mode then you may even need to move out for the duration of the renovation. Is that going to be compatible with work commitments? Do you have important dates scheduled around these times that could clash with your house being in the middle of a repair job? Keep all of this in the back of your mind before making any solid plans. 

Selling your home as is

Renovations aren’t for everyone. Even those who have lived through countless domestic upgrades will tell you that it’s no walk in the park. It can take a serious restructuring of daily life and often place a great deal of stress on your home environment. Many people have no qualms with this and breeze through the process as if it were another day’s work. Others do not cope well with the chaos. If you think you might be in the latter group then there’s absolutely no shame in that. Selling your home as it currently stands might be your best option. Obviously the biggest advantage to taking this route is that you don’t need to go through the rigmarole of planning and executing any renovations. The down side might be that you aren’t able to get as big a profit as you could have hoped for when it comes time to sell. 

The very first thing you’ll want to do before taking the next step is to get a property valuation. An agent will drop by, assess your home in its current state and give you an official appraisal of what your property is worth. It’s a wise idea to get a second, and often third opinion when it comes to property valuations because although such assessments follow certain pricing principles, there are no hard and fast rules, and opinions will likely differ.

Additional considerations

On top of the multitude of things we’ve already covered that need to be adequately addressed before making any grand plans, there are also a couple of other fairly crucial factors you might want to consider before moving forward. The current demand within your property’s market is a good place to gauge whether certain renovations will or will not be worth the time, effort, and cost. Depending on the area your selling in, what buyers are currently looking for, and the present state of the housing market, the value of a given renovation will have differing effects, so it’s best to get your head around these things before going all out and potentially wasting thousands on something that might’ve been better spent elsewhere. 

Another thing to consider is the age of your home. Depending on how old your property is, certain refurbishments may even be a necessity to bring it up to a saleable standard. However, the older a property is, the chances are that the work needing to be done will be more costly than their modern counterparts. So this is something you’ll need to weigh up in terms of a cost-to-benefit ratio. 

If, after all is said and done, you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should renovate or sell as is, the absolute best thing you can do is ask around. Getting the low-down on friends and family’s personal experiences of living through their own renovations, their trials and tribulations, and all the associated costs involved is likely going to be your biggest asset when it comes time to decide on the best course of action.

No matter what you decide to do though, don’t be scared off by the process. As overwhelming as it might look from the outside, it’s really just a step-by-step plan that will go smoothly if you just sit down and think it all through from renovation-top to renovation-bottom.