New Appliances: As a home seller, you often have to balance the concerns that adding to or sprucing up your home could boost sales price with the issue that some renovations won’t pay for themselves in the boost you achieve. One area that is particularly in question is whether you should buy new appliances for your home to sell the house. The answer depends a lot on your goals, but also on the current appliances and the ones you’d be willing to spring for as you sell.
Consider Where Your Current Appliances Rank on Age and Efficiency
The biggest concerns that a homebuyer is going to express will surround the appliances’ age or efficiency. Older appliances can be more expensive to repair and may contribute to a dated look in the kitchen. So think about both the outward appearance and how you’d talk about them to a potential buyer: do they seem to contribute to high water or electricity bills? Do you have trouble with them leaking or needing expensive repairs? Any challenges with the appliances point toward a higher ROI if you do replace them, versus, perhaps, very recently replaced appliances.
Can New Appliances Rejuvenate a Dated Kitchen? Sometimes!
Another option is if you have a nearly neutral kitchen that now looks quite dated because of the appliances themselves. Instead of committing to an expensive kitchen remodel, you might pick some sleek modern appliances that all match and would look good with the cabinets and flooring. This can be a less-expensive version of a kitchen remodel that overall makes the space feel “up to date” without many updates.
If Functional but Older, The ROI May Not Be There
Remember that a home appraiser or home inspector is going to be focused on items that don’t work, not so much on items that are a little older. If the dishwasher doesn’t work, it’ll be highly advantageous to just go ahead and replace it; the doubts created by a non-functional core appliance are almost worse than not having that appliance. However, if you have functional appliances, your upgrades may only bring home price value if you happen to find a buyer who is really excited about those particular appliances. Otherwise, most buyers will either be happy just to have their functional appliances included in the sale, or they’ll eventually want to pick out their own new set of appliances with good features.
Another consideration to keep in mind is whether your individual real estate agent recommends replacing appliances. For instance, a real estate agent might know that many of the homes in your area are currently selling well with brand-new appliances, and adding that icing on the cake of your home sale could be the difference between 1 or 2 offers versus 4 or 5 offers. This isn’t true in all locations, or even most locations, but a good real estate agent makes it their busines to know exactly what the current demand is in your particular location. Consulting with them will give you better context to make the best decision about buying new appliances.
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