Helen Morris, National Post
Once you have decided to put your home up for sale, you want to make it look as good as possible to potential buyers. One way to spruce up your home is to indulge in a few do-it-yourself projects. But before getting out your cordless drill or screwdriver, consider if your handywork will actually add to the value and saleability of your property.
“Unless you have the time, talent and tools — and in this case, two out of three is not good enough–don’t do it yourself, particularly if you’re fixing to sell and to add value to your home,” says Stephen Dupuis, president and chief executive of the Building Industry & Land Development Association.
Still, there are a few straightforward projects you might want to consider to enhance your home pre-sale.
“Two rooms that you need to focus on are your kitchen and your bathroom,” says Frank Turco, senior manager of trend and design at Home Depot. “There are some small things you can do that can pretty much transform either one of those rooms. The most obvious is paint and switching out lighting, which are easy DIY projects. To enhance curb appeal, there are easy things like painting your front door, switching your accessories, maybe your external lights are a little dated, your mailbox, your house number.”
Before deciding to get more ambitious with the DIY, be honest about your capabilities.
“A lot of people overestimate their abilities. They end up doing whatever it is but not doing it well,” says Laurin Jeffrey, a real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty. “I’ve seen some really awful things, people removing walls, saying, ‘Oh, I did that myself ‘–I can tell. Or basement bathrooms that look like they’re just a flood waiting to happen.”
Instead of adding value to your home, a less-than-handy DIY job might end up costing you a potential buyer.
“The most common things I see are structural problems … Somebody thinks they can just take a wall out,” says David Males, president of Northern Edge Construction Services Ltd. “I’ve even had to call in an engineer to look at things so we can fix them.”
Fixing botched DIY is an obvious cost consideration for a potential buyer, who is advised to get an inspector in case something nastier lies beneath.
“When I, as a buyer’s agent, see [DIY], I sometimes wonder what they are trying to hide,” Mr. Jeffrey says.
Some of the more serious DIY blunders can, unfortunately, be hidden from unsuspecting buyers, Mr. Males says.
“The latest was a small rear addition where it was obvious the homeowner had tried to do some framing work and make it look nice,” says Mr. Males. “But you take the finishes off and it’s ready to fall apart. That’s an extreme case where we had to tear it down and rebuild it.”
But skilled DIY enthusiasts need not be discouraged.
“If you are handy and you can do something — and you know how to do it — do it,” says Mr. Jeffrey.
The poorer the condition a house is in to begin with, the more likely your DIY will add value. Mr. Jeffrey gives by way of example a project undertaken by some of his relatives:
“The house was a disaster to begin with. It was in pretty rough shape, but they put in the work: They pulled out walls, put in insulation, redid the kitchen, redid the bathroom,” says Mr. Jeffrey.
“Some of it’s quite good, some of it’s not the best, but it’s a lot better now. And by doing a lot of that work themselves, they’ve probably increased the value of the house. And they’ve put, what, ten grand and a lot of sweat equity into it.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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