Megan Bower Realtor

Are you itching to renovate your home and use the fact that you may sell it later as a justification? By all means your updates will help sell your home. Recouping all of the costs? Doubtful.

Kitchen remodels jumped 36% in 2011 as many potential sellers found that their homes are not selling for what they want. They may have to stay longer and are putting in a new kitchen to enjoy while they’re there.

Good plan, but don’t set your expectations too high.

Before making any definite decisions, check out the Cost vs Value report at:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2011/costvsvalue/national.aspx

The St. Pete Times article in the Sunday paper told us that inventory (#houses on the market) is low so it is becoming a Seller’s market in some areas. We have about 6 months worth of homes on the market, and that is the definition of a healthy market.

It also discusses the ‘auction’ effect some sellers are getting when they list their homes and get multiple offers. This is true, and an excellent pricing strategy. What the article didn’t stress was that these sellers priced their homes extremely low to make this happen. Pricing at top of market levels won’t bring an auction atmosphere within a week.

In fact, there are so many buyers active now that if you put your home on the market and don’t have a good level of traffic and one offer within the first three weeks – reduce the price.