New Kitchen? Is it worth the money to remodel before selling?

It is hard to imagine that we still are short of "decent listings" in Montgomery County. The number of pending homes sales has been down for the past two months. In part this is due to the season and in my opinion to nervousness over the recent government budget battle. However, in spite of this there are still not many good homes out there to show to my purchaser clients. I find the market is a little strange in that some houses are selling amazingly fast while a number of homes are sitting on the market with relatively few people going to see them. The reason? Well, I think there has been some fundamental changes in the tastes of the general buying public over the course of the past decade that has an impact on the housing market. One reason is due to the recent banking crisis. Buyers have grown more cautious and selective in the past few years and are looking very carefully at the condition of a home before rushing into a purchase. They are looking for long term value and this generally translates into carefully selecting a home that has lots of recent upgrades. Buyers do not want to take on an expensive mortgage in addition to buying a home that will need additional money poured into it over the next few years to update kitchens, baths and mechanical systems. In addition, I really think that the newer generation of buyers are just not into buying homes that need fixing up. It just seems that younger buyers seem to have better things to do than spend a lot of time working on their homes.

If I had to pick one major problem area with a home not selling my first choice would be that dated kitchen  Old baths and mechanical systems are important too but the kitchen is where it all starts. My reasoning is simple.  If three decades of showing homes have taught me one thing, it is that ninety per cent of the time when a prospective buyer first enter a home, they head straight for the kitchen. Yep, they do not look at the furnace, or the water pipes or for that matter the roof, they go look at the kitchen. So, if the kitchen has old Formica counter tops or a worn vinyl floor then you as the seller are going to lose a lot of buyers right from the get go. Lets face it, nobody wants your old Amanda Radar Range these days. To put it bluntly, buyers want to see new, modern kitchens. And if your kitchen is dated then you are not dealing from strength when looking to market your home. If somebody does turn out to be interested in your home then they are going to start figuring up how much it will cost them to upgrade the kitchen with the intention of offering less. This will translate into both a longer time for your on the market and a much lower selling price. So yes, I would say that it is a smart thing to consider putting some money into your kitchen before putting your home on the market. If you would like me to come by and help you evaluate your home prior to listing it just contact me and I will be glad to come and give you home a look.

It is important to note that most sellers do not need to gut and renovate their kitchens to make them look significantly better. On a much more modest scale, the addition of new counter tops and fixtures or some new appliances and a few new handles and knobs on the cabinets will do the trick It does not necessarily have to be expensive to get your kitchen looking nicer. Here is a great video from Lowe's Youtube site that shows you how you can upgrade your kitchen without busting the budget.

Shotgun Shack?

Many of you who regularly drive on Jones Bridge Rd. in Bethesda are familiar with this home. For thirty years I have driven by the home and wondered about it. It seems so out of place in Bethesda where so many of the homes are upscale. There is a history to this home and the neighboring community that I will perhaps write about at a later date. The question for today is exactly what style of home is it? I have been doing some research but have come up with a few style descriptions that this home might fall under. I kind of think it is a two level "shotgun" style home.  Shotgun homes are more typically found in the South and generally consist of one level only. However, I did find a few examples of two level shotgun homes. If you want to see some great examples do a search for images of  shotgun homes in New Orleans. You can get a good idea of what the style is like from the many examples found in that city. The most important thing in defining a shotgun home is that there are typically no hallways. The houses lead from front to back and one room (generally the living room first) leads directly into the next, usually through a single door.

I asked my friend Gordon Bock, the former editor of  "Old House Journal" and author of a few books on renovating historic properties, and he was not sure if it is a true shotgun house. However, Gordon admitted that he was not sure which style the home could be classified under as well. How about you? Want to take a stab at it. I would be interested to hear your comments and opinions about this home.