Floor Resurfacing Before You Sell

Posted by urbandigs

Mon Feb 6th, 2006 01:25 PM

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A: As I prepare my apartment for sale, I must weigh the cost and expected return on investment when it comes to what renovations to do and what not to do. In a sellers market its always good to renovate the kitchens, bathrooms, and floors and then bump up your asking price when you go to sell. However, in a market where the 'power and control' has shifted closer to buyers, you must rethink this strategy. In my case, its best to save money and do the floors only.

P.S. As I leave to get this work done I will be unable to post to UrbanDigs.com. I will continue to post when I get back!

What renovations to do and not to do is a call that really depends on your own unique financial situation. If you have tons of money and time to 'test out' the market as you sell, then I will tell you to go ahead and renovate the kitchens, bathrooms, and floors before you list your property for sale. But if you have limited funds and would like the apartment to sell within the first few months, I think it would be best to minimize your renovation costs and then lower your asking price to bring in more activity.

One can easily spend $15,000-$20,000 renovating a kitchen and another $10,000 renovating a bathroom. In total, you are spending about $25,000 and going through the headache of 1-2 months of contracting work. By adding this cost to your asking price when it is NOT a sellers' market is dangerous because ultimately the buyer has to come to terms with the style of renovations you had done; i.e. A buyer would ask themselves, "...Am I paying for renovations that I really like? Will I have to re-renovate?"

To resurface your hardwood floors will cost you about $2 a square foot. With a nice Sedona Red Miniwax Stain and 3 coats of water based poly, I know that for $2,250 my hardwoood floors are going to look much different when I come back on Thursday! I hope!

Look at the picture above of my hardwood floors now. They are 18 years old, never been refinished, and have absolutely no luster or shine to it whatsoever. In a word, they are 'Lifeless'! How can I ask top dollar for my property and expect to excite buyers as they come to my Open House when the floors look so glum? For the cost of $2,250 the work I'm having done should change all of this!

Now I dont know how it will come out as I chose the lowest of the 3 estimates I got, but I will certainly write a post on this when I return Thursday with Before & After pics.

With a brand new fully re-surfaced floor (sanded down ---> stained ---> 3 coats of poly) I know that the moment buyers open the door they will be greeted with a beautifully shiny floor that just makes the whole apartment look so much better!

UrbanDigs Says: In a slowing market where buyers have at least the same control as sellers, DO NOT spend top dollar renovating your kitchen and bathroom and expect to profit from the work done! The buyer may not like the work you did and could very well submit an offer that takes into account the time & money to re-renovate to their own taste! Instead, spend less money and fix up the things that are in need the most; i.e. furnish the closets, resurface the floors, and paint the walls and baseboards!