My house isn't selling, how far should I go to improve it?

[Allen Ellis]

Hi all, I'll try to be brief.

My house has been on the market for 5 months with no offers, even with 2 open houses and extensive marketing. It's large, is a 1920's historic home in a very high-demand area, and feedback has been that we are priced correctly ($500k), but the house is not upgraded enough.

The kitchen & bathrooms are dated, so I've decided that I need to fix those up. My question is: how much should I invest, given my situation?

Plan A: $40,000
This is the bid from my contractor which includes a new kitchen, plus rearranging the master bedroom/bathroom and utility/laundry area to be larger.

Plan B: $20,000
This would just be a new kitchen and upgrading the master bath in-place. Keep the laundry in the kitchen where it is now, and the tiny master bathroom.

Other variables:

• Location: The house is out of state. I could fly in probably once or maybe twice to check in on the work, or maybe a friend or realtor could drop by from time to time.
  
• Financing: I have $10,000 in cash. I can borrow $20,000 from a family member. To get another $10,000 I would have to pursue other private/public sources.

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My realtor thinks I should find a way to do Plan A. He thinks we would get our money back if it's good workmanship.

I am leaning towards agreeing with him because I want it sold as soon as we can. But I don't know if it's wise for me to go into so much debt, particularly because I can't be there to supervise, and I don't know if I can line up the financing (credit score = 661/682/690).

Any insights are appreciated. Thanks!