Current trends --- what sells, what doesn't

[Kevin Barnett]

I am just now starting work on my first rehab. I'm finding out that there are some difficult decisions to make. If this was a complete burn-out and I had to replace EVERYTHING then it wouldn't be such a hard decision to go with $3,500 cabinets or $10,000 cabinets. Obviously, I would base that on the level of property and put in really cheap cabinets in a run down part of town with $75,000 houses and put in really nice custom cabinets on a $800,000 house in a ritzy part of town. That's a pretty easy decision to make.

What I'm finding difficult is trying to decide if what I have is good enough to pass muster or if it needs to be replaced, altogether. The difference can easily be the difference of thousands if not tens of thousands.

For example:

Are my cabinets good enough? Could they be painted for a few hundred or do I need to replace them. - $800 vs. $4,500

Do I keep the existing tile in the kitchen, which isn't very nice, but isn't very bad either? Maybe I could just steam clean the tile and grout. $200 vs. $1,500.

I know the carpet needs to be replaced but is nylon good enough with a nice 8 lb. pad or do I need to go polyester? Which rooms should be carpeted and which ones wood or tile? $5,000 - $10,000.

These are just examples but hopefully you get my meaning. It would be nice to know the minimum necessary to sell a property. What are the current trends in flooring, counter tops, cabinets paint colors, lighting, landscaping, etc. What sells the property quick and what upgrades are a waste of money? Maybe we should have a full forum category just for this topic?

[J Scott]

In general, I replace everything, unless it's practically brand new.  When a buyer walks into a house and 80% of the finishes are new, the focus is going to be on the 20% of finishes that aren't new -- and at that point, the value of the 80% new stuff will go out the window.

So, if you're going to replace more than 50% of the finishes in a house, just replace everything.

Now, as to whether to go low-end or high-end, my experience is that high-end is RARELY warranted.  I use the same cabinets in my $500K houses as I do in my $100K houses.  In fact, I used similar cabinets in my $700K personal residence that I recently built.  If it's good enough for my wife, it's good enough for my buyers.  

Now, if you're doing truly custom homes at the very high end, that's different.  But, for the most part, finishes won't change much from the low- to the mid-level houses -- at least not the way I do things (others may disagree).