Conflicting views with business partner on finishes

[Matt Taschner]

Hello everyone,  I'm looking for some feedback regarding deciding what to do with cosmetic changes.  My partner and I recently purchased our 3rd investment property, a 4br 2br that needs some cosmetic repairs.  It was built in 1994 and as you can imagine the trim, doors, and cabinets are the older golden oak finish.  I feel like we could salvage the cabinets by refinishing them white as they are in good shape, paint the trim and replace the doors.  My partners view on this one is that because the cabinets are in such good shape to leave them and just replace the counter tops.  I am not a huge fan of the golden oak look and I feel like our buyers will feel the same.  He thinks the house would not benefit by changing it to white.  My question is have any of you had similar conflicts when dealing with partnerships or what would you do in this situation?  Thanks in advance.

[Jean Bolger]

Do you use an agent to list your properties? If so, I'd get their opinion. Or any third party that has a pretty good bead on what is selling well, design wise, in your area. You can agree ahead of time to let the third party be the tie breaker!