How Recent Is That Renovation?

There’s an old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” And, that is what a real estate “showing” to potential buyers is really about.

You can take a listing from a seller who has given you the responsibility of selling his “gem” which he has polished, cleaned, decorated, and lived in with all his hopes and dreams for the last thirty years, only to show it to a buyer who, after inspecting it for all of fifteen minutes, turns to you and says, “It’s so old, it needs everything redone and I don’t have the time or money to renovate it.”

I look around and try to emphasize how well maintained everything is, how clean and how pretty, but all the buyer can see is not that the bathrooms are in good condition or the kitchen cabinets are wood, but that the bathroom tile and fixtures are outdated and the kitchen cabinets are vintage—if you can call 1990s or early 2000s vintage.

This scenario is not an unusual one as I take prospective new buyers out looking for homes. Whether they are looking for homes at prices way below the starting prices of homes in this neighborhood or mid-range or upper ranges, the one priority they all seem to share is that whatever they find, they want “renovated.” Now, “renovated” used to mean that the upgrades were done in the last 10 years. Today, the new buys will often say, “I need to renovate. This has to be at least five years old.”

Renovations done even 5-10 years ago might include styles of bathrooms or kitchens that today have gone out of style, or kitchen cabinets or countertops that are Formica, even if the ones that were installed were expensive custom Formica.

What I have come to realize is that the younger buyers who have recently come into the real estate market have become more discerning and more specific about their wants and seem to have very high end desires no matter what price range they fall into when looking to buy a new home. It turns out that many new home buyers are seeking renovated homes rather than fixer-uppers. This is a trend that has been driven by factors such as increased costs of renovating, a desire for move-in readiness, and the idea that renovated homes are a better investment.

In previous years, a buyer looking for high end renovations was typically a high-priced buyer who was willing to pay for those expensive renovations found in the higher priced houses. Today, new buyers looking to purchase a home at all levels of the market—high and low—are holding out for renovated or fancily designed homes as opposed to homes that may be in good condition and well-maintained but have not been upgraded recently.

How is this going to play out in the real estate market when so many of the homes for sale presently are not renovated in this manner? I have no idea, but will keep you posted! n

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, management and commercial real estate services in the 5 Towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].