Unnecessary Renovation Does Not Increase Apartment Price
Does an apartment put up for sale need renovation? This is an age-old question, and the most important thing is to make a decision about what condition you want to sell the apartment in and what price you want to get, comments ELUM Real Estate broker Egon Juhanson.
"When starting the sales process, you need to keep in mind that an apartment needing renovation has its price and a renovated living space has its price," explains Juhanson. "Minor painting work in an apartment needing renovation does not make it a renovated apartment, and in fact you can still ask the price of an apartment needing renovation for it."
If the idea comes up to give the apartment a little refresh before selling, it's worth thinking through a few aspects. For example, is it worth painting the walls in a situation where it's known that soon you'll need to start replacing electrical wiring, which requires new channels to be routed into the walls? But if the idea comes up to install new parquet, then you need to check the condition of the floor underneath. Later, if the floor sags, you may receive a damage claim from the new owner.
"I see a lot of poor quality renovations on the real estate market, and those apartments are also hard to sell. Often the walls are painted, new parquet is laid, but everything else remains glaringly ugly or simply unfinished. In the case of such incomplete work, the new owner may have to demolish even the already completed renovation," says Juhanson.
He also singles out apartments with original finishes located in buildings from the boom years, built in 2005-2008, which are sometimes still wanted to be sold as new or in very good condition apartments. "Although you don't need to do major renovation there, since for example the wiring is perfectly adequate, the problem is rather outdated interior finishes, kitchens and sanitary facilities. Updating these still requires a significant amount of money, and these apartments are by nature apartments requiring sanitary renovation."
The hardest to sell is an older apartment in so-called average condition, where the last major work was done decades ago, but the price expectations are still high because the living space may not look bad at all in the pictures. Due to outdated communications, the real price of such an apartment shifts more towards the scale of living space needing renovation.
"So if you do renovate, then do it properly and thoroughly. But if the possibilities are nothing more than cosmetic improvements, then leave the apartment as it is. An old apartment can be sold quickly at the right price if it is clean and without excessive furniture and other clutter," sums up Egon Juhanson.
