Best way to renovate for quick and $$$ sale

Some questions for you:
1 - What neighborhood is this in?
2 - Co-op or condo?
3 - How long have you lived there?
4 - How much financial flexibility do you have?
5 - How much time flexibility do you have?

Morningside heights. Condo. 2-3 mo. 15-20k max

No laminate floors. Buyers see them and start calculating the cost to install hardwood. You can do engineered hardwood and perhaps even float them over the existing floor if that makes for an easier install (just make sure the old floors are level and the doors clear the new floor height, or cut down the door bottoms). Medium tones, like brazilian cherry have been getting lots of compliments at my listings. Is there wood under the carpets or concrete slab? If there's parquet underneath that can be refinished and stained walnut that could save you a lot of time and money. With new floors you'll need new baseboards. For paint, neutral, light grey/beige have been popular, paired with bright white trim. How big is the kitchen? Definitely Ikea cabinets and I'd go with quartz composite countertops but have your GC find a brand that's less expensive than Caesarstone or Silestone. Stainless appliances but they don't have to be high-end. Something that's lower to mid range, that looks good, should be fine. You didn't mention the bathrooms. Are they in decent shape? Your budget sounds too low for all this work. I do a lot of this quick/inexpensive rehabbing/staging for my listings so please feel free to contact me off board if you have an specific questions.

The objectives of "fast" and for "a high dollar amount" don't always go together (see the oft-cited Freakonomics study that real estate brokers keep their personal listings on the market longer to squeeze out more money).

It might make sense to do the floors and the kitchen, but on your budget, that's not possible. Since most buyers up here (I live on the UWS) will expect to do some renovation, I would say if you're not doing the entire job, don't do any of it.

My recommendation would be to do a very nice paint job, a professional deep cleaning (which could cost you four figures) and some staging. Jason makes a great point about exposing existing parquet, but be careful, because if it's only lightly glued to the slab, when you pull the carpet up, the parquet tiles could scatter everywhere (BTDT).

Most real estate brokers will walk through the space and make more specific recommendations.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

jasonl is absolutely correct about laminate flooring. When we were looking in Washington Heights, Morningside Heights, and Inwood, we immediately asked for a price reduction to replace the laminate flooring. Some of the places used very cheap engineered wood and we asked for a reduction also. If you wanted to replace all the flooring with hardwood, that could be almost half of your budget.

When I sold my 2BR apartment, I asked my broker for upgrade recommendations based on comps in my building. He said that my bathroom floors and formica kitchen cabinet doors were in bad shape and would detract from the sales price based on the comps in the building. Also, I had white appliances that were old and cheap and slightly worn formica countertops. My floors and paint job were in excellent condition, but he recommended repainting a hallway with faux painting. We put it on the market "as is" with a price in line with the comps and had no real offers.

We listened to our broker and did a "facelift" renovation using better quality products (granite, totally wood doors, GE Profile SS appliances) along with several improvements not on his list. We spent under 20K, put the apartment on the market for 60K more, and had competing bids at the first showing.

The bottom line was that we broadened our base of potential buyers from "fixer uppers" to those looking for an attractive apartment with no work needed, not necessarily top of the line.

Thank you . Bathrooms are ok. Kitchen is not big 8x9 i think, open to living room. Kitchen has old white cabinets with black granite countertop. If i go for ikea - what do u think about white lacquer? I am thinking to keep black countertop. Also , so you think its better to list and show without furniture etc or do staging... Currently this is vacant apt.

jasonl is absolutely correct about laminate flooring. When we were looking in Washington Heights, Morningside Heights, and Inwood, we immediately asked for a price reduction to replace the laminate flooring. Some of the places used very cheap engineered wood and we asked for a reduction also. If you wanted to replace all the flooring with hardwood, that could be almost half of your budget.

When I sold my 2BR apartment, I asked my broker for upgrade recommendations based on comps in my building. He said that my bathroom floors and formica kitchen cabinet doors were in bad shape and would detract from the sales price based on the comps in the building. Also, I had white appliances that were old and cheap and slightly worn formica countertops. My floors and paint job were in excellent condition, but he recommended repainting a hallway with faux painting. We put it on the market "as is" with a price in line with the comps and had no real offers.

We listened to our broker and did a "facelift" renovation using better quality products (granite, totally wood doors, GE Profile SS appliances) along with several improvements not on his list. We spent under 20K, put the apartment on the market for 60K more, and had competing bids at the first showing.

The bottom line was that we broadened our base of potential buyers from "fixer uppers" to those looking for an attractive apartment with no work needed, not necessarily top of the line.

excellent insight

The Ikea white foil doors and black granite are going to have a dated early 2000's look. I've always felt the pairing was too stark. Whether you can reuse the countertop would depend on if it already has a large enough under mount sink cut out and the edge style. An eased edge is probably the most popular. If it's bullnoise like then I'd pass. If you're going to go through all the trouble of replacing the cabinetry, I'd go all the way and get new countertops too to complete the newly renovated look. Impossible to say which style/palette would work best for you without seeing the space. If you can post pics or email I'll be happy to give you more specific feedback/suggestions.

As for staging, I'm a huge proponent. I've personally staged most of my listings which you can click through in my profile. I go through the time and effort because the photos end up being so much more attractive staged over empty apartments and that brings more buyers. I can compare apples to apples as I've had some listings which I couldn't stage (tenant in place, etc) which sat on the market for awhile with little interest, which I was later able to stage and then they went to contract immediately after the staging. The staging also helps buyers visualize how they can use the space, and has come in very handy with open kitchens. Typically the wall that used to separate the kitchen and living room was the wall where the tv or couch went. With the wall gone it's often not obvious to many buyers how they can arrange their living rooms (around their tv's) as they only have one long wall left. Also, if there's no dining alcove next to the open kitchen, the staging can help buyers see a clear "dining area," which has also been a pretty big deal at my family sized apartments. I can go on and on...

Did you do the reno? What did you do?