3 Improvements to Consider when Preparing to Sell Your Westfield, NJ Home

3 Improvements to Consider when Preparing to Sell Your Westfield, NJ Home

Home buyers in Westfield, NJ can be tough customers.  They “eek!” at the wallpaper you’ve loved and lived with for years.  The older kitchen in which you’ve cooked and served countless delicious/nutritious, meals makes them queasy.  And they protest they can’t live a minute with your cozy bathrooms, lavishly and professionally decorated a decade or more ago.

As Rodney Dangerfield used to say, “tough crowd!”

Buyers in Westfield, NJ crave two housing options in our leafy Jersey suburb: new construction or state of the art interiors within traditional exteriors.  Alongside good schools, plentiful parks, and our lively downtown, they want a house that is in pristine, move-in condition.  The market rewards sellers with homes that are renovated and ready, with quick sales at handsome prices.  It’s a seller’s market for the “Best in Show” homes in every price range.

Perhaps you’ve read about the return on investment for certain home improvements and this is weighing on your decision about how to prepare your Westfield, NJ home for sale.  Remodeling Magazine promises a 55% return on investment on a major kitchen renovation and 50% return on a bathroom remodel.

Return on investment for your Westfield, NJ home renovation (Source - This Old House)

But these numbers don’t tell the whole story.  Buyers in Westfield, NJ don’t want to purchase a new home and then have to live through the considerable inconvenience of a home repair project.  They would also far prefer to have the cost of that home renovation built into the original purchase price and thus into their mortgage.

So we believe you will recoup or even profit by sagely done renovations.  The key is to proceed in proportion to your price potential after improvements.  The sooner you involve a Realtor and Stager in your thinking, the higher your return will be:

1. Upgrade and update your kitchen. You can be creative and thoughtful about how you renovate, and everything doesn’t have to be top of the line.

2. Re-do your bathrooms. Consider classic fixtures but also green improvements like low-flow shower heads and dual-flush toilets.

3. Remove older, out-of-date wallpaper and repaint in neutral colors. You may love your color scheme but give the new owners a clean palate on which to build their own memories.

After renovating and updating, you may decide you love your Westfield, NJ home so much you won’t want to sell.  But if and when you do, you’ll find your Westfield home well received in a fiercely competitive marketplace. 

For questions or advice about any of these home improvements as you prepare to sell your Westfield, NJ home, consider me your community concierge.  Contact me for strategic planning and information about local contractors: