I get it. Buying a house is a BIG DEAL. And ideally, it’s going to be one giant piggy bank you will cash out in the future when you go to sell it. I hear a lot about “resale” and making renovation choices based on this ephemeral idea. What really is resale value?
Resale Value!
Eventually when you go to sell your home you will need to find a buyer. This is both straightforward and infinitely complex. Ideally, your house is appealing to the largest possible buyer pool to increase your potential for a buyer to find it and want to buy it. And how do you open it up to the widest pool of buyers? Currently, this idea has morphed into making all houses as bland and depressing as possible. Grey became commonplace because “everyone loves it!” (Is that even true?). Even white can easily become drab and devoid of personality in the wrong hands (landlord special anyone?). My goal here is to break out of the assumption that neutral is more appealing to more people. I think this hypothesis is false on its face but I will get into that more later. For now, I want to talk about what resale actually is.
Resale value is made up of a lot of different components, all weighted in importance. I would say the biggest components are location, price, and home condition. If the house is in a shitty location, you have lower resale value automatically. This could be on a busy street (very bad!), near the sewer treatment plant, or a hoarder neighbor (who I’m sure is really really nice). This will weed out the majority of buyers right off of the bat. I’m so glad you can sleep through the train that barrels past your bedroom window or the bus stop on the corner but not every buyer will. That’s why I always bring these factors up during the home buying process so you can make an informed decision!
As for price, of course lowering the price of your home will make it more appealing to more potential buyers. I would counsel you on the right list price and include buyer broker compensation meaning buyers who are working with an agent already would be able to offer on your listing, otherwise it could be a deterrent or deal breaker if they had to pay for their agent themselves. Having your home be accessible to the widest pool of buyers is worth its weight in gold.
And finally, resale value is supported by home conditions. This is, most importantly, layout, square footage, number of beds/baths, yard, quality of materials, upgrades and improvements, and aesthetics. Buyers will filter the home based on most of these right off the bat. Sometimes things look good on paper but you step inside the house and it’s laid out super awkwardly and is unappealing. Maybe you are a super minimalist so you don’t need closet space, but that is a turn off for a lot of other people! These are all Big Things you can’t easily change. So, in my opinion, everything else I’ve talked about is more important to a buyer than specific aesthetics. Which brings me to my final thesis…doing what you want to your house aesthetically will not matter at all to a new buyer at worst and be a huge benefit at best.
In Defense of Doing What You Want
One of the main things I hear from clients is they are buying a house so they can do whatever they want with their home because they miss that ability so much in their rental. So yay they buy a house! But suddenly I hear—gulp!—what about resale? Now when you are doing any renovations or little projects to your home that thought is in the back of your mind. Hopefully the previous description shows there are much bigger fish to fry when it comes to thinking about resale. And even better, your fun quirky choices can actually help your home stand out and stand apart from the pack!
When I was planning my upstairs bathroom addition, I was paralyzed by choice. My heart wanted a pink bathroom but I was so scared no one else would love it that I was considering going black and white and “neutral”. And holy FUCK I am so glad I went with my heart and my gut because LOOK AT HER! I ended up choosing a subtle mauve-y pink hex floor tile that was a little larger and more modern than the tile of the time (circa 1923) but still harkens back to it. I chose a fun pink and grey terrazzo countertop and used a grey handmade Clè tile backsplash for visual interest. Do you think some buyers may not be interested in this? Sure. But some people will want to buy my house JUST FOR this bathroom. How many people will look at a completely white or grey home and say I want to buy this home for the aesthetic choices? Which brings me to my final point…
Work for Joy, Not Resale
I wouldn’t go as far as to say fuck resale value. Because it’s important. But equally important to consider is your joy and creating a life inside your home. How long will you live in the home and how much joy would it bring you to wake up to a yellow closet every day? Or striped wallpaper in your kid’s room? Or a kitchen of bright coral. It is YOUR home and you should be saving as much joy into your house’s piggy bank as you are with dollars. It is not a joyous practice to think before every choice about this amorphous potentially nonexistent buyer who would be unhappy with your choice. And to be blunt, most new buyers will start ripping out whatever you put in to please them anyway.
You Can’t Please Everyone But In The End We Can Try
I remember when I had my house listed on the market I got feedback from a buyer “I liked it but I’m a minimalist.” Ok? When your house is listed for sale you will get a ton of buyers who do not like your house and that’s okay. You just need one! And I got so so SOOO many people saying “I absolutely love your home” “I would die to own this home” etc. And waking up every day in a house I love and is exactly how I want it is worth every negative comment. So go crazy! Pick the bold choice! Live your life! And when the day comes to sell, thats why I’m here to tell you what NEEDS to be changed before going on the market. Maybe the solid red bedroom isn’t the most appealing choice to buyers at the moment, but a coat of paint is nothing in comparison to you enjoying your home while you own it.
Recipe
I’ve made this a couple times over the past few weeks because corn is hereeeeeeee. I love love love corn and I love pasta so the two together is magic.
3 ears corn, shucked and kernels cut from the cob
3 strips bacon
2 cloves garlic sliced thin
1# curly shaped pasta, torchetti or casarecce
1 bunch green onions, green parts only sliced into rounds
Mascarpone cheese
Cut the bacon into half inch chunks and brown in a pasta skillet—what I call the wide but 2” deep pot everyone should have. Once it’s brown, remove the bacon and reserve. Add the sliced garlic to the bacon fat along with black pepper, salt, and some red pepper flakes. After 30 seconds, add the corn and sauté for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, get a pot of salty water boiling and cook the pasta a minute from al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1.5 cups of pasta water. Mix together the pasta, most of the pasta water, corn mixture, green onion tops, and half a container or one large spoonful mascarpone cheese and cook for another minute or so. The pasta should be cooked with a bite remaining and the sauce should be silky and emulsified. Add more mascarpone or pasta water if necessary. Plate up and put the chopped bacon on top of each bowl :)