Times sure have changed! They talk about the millennials being a generation of “Instant Gratification” but I think it is our entire society.  We want everything now and no waiting! First time home buyers want homes with all the bells and whistles.  Retirees who are “downsizing” are driving the luxury condo markets.  I am seeing this more and more every day in our business.  The Orangeville home that has all the updating done is selling fast and for top dollar.  The ones that could use a make-over are sitting on the market for much longer.

I guess this is my opportunity for a rant! I believe the people who have learned to defer gratification are the people with more money in the bank! I’m talking about the ones that buy a home and wait to make it perfect, not the ones that spend big money NOW on the perfect one!  I can’t understand for the life of me, why someone wouldn’t buy something that needs some updating and make themselves a great return on investment in this type of real estate market.  I am not talking about the flippers. They basically have to buy something under market value to be able to come out with a huge profit and they have to be able to do the flip in a timely fashion.  I’m talking about the average person who buys an Orangeville home and takes a project each year and either hires someone to do it or if they are handy, do it themselves.

Think about how we grew up.  I watched my father finish our basement himself.  I remember helping him glue the panelling and hold it to the wall as he put in the few finishing nails! We started in a little 1100 sq.ft. bungalow with 1 bathroom for 4 of us.  Over the years, we finished the basement and did some landscaping and sold for a profit.  We moved to a 2000 sq.ft. bungalow with 2 bathrooms and again did some work and sold for a profit again.  That was called moving up.  That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

I have seen so many Orangeville homes recently that are sitting on the market and have such huge potential! I’m not sure if people just do not have vision or are just not interested in doing the work.  I LOVE renovating and building!  Since Mike and I have been married we have renovated a century farmhouse in Amaranth, built a brand new home in East Garafraxa and most recently renovated an in-town Orangeville home.  For me, location is everything and size really does matter.  If the bones of the home are good and the location, you can do anything.  Yes anything can be done with money, but I’m talking about more of cosmetic and updating rather than total gutting.

I see homes currently on the market here in Orangeville that have sold for $750,000 and up when they are updated and a similar home, in a similar neighborhood that has no updates sits on the market for $600,000.  With a minimal investment of maybe $75,000 these homes would be selling for top dollar as well.  What an incredible return on investment! Don’t think any bank or RRSP is giving you that kind of return these days.

So the take away from this blog is it’s a good idea to update your home over the years.  Don’t wait to do it just in order to sell.  There will be too many things that need doing and you may not get dollar for dollar on your investment.  Also some people update on things that potential buyers really don’t care about.  Remember, many of the buyers are shallow; if it looks like HGTV, then it will sell.  If you are unsure of where to spend the money, ask us.  We are professionals that see this on a daily basis.  If you have done little to no updates (only fixed what was broken), then you cannot expect to get top dollar for your home.  Look on the bright side, you haven’t lost money either!