NEW YORK – June 2, 2014 – Porch, a real estate website that tracks home-improvement projects, says that almost 50 percent of all home-improvement projects involve handyman services during the six months prior to a home sale.
When it comes to home improvement projects undertaken by new the new owners in the six months after a property sale, most involved replacing water heaters, updating the plumbing and repairing sewers.
According to Sotheby’s International Realty agent TJ Paradise, sellers in his market of West Hollywood, Calif., generally shell out up to $4,000 to prepare their homes for sale; but new buyers undertake some $20,000 in projects afterward. Thus, many experts say sellers should concentrate on smaller repair projects and upgrades, which are more likely to get the home sold.
Porch’s study of 675,000 projects was submitted by various real estate professionals and compared to listings and sales data from its partner, Realtor.com. Sellers generally recruited handymen to tackle minor repairs in the Northeast and Midwest in the six-month period prior to a sale.
Meanwhile, sellers in the West often hired general contractors to undertake larger improvements; and sellers in the South were more likely to perform electrical upgrades and repairs themselves.
Source: Wall Street Journal (05/16/14) P. M11; Tanaka, Sanette
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