How to decide which improvements are worth the money, time and effort—and which ones may not be necessary

When families inherit a home, one of the first questions they often ask is:

“How much should we fix before we sell?”

Sometimes the answer is quite a bit.

Sometimes it’s very little.

And sometimes the smartest thing to do is simply clean the property, present it well and put it on the market.

There isn’t one answer that’s right for every inherited home.

That’s why I’d much rather see the property before you start spending money or taking on projects.

The goal isn’t to make the house perfect.

The goal is to figure out what preparation, if any, is likely to help you achieve the best overall outcome.

Start With the House You Actually Have

Before deciding what to change, I like to look at the property as a whole.

What’s its condition?

What are its strongest features?

What will buyers probably notice first?

Who is the likely buyer?

What do competing homes look like?

And what improvements, if any, are likely to change how buyers perceive the property?

A home with an excellent floor plan, attractive yard and older cosmetic finishes may need a very different strategy from a home with significant deferred maintenance.

Likewise, something that makes sense in one neighborhood or price range may make little sense in another.

That’s why I don’t start with a predetermined checklist of improvements.

We start with the house, the market and your family’s goals.

Not Every Improvement Produces a Worthwhile Return

It’s easy to assume that improving a house will automatically result in a higher sale price.

Usually, the more useful question is:

How much more might the home sell for compared with what the improvement will cost?

Spending $5,000 to make an improvement that could materially change buyers’ perception of the property may make excellent sense.

Spending $50,000 to potentially increase the sale price by $30,000 obviously doesn’t.

And unfortunately, the answer isn’t always that obvious before you begin.

That’s why I like to consider likely buyer reactions and comparable properties before recommending that a family spend substantial money preparing an inherited home.

Sometimes relatively modest work—cleaning, landscaping, paint, repairs or a few carefully selected cosmetic improvements—can make a meaningful difference.

Other times, buyers would rather purchase the home at the appropriate price and make their own choices.

Sometimes One Improvement Leads to Another

One of the tricky things about preparing an inherited home for sale is that improvements don’t exist in isolation.

I once worked with a home that had very bright turquoise paint in a couple of rooms. My first thought was that we might want to paint those rooms a more neutral color before putting the home on the market.

Simple enough. But then the questions started.

If we paint those two rooms, will the rest of the interior suddenly look like it needs fresh paint too?

If we paint the entire interior, will the older floors look more worn next to beautiful new paint?

And if they do, are we now refinishing the floors?

A relatively simple improvement can sometimes create a domino effect.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make improvements. It means we need to think beyond the first project and consider where it might lead.

Sometimes a house actually presents better when everything feels consistent, even if some of those finishes aren’t new. Improving one element dramatically can make the things around it look more dated by comparison.

That’s why I like to look at the house as a whole before recommending individual projects.

Sometimes the answer will still be, “Yes, let’s paint it.” Other times, we may decide the turquoise isn’t such a terrible thing after all.

Sometimes Time Matters as Much as Money

When deciding whether to make improvements before selling an inherited home, I don’t look only at what the work will cost and what it might add to the sale price.

I also look at how long it will take.

A project may make financial sense on paper but still not make sense if it delays the sale at the wrong time.

For example, suppose we’re approaching a particularly active selling season. If several weeks of painting, flooring or other improvements mean the home won’t reach the market until much later, we need to consider what we may be giving up by waiting.

There are carrying costs too—property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and other expenses continue while the work is being completed.

And then there’s the family’s time and energy.

If you’re driving back and forth to the property, meeting contractors and managing projects for weeks or months, that has a cost too, even if it doesn’t appear on a contractor’s invoice.

Sometimes doing the work will absolutely be worth it.

Sometimes we’ll decide that a smaller group of improvements can be completed quickly and give us most of the benefit.

And sometimes getting the home on the market at the right time may be more valuable than making it perfect.

The right calculation isn’t simply:

“Will this improvement add value?”

It’s: “Will this improvement add enough value to justify the money, time, delay and effort involved?”

Sometimes the House Doesn’t Need Updating—Buyers Need Help Seeing It Differently

Before spending money changing a home, I also like to ask whether the problem is really the house—or simply how buyers are seeing it.

Sometimes it’s the furnishings or decor.

I’ve worked with homes where many of the finishes were original, and it would have been easy to assume that buyers would see the entire property as dated.

But with virtual staging, we can show how those same rooms might look with more contemporary furniture and decor.

Virtual staging doesn’t change the actual property. Existing floors, walls, windows and other features are required to remain exactly as they are. We’re simply helping buyers envision the existing home with a different style.

I’ve seen the difference be remarkable.

In one home with largely original finishes, we virtually staged several rooms with updated furniture and decor. Suddenly, it was much easier to see that the home itself could look terrific with contemporary furnishings—without remodeling the actual house.

Sometimes, however, the issue isn’t style at all.

It’s how buyers understand the space.

I once represented a home where the sellers had placed their dining table in a room that many buyers would naturally use as a family room. There was nothing wrong with the sellers using the home that way—it worked for them.

But potential buyers were having difficulty understanding how the floor plan could work for their own families.

In that situation, I decided to bring in actual staging and furnish the rooms in a way that helped buyers see a more typical use of the space.

It made the home’s functionality much easier to understand.

We don’t necessarily need to change the house. Sometimes we need to change the way buyers see the house.

Professional photography, virtual staging, actual staging and thoughtful furniture placement can sometimes accomplish more than another remodeling project.

Before spending money changing the property itself, I want to understand what—if anything—is preventing buyers from seeing the value that’s already there.

Buyer Expectations Matter Too

The right amount of preparation can also depend on where the property fits within its particular market.

Buyers shopping at different price points don’t necessarily have the same expectations.

In a more modestly priced home, buyers may be quite willing to accept older finishes or cosmetic imperfections in exchange for the right location, floor plan, lot or price, knowing they can make changes over time as their budget permits.

As we move into higher price ranges, buyers may expect a more polished presentation. They may still be perfectly willing to update a kitchen or choose their own finishes, but things like condition, cleanliness, staging, photography and overall presentation can become increasingly important.

That doesn’t mean an inherited home at a higher price point needs to be completely remodeled.

It means we need to understand what buyers in that particular market are comparing it to.

If the competing homes are beautifully presented and ours isn’t, that matters.

If the competing homes are also older and buyers expect to make improvements, spending heavily to make ours perfect may not be necessary.

That’s why I don’t use the same preparation formula for every property.

We’re preparing your home for its likely buyers and its particular competition—not for some imaginary standard of what every house should look like before it’s sold.

Before You Make Major Changes, Think About the Date-of-Death Valuation Too

There’s another reason it can be helpful to call me before substantially changing an inherited home.

Your CPA or tax professional may determine that a date-of-death valuation is needed to help establish the property’s historical fair market value.

A retrospective valuation looks at what the home was worth as it existed at the relevant historical date.

If we’re going to substantially change the property before selling it, I’d rather think about that question first and document the home’s condition while we can.

That doesn’t mean you can’t prepare or improve the property.

It simply means there may be information worth gathering before we do.

For more information, see What Is a Step-Up in Basis—and Why Does It Matter When Selling an Inherited Home?

You Don’t Have to Manage the Work Yourself

Even when we decide that improvements make sense, that doesn’t mean you have to become the general contractor.

You may live far away.

You may work long hours.

You may have children, family obligations or simply better things to do than spend every weekend meeting painters, cleaners and repair people.

Once you’ve decided what you want to do, I’m happy to take direction from you and help carry out the plan.

I can help coordinate appropriate vendors, meet people at the property, keep track of what needs to happen next and keep you informed along the way.

You remain the decision-maker. I can help with the legwork.

And sometimes, because several pieces can be moving at once, the entire preparation process can move much more quickly than when you’re trying to handle every task yourself.

Don’t Wait Until the House Is “Ready” to Call Me

This is probably the most important point in this entire article.

Please don’t feel that you need to fix up the house before you call me.

I’d much rather see it exactly as it is.

Don’t paint for me.

Don’t replace the flooring for me.

Don’t apologize for the boxes, the furniture, the dated kitchen or the turquoise bedroom.

Let me see what we’re starting with.

Then we can look at the house, the market, the competition, your timeline and the family’s priorities.

We can talk about the choices, gather whatever information we need, and then you can decide what makes sense for your situation.

Maybe we’ll do quite a bit.

Maybe we’ll do three carefully selected things.

Maybe we’ll clean it, photograph it beautifully and sell it largely as-is.

There isn’t one right answer.

There is only the answer that makes the most sense for this house and this family.

Still dealing with everything inside the home? Read: Inherited Home: What Should We Do With Everything Inside the House?

Your Next Step

If you’ve inherited a home in Los Angeles or Ventura County and you’re wondering how much work you should do before selling it, don’t feel that you have to figure that out before calling me.

In fact, I’d prefer that you don’t.

Let me see the property before you start spending money.

We’ll look at what buyers are likely to value, what the competition looks like, what improvements might make a meaningful difference, how long they will take and what they’re likely to cost.

Then you decide what you’re comfortable doing, and I can help you get it done.

A Final Thought

The goal isn’t to make an inherited home perfect before you sell it. It’s to make thoughtful choices about which improvements will help—and which ones you may be better off leaving alone.

Not sure what needs attention first? Read: START HERE: I Inherited a House. What Should I Do First?

— Janey Bishop
Independent Real Estate Broker
DRE #01838769