Eric on which repairs come back and which don’t. 23 seconds, captions on screen.
Guide cover: Fix It, Leave It, or Look Into It
CoverThe four buckets, and the question the guide answers.
Interior page: estimated share of project cost recouped at resale, Middle Atlantic region
Page 7What actually recoups — twelve project types, Middle Atlantic.
Interior page: New Jersey rules every seller meets
Page 12The New Jersey rules — disclosure, CO and fire certificates, the municipal CCO.

Should you fix it before you sell?

Buyers pay a modest premium for a home that’s done, and they discount heavily for one that needs work. The gap between those two numbers is where the money is.

So the useful question isn’t “what should I renovate?” It’s which projects remove a reason for a buyer to discount you, which ones are worth weighing, which ones to leave alone — and which ones you need to investigate before you decide anything. The guide sorts them, and gives you the cost ranges to do it yourself.

The sort, in full — you don’t need the guide for this part.

Take one project at a time and ask these in order. The first one that fits is the bucket.

Look into it
Would a home inspector, engineer or lender likely flag it? Wiring and panels, foundation movement, active water, roof age, a possible buried oil tank, an open permit. This bucket goes first whatever it costs, because it’s the one that ends deals late.
Fix it
Broken or worn, and cheap to put right. These are worth more than they cost, because each one removes a reason for a buyer to discount you.
Weigh it
Cosmetic, not broken. Presentation money. Paint and curb appeal tend to earn their keep; a room nobody photographs tends not to.
Leave it
Dated, and expensive to change. A midrange major kitchen remodel costs far more here than it adds back at resale. Price the kitchen you have, and let the buyer build the one they want.

That’s the method, and it’s yours either way. What the guide adds is the part that takes the work out of it: what each job actually runs in Northern New Jersey, the New Jersey rules a sale can’t close without, and a worksheet to walk the house with.

Get the guide →

  1. The four-bucket sort

    Fix it, weigh it, leave it, or look into it. Every project you’d consider belongs in exactly one — with the guide’s own test for telling them apart, and a worksheet to walk your own house.

  2. What the work actually costs here

    Line-item ranges for dozens of repairs, and the Middle Atlantic cost-versus-value figures on kitchens and baths — the projects sellers most often get wrong.

  3. The New Jersey list

    Oil tanks, radon, sewer lines, open permits, and the town certificate a sale can’t close without — including Nutley’s actual inspection checklist and fee schedule.