In 2008, I bought a fixer upper and have been fixing it up ever since. Wanting to know what needs to be done to make the house sell for the best price, I contacted a local real estate agent who sends monthly postcards listing houses sold and their prices.

He said that I should complete the renovation because people want a house to be turnkey ready for them. Then I read an article about selling a fixer upper and it advised pricing the house right for a buyer who wants to put the finishing touches on the house, including doing the kitchen renovation to suit the buyer’s tastes.

I have a friend who sells real estate two hours from here and she concurs with the other realtor’s recommendations. She thinks wood flooring, granite countertops, and white cabinets and gray base cabinets are the way to go. That is what I’ll do.

The work on the house has chiefly included raising the floor of a room so it’s level with the first floor and not 4 feet below the first floor, insulation, new windows, siding, and wiring. There is still a lot to do to the house to make it a renovated house and not a somewhat fixer upper. The kitchen and a bathroom upstairs still have to be renovated top to bottom. Windows and siding on the back of the house have to be installed. The whole inside of the house has to be painted, and most of the floors on the first floor have to be refinished or replaced.

Yikes! There’s a lot of work to do in the next year or so.