Pictures would help in this scenario. Painting cabinets, unless you do it yourself, can be expensive. And, painting cabinets takes a long time if you do it yourself, and right.

Are the floors yellow? Is the lighting fluorescent?

I just went and took a quick picture of my kitchen...dirty dishes and all :P

It's a typical kitchen of the era. Ugly sheet vinyl flooring, 2 tone dark cheap wood cabinets. The flooring is starting to crack in spots and the cabinets have seen better days, even though they are actually really sturdy and close true.

I hope the image shows up.

I would talk to a RE agent or 2 and get their opinion. For something like a kitchen renovation, many people move in before renovating. And making the kitchen a bit more inviting could help. Your market may vary.

There are people that don't want to buy a house with dated rooms. So not renovating will reduce your market. But the other option is to price it low enough to attract someone looking for a good fixer project. I don't think a coat of paint and a tile backsplash will make enough difference to broaden the market to include those that want an updated, move-in ready house. So I wouldn't do a partial spruce-up. I'd just price it lower. And realize that it may take a bit longer to sell, even at the lower price, because it will appeal to fewer people.

I would recommend painting the cabinets with no backsplash. There don't seem to be many cabinets so it should not be a tough job.

People will notice the kitchen needs updating but may think they can do it a bit at a time if the cabinets are a bit updated. They will want to tackle the floor immediately and maybe willing to put off the cabinets if freshened up a bit.

I agree with everything you've said weedyacres.

This is our thinking as well...not much point in a 'partial spruce up' if we don't get any gain from it.

Thanks for your thoughts pixie_lou and rrah.

I agree that the kitchen may look better with a coat of paint on the cabinets, I do have doubts that it will be a make or break point on whether someone purchases though.

I think there will be 2 camps. Those that want turnkey, which this house isn't and those that want something for a lower price and do the renos themselves.

Another question that comes to mind, is what colour would you paint them? Some people prefer white, others dark, so you'd still be turning someone off even if they were painted.

Clean. Declutter. And price it at least 60K lower than comps if the kitchen is representative of the rest of the house. That won't cover the cost of new baths and a kitchen, but it might lure the inexperienced to think it would.

You can't get away with just a cabinet paint job, backsplash without addressing that flooring. And that's not even considering whether or not the rest of that house Is just as dated. Here's where an informed Realtor becomes valuable because they know the quirks of your area. Honestly, I can see the potential for a Pinterest kitchen with that wall you have with open shelving being redone and modernized. My opinion is that if you have a really hot market than maybe you want to look at spending money on your kitchen to update it. If it's a market that is taking off after just recovering from a slump (as many are these days), your best option may be to sell it at a discounted rate because it is dated and if your market is even hotter than your perception, that could incite a bidding war. I'm leaning toward fixing that kitchen but only because I'm a bargain shopper, trend watcher and I think it could be done relatively chic and on the cheap as long as the rest of the home had the same potential.

Thank you for the reply Mmmbeeer.

Yes, the rest of the house is just as dated. That's one of the reasons we're leaning towards selling for lower and leaving the updating to the new owners.

This neighbourhood is really hot right now, and is not coming out of a slump...just hotter because of a rapid transit being built.

Many of the houses are selling withing a week and some are having bidding wars. One just around the corner went for 30K more than asking.

I'm actually more worried about the size of the house than the fact that it's outdated. It's only 1100 sq. ft. with an unfinished basement of about 400 sq. feet.

People seem to want big houses and there's nothing we can do about that.

In that case, what is the market like for tear-downs in your area... Is your (large land) lot worth much to an in-fill developer? In my area, THAT is what would happen here with your house... And, in that case, you don't want to spend any money (or time) putting lipstick on the pig...

Mark it down in price compared to the fancier comps and move it. Save yourself the grief of a pretend half-update. Your sellers market could loose steam before you get the house updated, and there are no guarantees of getting that money back. As someone who bought a dated house, and hasn't got the funding necessary for the kitchen remodel after four years of doing other fixes, the wood cabinets are preferable to having the cabinets painted, but the counters and floors unchanged. If the house does not move quickly as a dated offering, you can always reassess the situation and have the work done.

I would just leave it as is and advertise it as a fixer upper. Potential buyers will see when they walk into the kitchen that it is a total gut job. Just make sure you price it according so it isn't languishing on the market. NancyLouise

If you are going to sell it as a fixer upper, why bother to,paint the rest of the house and replace the blinds?

I think it depends. In my area, where people pay a premium for move-in ready, you could spend 20-30K and actually recoup substantially more when selling. Of course, you'd have to deal with the hassle of renovating.
You could also spruce up this kitchen for 5K, but again, it would involve work and hassle. New floor (tiles from Costco), gel stain in Java from General Finishes (very easy to use), new hardware. New sink and faucet (Costco), and new counters (remnant). Appliances from Craigslist or discount store.

Or even easier: Sink from IKEA and wood counters.

I think it would be better to replace the floor with a laminate, and paint the cupboards. The kitchen is small so I don't think it would be too expensive. Like Pixie_lou said -you want the house to be more inviting, and that goes for potential buyers who are willing to buy and renovate.

If your area is like mine, there are very few fixers and those go very quickly with multiple offers. I agree that a realtor will know. And if you do sell it as a fixer, no need to paint either.

Ask the realtor what it would sell for in its current condition, and after recommended upgrades. Then figure your cost to make those upgrades and determine if you'll come out ahead by doing them.

With the rest of the house just as dated I'd clean it well and declutter and then price it right. I'm not sure where you'd stop if you painted the cabinets....and then the counters look worse, and the floors, and the bathrooms.

I agree with done_again, once you start it is hard to tell where to stop. The floor is really what is dating that room. Either way I wouldn't do a backsplash in that kitchen for resale.

I agree with fromBC -- it's all or nothing with that kitchen.

I painted my sister's kitchen cabinets--the prep work took FOREVER, because you have to clean 30 years of grease off of them.

The good news is that, since it is a small kitchen, it wouldn't take much -- here's what we did:

We looked on craigslist and found people who were remodeling and selling their cabinets used. My husband tiled the floor and backsplash himself. BUT--this is a good, affordable option probably only if you are handy and can do the work yourselves.

If I was a buyer and looked at your house, I would not be afraid to tackle a small kitchen like that. On the other hand, a huge, outdated kitchen is more daunting.

Best of luck.

Sorry I didn't reply yesterday, my power was out all day and my phone ran out of power. Without all the technology distractions, I managed to get a lot of packing done.

Thanks for everyone that replied.

The house isn't a tear down (our neighbourhood isn't at that stage), nor is is uninhabitable, it's just outdated. We've maintained the house over the years, and kept it clean.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with those that have said, if we don't do the kitchen, then why bother fixing/painting anything else.

I know it won't bring tens of thousands more, but making all the rooms look as nice as possible will likely get more people interested in it. I think if we just leave it as is, the only ones that would make an offer would be flippers.

Good luck with your sale and I think you are wise to do as much as possible to make the house attractive. Keep us posted on your sale. :)

It's hard to advise, but here's my take, also in a hot market. Try to figure out who might be your target buyer.

Move-in ready is key for many buyers, especially for younger, dual income couples but also young families. Not to stereotype, but of lot of these buyers have no imagination and are used to what they see on the home buying shows. So, they are turned off by "dated" and, sorry to say that, impressed by relatively obvious improvements.

It is actually quite easy to update without breaking the bank. If you google Houzz and appealing to young buyers, or staging for sale, several articles will pop up.

Also definitely go to www.apartmenttherapy.com and www.kitchn.com and search for kitchen updates/remodels.

For starters, see below. There are more updates in that

I also have to say that gel stain is probably way easier and faster to work with than paint.

So, I'd suggest to gel stain the cabinets, get a wood counter, new sink, new light fixtures, IKEA grundtal shelves.
I'd also get rid of the little kitchen cart, and declutter as much as possible.

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen update

Thanks for the suggestions.

My Brother/Sister in law put their place up for sale last week (same neighbourhood) . I just spoke to her last night, and their place sold in a few days. They also got 12K over asking.

The inventory is quite low, and with the sky train coming, they do seem to be selling quickly. I'm keeping my eye on some of the fixer uppers to see how they move.