White or as is, I think anyone coming in is going to say the cabinets need to replaced. I'm not sure painting them white would make a different. I can't stop looking at what look like stair rails on the fronts.

It looks like fixer upper to me. I’d price the house fairly to reflect what the changes would cost and not invest any money in trying to upgrade it unless you have a fairly large budget.

You really need to get with a realtor. They can give you an accurate value on your home. Zillow and the likes are very inaccurate. A realtor can tell you what the houses are selling for in your neighborhood and what kind of updating they’ve had. You don’t want to over improve for your area, especially since you’ll be selling soon. Those kitchen cabinets need replaced, I don’t think any amount of paint will help. I vote no to the paint and a DEFINITE no to putting stone counters in. Clean clean clean and make sure everything is in working order. Good luck!

Without knowing your local market, I would say to just make sure that the house is very clean and in good repair.

What does your real estate agent say? It looks like many houses in your price range have DIY painted cabinets. I would ask your agent if that makes them sell faster.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I like your cabinets. I agree with oaktonmom. Let the buyer do the upgrade.

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Without knowing your local market, I would say to just make sure that the house is very clean and in good repair.

What does your real estate agent say? It looks like many houses in your price range have DIY painted cabinets. I would ask your agent if that makes them sell faster."

Since I will not be in a hurry I was planning on doing buy owner. Lots of flipping going on which I'm doing as well, this was a rental of mine which I moved into 2 years ago, I'm selling 3 homes next year. My concrete drive way is in horrible shape so I might be better off spending the money on a new driveway.

I like the cabinets, too, but they are very 70s. They totally go with the arches in the front.

The blue shower isn't bad at all, to my eyes.

The flooring in both is kind of blah, but that's not an easy change. Wall color is pretty easy though.

Check out the buying/selling homes forum on this site, too. And yeah, ask a local realtor.

I had a 1970s house with original oak kitchen cabinets and originally we had a master bath with a shower with powder blue tile (clearly there was a trend in the 70s).

We first listed in 2015 and our realtors recommended absolutely no painting of kitchen cabinets or replacement of the laminate counters. They said we would not see a return on the investment and would be better of pricing the house accordingly. We listed as-is and received multiple offers. Ultimately we pulled out of the contract due to a contingency on appraisal of the house on which we were under contract.

In 2016 our (not so) lovely powder blue master bathroom shower started leaking and we remodeled it completely. We tore out the shower down to the studs, repaired all damage, and completely re-built and re-tiled the bathroom. (Plus new vanity, flooring, toilet, mirrors, etc). I mention this because one does not simply "re-tile" a shower. You tear it out and build a new shower because the infrastructure underneath is just as important as the tile.

In 2017 we re-listed the house with the new master bathroom and original kitchen. Realtors priced the house accordingly. We received multiple offers and accepted an offer above asking.

Long way to say: check with knowledgable realtors. Most will come see the property and pull comps and give you advice on how to sell in the local market. In my completely un-realestate-educated opinion, painting those cabinets will not make them look any better than they do now. If you're going to take on a shower remodel, be prepared for some serious work or cost or both.

I love to do tile work, would tilling the counter top be worth it? Here 2 of my rentals I did using low cost tile, both done over 4 years ago and are still in good shape even being section 8, it only took 3 day to finish each one so it's really just the cost of the tile and mud since I put the tile right on the existing counter top (it works).

I agree with pricklypearcactus - do not paint the cabinets or change the countertop and price accordingly. The buyers may prefer to replace the cabinets and therefore the painting would be for nothing, and they may not like the countertop you choose and would prefer to pick their own. Also, having a lower price will allow more buyers to bid, and some may want to make the changes later on.

i don't know whether i'm crazy(i might be lol) but I, too, love your cabinets the way they are

if I was a buyer-I might change other things, but painting the cabinets wouldn't even be on my radar

Hey, I like your tile counters! Where I live, nobody but me would consider tile an acceptable kitchen counter but if it works where you are and you don't mind doing it yourself, go for it!

BUT!! You must be respectful of the 70s grooviness and do a different tile than your previous jobs. No tans! No mosaic accent strip! The little squares are fine. White would be okay.

I have to disagree on the tile counter tops. They were over in the '60s. Your counters are fine and if not for the turnings on the door fronts I would say paint couldn't hurt. That hardware must have been the contractor's standard. We did an up date on our '70s kitchen and we had that same hardware. UGLY. I am not a fan of a cave and that kitchen is too dark. But I see no upside. Those door fronts are a statement that paint will not improve. I find it reassuring that some people have had experience with realtors who are reasonable. Seems like we heard of many who really push the updating gone wild. You sound pretty deep into this flipping thing so you probably know the market best. Use your experience and go for it.

You did a nice job with the tile for your rental homes, but those are so hard to keep clean. My friends in California had tile countertops and the dirt that got in the grout lines was a challenge. If you really must tile counters, maybe use larger granite tiles? they are pretty inexpensive.

But for the house you want to sell now, if the market is good where you are, then sell as is. Personally, I love the blue tile in the bathroom with the hex on the bottom. But I think someone would want to rip out the cabinets. I love retro, but those are bit much for me. I also tend to prefer 40's, 50's, and 60's vs. 70's.

The light blue tiles in the shower do not bother me, so I wouldn’t change those. As pricklypear mentioned, it’s a rip out if you want to change. I would consider getting estimates on having the cabinets professionally sprayed, and leave the counters. A small investment may give you top dollar or help you sell quickly. Plus, in that price range, the new buyers may not be able to afford a new $30,000 kitchen. It also looks like there is brown paneling next to the kitchen. Can you post what it to the left? I would take that out or paint the paneling while I was at it. All that said, as others suggested, talk to a realtor first. They know the area and what you could sell it for. I would not bank on Zillow being correct with its guesstimate. Your house could be worth more (or less). That will help you decide what to do. Good luck!

lizzierobin, here is a pic of the rest of the kitchen and living room next to it, they are wood panels. No matter what I do some will like the changes and some will not so I think I might be best off just redoing the driveway which is going to cost me over $4000, it's in horrible condition.

I have to agree with you. Driveway will be the first impression. I don’t think I would do anything else, as others have also suggested. I don’t think you’ll have a problem selling as it has charm.

Granite in a kitchen in a house valued at $100,000? NOPE, that's a waste of money. You won't begin to recoup what you spend for it.

And everyone is changing out their tile countertops, at least from what I see on this site. (It's that grout, who wants to clean the cooking dreck out of the grout?) I would consider NOT buying a house with tiled countertops in the kitchen, all other things being equal.

Some people really prefer stained cabinets over painted. I can like the look of either, but unless you get a true pro to do the job ($$$), it's going to look cheapened.

Those cabinets look fine to me, and would not dissuade me from making an offer. It's the curb appeal (driveway) you may want to be focusing on. Oh, and see if you can bleach the floor tile grout in the shower as white as possible - or see if there is a way to make it all look like it's supposed to be one light sand or gray color of grout...

The projects you are considering seem costly and you may not recoup enough. As a Realtor.com lurker, it seems to me that the houses that sell really fast where I'm looking are the ones that are completely done and fairly priced. Alternately, the real fixers go when priced very low. As others have said, find a really good real estate agent who can direct you. If you can't get the bath grout all white, there are products that can be carefully applied to color the grout. Maybe change the kitchen cabinet pulls to a simple black (I'm envisioning mod funky instead of dated funky). Consider a fun bright multi color rug in the kitchen. The living room photographs as especially dark. I would paint the walls and the brick white (I know, I know, but I am really doing it instead of $$$ for a mason to modernize my FP). Additional lighting anywhere you can may be beneficial.

Leave the blue tile in the bath. Some people will love it. I sold a house at top dollar with one bath tiled that way. Regrouting (or scrubbing white) would make it look fresh and clean. Not enough of a money maker to redo. Just make sure everything is fresh and clean and repainted if it is not.

The kitchen is another matter. Perhaps you could at least put down light counter tops - NOT TILE- and new hardware. Those cabinet doors are unique for sure. If you feel like investing some money that will count, reface those cabinet boxes with new doors only and leave drawers. A couple thousand or so and it will give the kitchen an entirely new look. Go white, and paint the rest, or match the dark if you can. That one change might increase any offers you get. Just my two cents.

You probably will not recoup any costs in a 100k house. No one expects granite in a 100k house. At most, paint the cabinets and bring in a company to resurface the shower, which would be less than $1000. Most likely, someone will buy this house with a full renovation intention.

I wouldn't do anything to the blue tiles, except clean and perhaps regrout, so it looks clean.

As far as the kitchen, I would just clean the would as much as possible and open all the blinds.