So nothing. Just put it on the market and listen to feedback. Make any changes based on feedback but most likely. it will sell immediately. I agree, keeping the original midcentury everything is better than replacing a few pieces.

Oh, but remove the valances.

I would clean it until it sparkles, put away out of sight what you can when the house will be shown (it will look more spacious with counters mostly bare), and not change one thing. It's going to show its age. Only make sure it shows it has aged with love and care.

The last house I sold was a 1926 bungalow. Painted cabinets, linoleum floor, formica counters that were approx 40 years old. No dishwasher - there never had been one in that kitchen. Under contract first week listed.

After seeing the whole photo, don't change the countertops or floor. They are neutral, light, and fit the rest of he finishes. Just clear off everything that isn't absolutely necessary from the countertops, and remove the valances. Maybe you need a new realtor?

Spaciousness sells. Clear the counters, the oven handle, the walls/tiles and the windows. Make it shine and let 'er rip!

I should say that we will move out and have the house staged before moving. I know it's pretty cluttered now, but packing takes precedence over tidying up. :-)

Don’t touch that floor. As others have said, just simplify. Declutter. Remove the valances, etc. Absolutely no to fake wood flooring!

Those counters do not look 'pretty cluttered' - not compared to many we've seen. Best of luck with your packing and moving, it is not one of my favorite jobs presented to me ;0)

Where are you located? Right now, in many areas, houses are selling quickly with no remodeling. I’m surprised a realtor would suggest it.

I actually love your kitchen. Depending where you live and the style of your house, I can see someone keeping that retro style. Remove the blinds, pack up, and watch it sell.

I’ve seen staged homes with old kitchens that sold way of over ask in California markets. Leave as is except for necessary repair, it looks good.

Leave as is, it doesn't look that bad at all. Someone might like it.

Maybe what you should change is your Realtor! Some young people love MCM charm.

I have signed a contract. Because contractors are so hard to get and schedule, I needed to choose a realtor who had a list of contractors who would show up and do the work.

In this market, I would just declutter, clean and list.

To be honest, the whole kitchen is vintage. I think it's a cool looking vintage, but I'm sure some buyers will view it as "dated" and not appreciate its charm. A good realtor will know the market and make appropriate suggestions, but I've had bad realtors walk through an older home and try to convince me to do cheap fixes that didn't go with the house at all. I think your kitchen is fairly neutral. If someone wants a very up to date kitchen, they are probably going to gut it and start from scratch themselves. Faux wood vinyl next to real wood flooring is just going to be glaringly obviously fake and I wouldn't do that. I would leave your floors just as they are. Butcherblock doesn't see like the right material for a vintage 1960s kitchen, but I could be wrong. My suggestion would be to price the house appropriately and not change anything in the kitchen.

leave as is, love it

Don't spend any money on "updates". Immediately start packing, one room at a time, and move those boxes into the garage or rent a storage unit. Clean that room within an inch of its life, then move on to the next. A clean home, with minimal furniture, will sell fast regardless of age or dated kitchen/bath.

What's under the vinyl? Any possibility that it's hardwood?

Unfortunately, no hardwood underneath.

If you leave it, understand that your realtor can’t market an “updated kitchen” and some buyers will be turned off at the prospect of having to tear it out. Whereas the small updates your realtor recommends will bring in more buyers and, while they will see the older cabinets, they will reason that it is nonetheless “move in ready”. So - should you do it? If you don’t care about getting the best price because you have lived there long enough and a couple percent less then top of market is fine, then no. But if you expect the very top of the market price, you should listen to your realtor and make the updates.

Homes in horrible condition are selling fast these days. There simply isn't enough housing available. I would leave the floor as is.

Even the best realtor probably makes a wrong call every now and then. This seems like one of those cases. BTW, I LOVE formica with sparkles! But I'm getting a little old, too.

My Dad’s inexperienced realtor (my sister‘s friend) came within an inch of convincing him he needed to do over 100k of updates to sell his house. She wanted it to appeal to “younger buyers who don’t want to do any work.” Her list of projects probably would have taken 6 months and cost my Dad 150K, and for what? To make her job easier? It certainly would have caused him to lose money.

I convinced him otherwise. We purged, donated, cleaned, did not stage, made small repairs, touched up paint where needed, washed the house and driveway, and did a landscape freshen-up. He spend $6,000 including paying the painters, carpet cleaners, landscaper, and a handyman/helper, and the storage unit he needed for a month or two.

The house sold for over asking price in 2 hours to an older couple who wanted the location and wanted to do their own work on a house.

There is a house on a road behind me that had a fire. The fire damaged the garage and part of the room next to it. The owners decided to take the insurance money and not fix the home. The house was listed "as-is". It sold in 2 days for over the asking price. And I live in a rural area where empty land and lots are readily available, so they didn't buy it just for the lot.

All around my area homes are being “updated” for sale. With LVP, barn doors, farmhouse this and that. And everything painted in shades of gray. While I can see beyond the color of the walls, the rest are total turn offs. LVPs would be the first thing to be ripped out by me. And I would replace any and all barn doors. I prefer original kitchens to tricked up “up dated” flipper tricked out kitchens. Clean your kitchen well. Strip it of unnecessary decorations and do dads. And don’t listen to your agent!

I don't think it is worth doing anything to the kitchen besides making it sparkling clean. Putting wood look vinyl next to real wood floors won't look good. Changing the counters to butcher block might be worth it if the countertops you have are damaged. If not I would keep as is and market as a charming vintage kitchen. Those who don't like the kitchen cabinets that are vintage (charming to me), won't be swayed by butcher block and new vinyl floors to like the kitchen as is. Those that like vintage cabinets will likely not be as bothered by the counter either. If I was a buyer I would likely do my own updates after moving in, but if it is clean and in good repair I would consider it workable until I'm ready to do anything. I would likely change the countertop, new backsplash, and then install wood floors to match the rest of the house, paint the cabinets and replace the appliances. I would hate to have to rip out new already installed things prettied up for sale that didn't fit with what my choices would be. I think this is one where it would be better to not spend any money.

It's a charming 1961 kitchen. Just clean after moving.

I hope that your stager is not your agent, based on the agent's recommendations so far.

That kitchen looks great. I even like the valances although they do clash with the miniblinds...my choice would be remove the blinds, not the valances. It appears to have a practical layout and several drawers for useful storage. If the floor is in acceptable condition, clean it up and let it be because it is so much more charming and unique than new vinyl planks

Changes will cost money and delay the sale of the house. I have noticed lots of houses coming onto the market in the last week or two so buyers may soon have more choice in the market.

Agents get more commissions and sometimes easier sales for updated houses. Homeowners get more expenses, more delays, more decisions, more details to oversee, and no more profit.

(not a pro) I'm with all those who say to leave it, then just price accordingly. You probably want to get on the market as soon as possible, so I'd focus on clearing out as much as possible then cleaning everything until it shines. And I totally agree with what @Lyndee Lee said about agents and commissions.

I sold last fall, and I didn't do all the upgrades my realtor suggested and still had competitive bids. The thing I wished I had done was clear out even more stuff from my storage rooms in the lower level and above the garage. They looked amazing when I moved, and I think would have been more impressive during showings if I had done that earlier.

ETA just noticed that you said you're moving first, so you'll be all cleared out. Great! And good luck!

A flipped house down the street from me just sold and they have the main staircase in their kitchen...........it sold over asking.

I would prefer a fixer upper without stairs any day!

Clean and declutter. I just sold my house. I met with multiple realtors. One of which wanted me to replace my kitchen flooring, repaint the kitchen cabinets, and change out the light fixtures. i declined, listed with another agent, and received 14 offers all of which were at least 10% over asking (my house was priced based on comps, not under market). Its a very hot market right now. There is absolutely no need to do any work at all. All you need to do is make sure your house is sparkling clean, decluttered, and any little odd jobs are taken care of. All in all, even paying professional carpet cleaners, house cleaners, and a handy man to fix a couple items, it cost me less than $1500 to prep my house for sale. And, if I had been willing to clean myself and rent a rug doctor I could have prepped my house for under $500.

Clear the counters and take down the those valances. Put the house in order and wash the windows. If I am your potential buyer, I would not want butcher block counters, and I would not want LVT in a wood grain pattern. Horrible!

I like what I see now…1950’s?

1961, mostly.

Someone's buying it and gutting it. Price it over and let them barter you down so they feel like they get a deal.

Genuine mid century modern kitchen - this will appeal to younger buyers - leave it!

I'm with others, leave the finishes for the next homeowner to choose. I kind of like these floors.

Curious to hear how your real estate agent responds.

I have expressed my concerns and she has set me up with the place she buys her vinyl from. I'll go there on Sunday and see if I find anything that looks like it might work. I'm afraid most planks imitate either wood or high-end stone like marble, etc, which would be out of place in a country home. (It's also close enough to what I have to make changing it a waste of money, IMHO.) I'm looking for something that looks like ceramic tile, but that may not be possible in the current state of decorating trends.

Hey Phoebe, you mentioned your realtor is telling you to use a particular flooring store, and her own remodeling vendors. Could those cozy relationships be motivating the realtor to insist you buy updates? Kickbacks, even? It doesn’t sound right to me.

Count me in as another vote for leave it as is and price accordingly. Teardowns around here are selling above asking and FWIW, I think your kitchen looks cute and clean. Let the new owner decide what to do with it.

I don't think there are kickbacks - or if there are, it's too minor to be considered. Her hardwood floor refinisher is charging less to refinish the floors here than the guy is charging at my new house and these look like they will be way more work. I just think she uses the same people all the time and they are willing to respond to her requests because they know they will get paid and won't be wasting their time providing quotes. I've been monitoring Realtor.com pretty carefully for the past 6 months and it seems clear that nearly everyone updates their home before selling (just like nearly all are professionally staged) and there is a considerable difference in final sales price between houses that look fresh and houses that look ordinary.

A good photographer can do wonders to make any house look better than it is. The question you should be asking yourself is if you do the suggested upgrades that your realtor suggests will the difference is selling price offset the cost and inconvenience of doing the upgrades. While there may be some increase in selling price which translates to a higher real estate commission there may be little or no increase in what you receive after you remove the costs of the updates and since the house will apparently be vacant hiring of the staging company and their furniture. There are various sites that can give you an estimated return on what you are thinking of doing.

Your real estate agent should not be directing you to "A" store but merely suggesting several. It smacks as stated above that there is a personal return for doing so.

REALTOR here. Leave it as is. Super cute and lots of people will update what they want or leave as is. My advice to my clients is always get the house super clean and smelling fresh. Not air fresheners, but good, natural cleaners and fresh air. As long as the structure is sound, it will sell well. If the rest of the house is the same vintage style, make sure to get a stager (or virtual staging) that can respect and accentuate the retro vibe. The market is absolutely bonkers right now, and if it isn't going to fall down it will sell just fine :)

If your local market is even close to being like many real estate markets right now, save yourself the time and money and ignore your agent's advice on updates.

While some buyers might choose to keep the cabinets spending money on new flooring or countertops is a waste. I suspect a buyer will want to update the kitchen cabinets. Butcher block would never be my first choice for a replacement. I'd replace with laminate countertops before butcher block.

I live in Maine. Tons of people are moving out of the cities and into the 'burbs. Houses in my area are selling without inspections and with no contingencies, for tens of thousands over ask. In one notable case, hundreds of thousands over asking.

I look at your kitchen and see 'vintage,' and in nice condition. I second the idea that the relationships with her tradespeople seem overly cozy. If I saw a totally re-done kitchen no to my taste, I'd be thinking I'd have to live with it until it was worn and shabby.

Maybe I'm unusual, but a clean functional kitchen, to me, is 'move-in' ready.

I don't know your area, but here in suburban MD, houses are going off the market within hours of being posted if they're nice overall. Inventory is low. Is this your situation too? If it is, I would be tempted to toss a rug in there and list it. Also, this is a great season to sell. Replacing floors, etc. delays your listing going live.

Houses going for more after updating was before the crazy market hit. Our home is beautiful on the main living area but the lower level needs work. I will have this house sparkling clean from top to bottom before putting it on the market. Before hubby’s Alzheimer’s was diagnosed we spent close to 10K on new doors. The home looks so much better with that change so I’m counting on curb appeal, and a sparkling clean interior to be the main selling points for this home. Any changes that you make as far as the interior of the home will most likely be ripped out by the new owners.

Yes, there is a big difference in prices of homes that are updated vs. not updated. But making the changes your realtor is pushing you toward doesn't improve your space, and will likely detract from the price! If you were putting in a whole new kitchen, that would be an update. But putting in linoleum and butcher block that doesn't match any of the other kitchen finishes is a complete waste of your time and money.

Your realtor won't tell you this, because it doesn't benefit her/him. You should think of this in terms of ROI: Return on Investment.

Your realtor is trying to make their job easier, at your expense. He/she is not giving you good advice.

The housing market is so HOT right now, you need to get your house listed ASAP.

If you delay in order to make expensive "improvements" you risk missing this hot market and losing money because the cost of "improvements" will not raise your sales price.

If you want to maximize your return on investment, probably the best advice is you do almost nothing more than move out and clean it yourself, or with the help of a friend or housekeeper. If you know you need to do more (based on your housing market and the advice of a better realtor), you could spend a little bit more and do this:

- hire pro cleaning people for: carpet, tile, appliances, deep cleaning bathrooms, pressure washing driveway, outside of house, etc)

- general handyman: make any needed repairs, touching up paint where needed, and doing a minor landscape spruce-up.

Like I posted earlier, my Dad invested 6K (and it was a 4000 sq ft home!). Not the 100+K the realtor told him to do. And he sold his house in 2 hours over asking price. He hired a handyman/helper to take care of repairs and hauling things to his new house, to the local charity places for donation, things to the dump, and things to friends and family. The handyman sent his son to do the landscape spruce-up and pressure wash the house, driveway, etc. My dad hired carpet/tile cleaners after we got the whole house cleared out.

If you let your realtor talk you into several thousands of "improvements" you are going to lose money. Your realtor doesn't give a crap about your ROI; they only care about their own ROI. He/she is trying to make you spend unnecessary money to improve their ROI. Please listen to all these good people on here trying to get you a good ROI!!!