What Refinishing Interior Wood Doors Can Do for Your Resale Value
Selling your home isn’t as simple as it may seem at first. In such a turbulent and competitive market, you must put yourself in the potential buyer’s shoes. Imagine what you would want to see when viewing and walking through a home for the first time. Even if your place looks beautiful from the outside, a deteriorated, outdated interior won’t exactly entice anyone. Investing in fresh interior painting before displaying your home is one of many ways to increase interest and market value. Still, there’s more you can do, such as refinishing the various doors scattered throughout your home. The question remains, though: is interior door refinishing a worthy investment?
Let’s explore what, if anything, refinishing interior wood doors can do for your home’s resale value.
What to Know About Refinishing an Interior
How to Refinish a Door
First, we should briefly describe the process of door refinishing. Simply put, door refinishing refers to any process that restores a particular door’s integrity and appearance, usually via cleaning, sanding, staining/painting, and hardware replacement. The price and scope of door refinishing projects vary widely depending on the door’s condition, age, material, size, and more. Ultimately, any door refinishing project will result in a door that looks and feels good as new and that better blends in with your home’s modern design.
Does Interior Door Refinishing Increase Resale Value?
Any home renovation has the potential to increase your property’s market value. That said, you want your return on investment (ROI) to exceed the initial cost – otherwise, you’ll end up throwing money away (especially if you plan on selling immediately since you won’t have much time to enjoy the renovation yourself). Kitchen and bathroom renovations tend to yield the highest ROIs, since these rooms are among the most important for any home buyer. Interior door refinishing may be a part of these larger renovations, making them worthwhile additions. On its own, however, an interior door refinishing project doesn’t typically increase a home’s resale value by a significant margin. This isn’t to say that the condition of your doors doesn’t matter – rather, most potential buyers will pay attention to other details and the bigger picture. A refinished door, while nice to gaze upon, won’t likely leave as strong an impression as, say, your home’s layout, rooms, furniture, floors, and so on.
Is Refinishing Your Doors Worthwhile?
If the decision to refinish your door most likely won’t provide a major bump to your home’s value, then is such a project even worth it? The answer, of course, depends on the situation. For one thing, even if refinished interior doors don’t draw too much attention to themselves, they will contribute to your home’s overall atmosphere, helping you close the deal with a potential buyer. Conversely, if your doors are in rough shape, they can repel potential buyers, despite the condition of the rest of your interior. So, if you’re concerned that your interior doors might decrease your chances of making the sale, door refinishing is a worthy investment. If, on the other hand, your interior doors are holding up just fine, you might be better off saving some money and leaving them alone. It’s ultimately a judgment call.
Looking for a Major Return on Investment? Try Updating Your Front Door
So, refinishing your interior wood doors may or may not help you sell your home and get more money for it. That said, some door refinishing projects can make a larger, guaranteed impact, namely refinishing your front entry door. Keep in mind that your home’s front door is one of the first features an onlooker will see when examining your property from the curb. Any potential buyer will also have to see this door up close and touch it upon entering. The more beautiful and durable your front entry door is, the stronger your home’s overall curb appeal (and therefore value) will be. In some cases, front door refinishing projects have yielded home sellers ROIs exceeding 400% – that’s a big deal.
Opening the Door to Higher Resale Value
Doors are important features both outside and inside your home. Let the experts at Nash Painting provide your doors with the quality care and attention they deserve. We’ve helped countless homeowners across Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, TN improve their property’s curb appeal and sell their homes when the time is right. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at 615-829-6858 today!