Reluctant Renovators

provided by

(Page 2 of 2)

And so, in June, they became owners of an apartment that needed a lot of work. "We never admitted to ourselves it was a fixer-upper," Mr. Jenkins said. "We never really stopped to say we're committing to this, until we closed. We're knee-deep in this."

Ms. Jenkins's mother, Anne Fahning, came from Buffalo to help the couple clean the place. They patched the walls, put on primer and hired professionals to redo the bathrooms and upgrade the kitchen and light fixtures. But even before the renovations, the Jenkinses' investment seems solid: The property was appraised at $100,000 more than they paid, Mr. Jenkins said. They expect to finish in a couple of weeks, on budget.

"There definitely is a discount when you buy a place that needs work," said Anne Cynar, a senior associate at the Corcoran Group. "It takes a certain kind of person to buy it. They tend to sit on the market a bit longer; the owners can get nervous if they need to sell."

The abundance of new construction has made many older apartments pale in comparison. If buyers "have looked at a few new condos where everything is so slick and perfect, it maybe subconsciously affects their viewpoint," said Tim Stanard, a vice president at the Corcoran Group. "A normal apartment, even one with a decent kitchen that's maybe 5, 10 years old, suffers so much in comparison."

Those types of apartments, Mr. Stanard said, are the most difficult to sell. "You're either a buyer having the money, time and expertise to totally renovate a place, or you don't want to do anything," he said. "It's that in-between place where a lot of apartments fall that makes things tricky," he said. "A seller may have a place he thinks is in good condition, and buyers differ on how much work it really needs. Some would want to renovate right away; others could move in and wait a few years."

Amy Goldstein, 32, signed a contract in late June on an apartment that was not a wreck but was far from pristine. "I had no initial thoughts about doing work," said Ms. Goldstein, the information technology director at Coach, who was looking on the Upper West Side. "I wanted a nice kitchen. I wanted clean lines, new moldings, granite countertops, nice floors. I realized I couldn't find that and be able to afford it."

Instead of increasing Ms. Goldstein's budget or changing neighborhoods, her broker, Ms. Cynar -- herself a renovation survivor -- helped Ms. Goldstein look past outdated kitchens and scratched floors. Now, Ms. Goldstein is buying a $585,000 one-bedroom co-op and, with a budget of about $12,000, she plans to strip and replace moldings, redo the floors, replace some window frames and expand some closets.

"It's like a whole new world to me," Ms. Goldstein said. "I am not domestic, at all. Now I'm buying magazines; I've been spending time at Home Depot and Ikea, looking at things I've never thought about before. I'm now part of the renovation club, I guess."

Not only has Ms. Goldstein's perspective changed, her finances have, too. "I was going to put down as much as I could," she said. "I had about a 45 percent down payment. Now I'm doing more like 30 percent, so I have cash in the beginning to put toward the renovations." Ms. Goldstein is also saving to redo the kitchen and bathroom in a year or two.

Of course, even the most nervous renovator lives to tell the tale.

Migdalia Romero, a retired professor at Hunter College, recently relocated from suburban Ossining, N.Y., to Jackson Heights in order to be close to her friends and her daughter, who lives in the neighborhood.

With a budget topping out at $380,000, Ms. Romero had no plans to renovate. But when she saw a spacious but shabby two-bedroom co-op listed at $349,000, she couldn't get it out of her mind.

She closed on the apartment in May for $319,000, setting aside about $40,000 to redo the kitchen and bathroom and do some sprucing up.

Having no experience with home renovations, Ms. Romero approached the project with some trepidation.

"It was more work than I expected," said Ms. Romero, who decided not to hire a designer. "One decision mushroomed into 100 decisions."

She bought the materials and then hired professionals to do the work.

Ms. Romero moved in last week, and she's now enjoying a home that was customized to her tastes. Even after the repeat visits to Home Depot, "I love everything that has happened so far," she said.

Then again, she may love it best when or if she decides to move. Anne Buckley, an agent at Fillmore Real Estate in Brooklyn, said, "It's easier to sell something that's already done."

Page 1 | 2