I've been asked to design a continuing education course for real estate agents based on my book, "What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating a House," and I'm trying to come up with an outline of something the typical agent might find useful.

Although I intended the book for both homeowners and contractors, I think that renovation also affects the way an agent does his or her job, and on both sides of the transaction.

One on side, every prospective buyer, an agent brings to look at a house is planning to make some changes to the place once settlement is over, whether or not there is any money left in the buyer's pocket to do so.

On the other side, every seller -- especially these days -- is concerned with squeezing every last cent out of his or her house, and it's up to the real estate agent to clue the homeowner in, on what needs doing and what should be left to the buyer.

Let's look at the buyer first. What does the buyer usually want to know, and what should the agent be prepared to say?

A first-time buyer is willing to accept more flaws just to get into a house. A first-time buyer also tends to be willing to do more themselves than a move-up buyer. A real estate agent should be aware of this, and do as much to explain what some of these projects might entail, or at least point the buyer in the right direction for information.

No agent should presume to be an expert in everything. Few agents I've met do, although the ones that I've found most helpful over the years are the ones who have endured renovation projects and can share their good and bad experiences with their clients, with the caveat that the buyer's experience may be different.

I was talking the other day to the agent who sold me my second home, which she then sold for me 14 years later. She has lived in the same house for 25 years with her husband, who is also an agent, while raising two children in it.

"I'm renovating the kitchen -- again," she told me, with more than a touch of exasperation in her voice.

There are questions for which every agent should be willing to help the buyer find answers. One question many first-time buyers ask concerns whether or not, the basement can be converted to living space if it hasn't already. Although I maintain that no basement is ever completely dry -- considering that it is at the lowest point of the house and moisture always finds the lowest point -- you can manage that moisture through French drains, perimeter drains, a sump pump, a dehumidifier sized properly for the area you are using, and making sure that the gutters and downspouts drain away from, and not toward the house.

Some of these questions have expensive answers, and whether or not the agent knows what the answers are, he or she should be able to suggest three or more sources (always give people a choice so you are not opened to accusations of steering or not blamed if things go wrong) of information.

The likely source would be a previous buyer or two who, survived the experience or even had a bad experience. By acknowledging that people do have bad renovation experiences, you are just being truthful, and speaking for myself, I prefer an agent who tells me the house is small to one who calls it "cozy."

I think we also appreciate agents who don't stare blankly back at you when you ask them a question.

Let's travel to the other side of the transaction: The seller who wants to add the $60,000 kitchen because he or she believes that it will add $120,000 to the price.

Never renovate just because you think it will boost your sale price. Renovate to make the house more marketable, which means improving the landscaping, freshening the paint in rooms, reducing the clutter, and washing the windows to let the most natural light possible into the rooms.

A buyer wants to be able to put him or herself into the picture. When a prospective buyer looks at a house, that person wants to be able to envision what the house will look like with him or her in it. The buyer is not willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to live in someone else's house.

Tell the seller "no," get the seller to agree to the needed changes, and get that house on the market as quickly as you can.

Published: May 5, 2005

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