The little kitchen that sold a house.

Pre sale kitchen renovation & improvement.

Columbia, Maryland: Early last month (June, 2019), we received a phone call from an Agent with Long & Foster. There was a condo for sale in Central Maryland and after 2 months on the market, the property had only received 1 offer, which was below market and had multiple contingencies (aka, unacceptable).

When the Agents called she had a clear direction of the issues at hand and with her guidance, we quickly developed a plan that ultimately worked-  - - better than we could have expected!

The Background, the property was subject to fire/ smoke damage previously. The owners worked with their insurance company who restored 90% of the home with new carpet, painting, etc. BUT- the kitchen was left untouched with the exception of replacing the floors (which they did).

So, we had a property that was partially new, partially old! As you can see below, the kitchen was in terrible shape with old wallpaper, cabinets, appliances, etc. (actually, the appliances were not that old. the refrigerator was virtually new, it just didn't look right).

Settle Rite Pre Sale Home Improvement went to work. Normally, we cap our deferred payment program at $5k per home but this property was unique. It was in good shape and we could feel that the right positioning would bring momentum- so we jumped at the opportunity.

In 2 weeks we performed demo, removed wallpaper, old cabinets, appliances, repainted a few rooms and the kitchen, new cabinets and a set of new stainless steep appliances to cap off a really nice slab of granite we found for countertops.

The home sellers and agents were happy. During the town home was taken off the market and immediately upon completion, the pre-sale work performed received the ultimate feedback. . . . A CONTRACT FOR SALE.

4 is all it took.

This home is an example of using expertise, hard work, and a deferred payment plan to create value!

Could we calculate an ROI for these repairs. Well, ,  , it's hard when you don't have anything to compare it to. The property may have sold on wholesale for a premium but we certainly bumped it to an owner/ user market and the ultimate return was possible in excess of 50%. No bad for a "no money down, no cash out" investment that recouped the full cost and returns in 6 weeks total time.

UPDATE: February 14, 2020: The Homesellers called the other day (they had questions on a another home they owned in the area and wanted some advice). During the conversation they let us know the property was on the market for 3 months at one point prior to Settle Rite’s Pre-sale work. It didn’t sell during this time, in fact, no offers. After we renovated the kitchen, the sellers had 2 offers on the house. The one they accepted had no contingencies. They credit Settle Rite’s Repairs and Renovation to the great deal. Thank you!


Settle Rite is a program that contractors can subscribe to that bolsters their ability to service home sellers. It is run by Baltimore home improvement startup EFynch. Work was performed by Construction KAT (mhic #136780).

For more information, contact either of these great companies.