Why Small Home Upgrades Outperform Major Renovations Before Selling, According to Top New Jersey Agent

As homeowners across the Northeast prepare for the spring selling season, a common question emerges: which renovations are worth the investment, and which projects waste both time and money?

According to Ryan Bruen of The Bruen Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Morristown, New Jersey, the answer often surprises sellers who assume major overhauls are necessary to compete in today’s market.

“More often than I’m advising people on what they should renovate to get ready for the market, I’m advising them that their planned renovation project will actually have a negative return on investment,” Bruen explains.

The Small Project Advantage

The key differentiator: scale and cost. Larger, more expensive projects rarely deliver positive returns for sellers preparing homes for market. Smaller, targeted improvements consistently outperform gut renovations.

“The keywords there are cheap and easy—I’m not talking crappy or crummy work, but smaller projects,” Bruen says. “Usually larger, more expensive projects, you’re not going to get a positive return on investment.”

His recommended focus areas include cleaning, painting, and hardware updates. “Painting is huge,” he emphasizes. “Relatively inexpensive with a massive impact on how your home looks.”

Other high-impact, low-cost improvements: doorknobs, cabinet hardware, patches, and fixes. These cosmetic updates modernize a home’s appearance without the expense and timeline of major construction.

The Bathroom Strategy

For dated bathrooms, Bruen advocates targeted improvements over complete renovations. “Something like a full bathroom renovation maybe doesn’t make sense,” he notes. “A spruce-up does.”

His specific recommendations for bathroom updates: glazing outdated colored fixtures white, replacing old faucets, updating cabinet hardware, and replacing bathroom vanities. “If you have a baby blue bathtub, glaze that white,” he suggests.

Bruen regularly encounters these colorful fixtures in Morris County’s housing stock. “We’ve got a lot of homes around here built in the 1950s and 1960s,” he explains. “If you have a home built around that age and your hallway bathroom is original, it probably has a baby blue, a pink, or a yellow bathtub.”

The approach avoids the expense, timeline, and uncertainty of gut renovations while still modernizing the space. “Things like a total gut renovation of a bathroom or kitchen usually do not have a positive return on investment,” Bruen says. “They take a long time, there’s lots of room for project creep, you’re likely not getting a full return on it, and you have to hope it meets that buyer’s tastes.”

The Driveway Decision

Even exterior projects benefit from the targeted approach. For driveways in mediocre condition, Bruen recommends patching and seal coating over complete replacement.

“Unless your driveway is in horrible condition, you’re probably better off doing a patch and seal coat than ripping it up and repaving,” he advises.

This strategy addresses the visible wear while avoiding the significant expense of new construction—expense that sellers typically cannot recoup through higher sale prices.

Why Major Renovations Fall Short

Several factors work against major renovation projects for sellers. Timeline represents the first challenge. Comprehensive kitchen or bathroom overhauls can take months, delaying market entry and potentially causing sellers to miss optimal selling windows.

Cost overruns present another risk. “There’s lots of room for project creep,” Bruen warns, referring to the tendency for renovation budgets to expand as work progresses and additional issues surface.

Most significantly, sellers cannot reliably predict buyer preferences. A seller’s taste in finishes, fixtures, and design may not align with buyer expectations. “You have to hope it meets that buyer’s tastes,” Bruen notes. Investing heavily in personalized upgrades that the next owner might immediately change represents poor financial strategy.

The Early Preparation Imperative

Even targeted improvements require advance planning. Bruen recommends homeowners planning spring sales begin preparation work in January, not March.

“Anything you need to do to spruce up your house for the market, you should start now,” he advises. “It might take longer than you think. The contractors and tradespeople you need might be more backed up than you expect.”

This timeline allows for unexpected delays while still positioning sellers to capture the early spring market when buyer demand peaks before inventory floods the market.

The Consultation First Approach

Before undertaking any projects, Bruen strongly recommends professional assessment. “Start the conversation with your agent now,” he urges. “Some of these things you might not even need. You might not be sure where preparation fits into the process.”

Professional evaluation can prevent wasted effort on unnecessary projects while identifying the specific improvements that will actually move the needle for a particular property.

“I feel like more times than not, sellers think they need to do all this work to their home to get it ready for the market,” Bruen observes. “Sometimes that’s not necessarily the case.”

First-Time Buyer Guidance

For buyers navigating Morris County’s competitive market, Bruen’s advice centers on realistic expectations and location prioritization. “Yes, it is competitive. Yes, home prices are higher than they were a few years ago,” he acknowledges. “That being said, there are opportunities out there—they’re fewer and further spaced out.”

The solution requires patience and consistent searching. “Start early, set your expectations that your search might take a while,” he recommends.

Most critically, Bruen cautions first-time buyers against compromising on location to secure a better house. “I would rather buy a house I don’t love in a town and neighborhood I really want to be in than find a house I love in a town I don’t want to be in.”

His reasoning: upgrading houses within the right community proves far easier than relocating entire lives to new areas after establishing roots, friendships, and routines.

Market Momentum Building

Despite historically low activity throughout 2025, early 2026 signals suggest strengthening market conditions. “Just a day or two after the New Year holiday, I saw a fair amount of homes coming on the market and sellers reaching out,” Bruen reports.

This anticipated uptick makes strategic preparation even more valuable, allowing sellers to capture motivated buyers before competition intensifies.

Ryan Bruen heads The Bruen Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Morristown, New Jersey, where he specializes in serving buyers and sellers throughout Morris County. A multi-generational real estate family, The Bruen Team has maintained the #1 sales position at their Coldwell Banker office for over seven years. For more information, visit bruenrealestate.com or call 973-294-8887.