Homeowners planning a project usually want to know one thing first: will this money come back when the house sells. The honest answer varies by project, by neighborhood, and by what buyers in that price range currently expect. Chris Baynes & Associates, a team with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage in Wilmington, offers a free home improvement consultation built around that question.
A Free Consultation With No Obligation
Chris Baynes will meet with homeowners to walk through which improvement projects actually return money at resale and which do not. There is no cost, and no requirement to list the home now or ever.
Advice Grounded in Local Sales, Not National Averages
Chris Baynes is a REALTOR® with more than 25 years and more than 1,000 career sales across New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick counties. What buyers pay extra for in one Wilmington-area neighborhood is not what they pay extra for in another, and national remodeling averages do not capture that.
Sixteen Years of Seeing What Holds Up
For sixteen years ending in 2025, Chris and Angela Baynes owned a property management company. That is a long run of watching which materials and finishes last in this climate, which repairs turn into bigger repairs, and which ones can wait.
Willing to Say a Project Is Not Worth Doing
Chris Baynes has repeatedly given clients advice that cost him business, including telling people not to sell. Homeowners get a straight answer when a project is something to do for their own enjoyment rather than for return.
Separating What Buyers Notice From What They Do Not
Some work shows up in the offer price and some quietly disappears into the house. Chris Baynes talks through which projects buyers in a given price range actually react to, so a budget goes where it counts.
Condition Is One of the Four Reasons a Home Does Not Sell
Chris Baynes teaches sellers the four reasons homes fail to sell: marketing, condition, price, and location. Condition is the one a homeowner can still change, which is exactly what a preparation conversation is for.
A Detailed Preparation Guide for Sellers
Listing clients get a written home-preparation guide covering exterior work, interior work, minor repairs, and showing-day staging. Professional staging consultations are also available on request as part of the team's documented 26-point marketing plan.
Improvement Advice Tied to a Real Value Number
Chris Baynes offers a free real estate review that tells a homeowner what the property is currently worth. Pairing the current value with a project plan turns a guess into a decision. A market analysis is not an appraisal.
Results That Back the Judgment
Across the team's listings, 17.5 days is the median time to contract and 98.89% the median share of list price, in a county where the average listing takes 58 days. Homes that are prepared well are a large part of why that combination holds.
No Cold Calls, No Sales Push
Chris Baynes & Associates does not cold call, and more than 80% of its work comes to it through past clients. A homeowner who asks for improvement advice gets improvement advice.
Homeowners in the Wilmington area can reach Chris Baynes & Associates at 910-470-4408 for a free home improvement consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the consultation cost anything or commit me to listing?
Neither. Chris Baynes walks through which projects return money at resale and which do not, with no cost and no requirement to list the home now or ever.
Why not just use national remodeling averages?
Because what buyers pay extra for in one Wilmington-area neighborhood is not what they pay extra for in another, and a national average cannot capture that. The read comes from more than 1,000 career sales across New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties.
How do you know which finishes last here?
For sixteen years ending in 2025, Chris and Angela Baynes owned a property management company. That is a long run of watching which materials survive this climate, which repairs turn into bigger repairs, and which ones can wait.
Will anyone tell me a project is not worth doing?
Yes. Homeowners get a straight answer when a project is something to do for their own enjoyment rather than for return, and the team does not cold call afterward.