spruce up house before selling (furniture, cheaper, most expensive, discount)

[bgmv90]

Two questions....

1. How soon before your moving date do you start to spruce up your house for selling? (That would mean moving before you sell your house, empty house for sale.)

2. How much sprucing up would you actually do before you put your house on the market? (Again, empty house for sale.)

"Spruce up" meaning paint, landscape, floors, cleaning, extra touches, etc.

Thanks.

[CrissCT]

In my opinion...

1. I would just wait until you move out if you plan on moving out first anyway, but I guess it depends on how much you need to do before you move. It is much easier to clean an empty house.

2. Just make sure the house is very clean inside and out. I would only paint if it is badly scuffed or marked up inside. Outside if there is paint that is peeling or chipping it should be repainted. Make sure there are no unfinished projects, the potential buyer will make a mental discount. If there is carpeting, it should be clean, and if it is old, then there should be an allowance for the new buyer to replace it.

Good luck to you!

[NORMGLO]

1. When your sprucing begins depends on how much sprucing your house needs. If the only sprucing needed is painting the inside of the house or shampooing the carpet then you can wait until just before you list it so those things will be fresh when the home is shown. However if sprucing means a landscape refresh, repaving the driveway or decluttering the home then you should start that process well before you put the house on the market.

2. How much sprucing depends on the market, how much time you have to sell, and your competition. If you are selling with the description that the home needs TLC then sprucing is not as much an issue but the asking price will suffer.

I hope this helps.

[RVer]

I was wondering why one dont keep their house spruced up while they are living there. Why wait till you want to sell it? Living in an unspruced up house kinda suggests something.

Then when you move to a new home it is a home that was just spruced up for the first time in years too. I wonder how dirty and fugly it was before that sprucing.

What a vicious cycle !

[texdav]

I just am finsihing a house we own that we moved out tehe furniture to the attached garages.We bascially painted everyhting ;put new tile and carpet; made sure all the sheetrock was perfect. At the same time all holes from pictures etc were removed.Next when weather co-operated its washing the exterior brickwork and a little sprucing on landscaping.It is much cheaper and easier to do it when empty that is for sure.Two couple stopped and gave phone numbers while wrokjers were thre saying they are interested in buying.

[stillkit]

I "spruced up" two houses before selling them and, in both instances, the new owners quickly undid everything I spent money on. Changed the paint, replaced the shrubbery, tore up the patio, installed new flooring.

Never again will I waste money on making my house more sellable. It's for sale "as is."

[faithfulFrank]

Originally Posted by stillkit

I "spruced up" two houses before selling them and, in both instances, the new owners quickly undid everything I spent money on. Changed the paint, replaced the shrubbery, tore up the patio, installed new flooring.

Never again will I waste money on making my house more sellable. It's for sale "as is."

I respectfully disagree.

In a tight market, you need to have good curb appeal. I do not mean you spend big bucks......
It is difficult you outline everything on this subject, but one must optimize the potential for selling and getting a good price. A house must look clean, organized, and fresh.

Paint is cheap. Elbow grease is cheap. Clean, paint using neutral colors if the walls look dingy.

Fix the easy stuff that is broken. A new owner wants to feel like the place he is buying was well taken care of. Fix the torn screens....a cheap fix. Clean out the gutters.....patch that drywall dent.

the old saying, "Caulk and paint, make it what it ain't" has some truth.

I've looked at many houses to buy and I cannot believe the simple things the seller did not do. When you sell a car, you wash and wax it......and you then get top price and it sells quickly. A dirty car sells low, and can sit unsold for awhile, until finally selling for a LOW price.

SAME WITH HOUSES.

There is only one reason to improve the home you are selling. To get more money, more return on your investment, and to set it above the competition so it sells quicker. Time IS money.

the trick is not to go overboard.....but to take care of eyesores and do the things that wil get you the best return on investment.

So....should I get mad if the new owners change the paint color?? No! So what. You sold the house! you got it sold and got more money then what you put into it. Done. Good business.

I had a house a friend of mine asked me to help him on. The house would not sell. Every room was worn and old looking. i patched up the nailholes, dents, etc. I repainted every room. I changed some light fixtures. the most expensive thing I had to do is to put new drywall on one BAD ceiling and replace one floor. The one bathroom was really bad....I just recaulked, put up a new bathtub shower rod, repainted.......looked awesome. All in All, I spent about a week of my spare time there and a few hundred bucks. It sold quickly for thousands more then if he sold it "as is".

I could go on and on......but I hope this helped.

Frank.

[Donn2390]

YOu start sprucing up the day you move in, not the day you move out...!

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by bgmv90

2. How much sprucing up would you actually do before you put your house on the market? (Again, empty house for sale.)

Clean fireplace. Fix nail holes and paint walls with that good old Navajo White. Paint acoustic ceilings. Clean window blinds. Clean wood doors and cabinets. Clean carpets. Sweep garage top to bottom. Clean light covers so they *sparkle* (hallway, kitchen, bathroom, porches). Make sure all faucets and other plumbing work perfectly. Wash windows. Put for sale sign in front yard.
(I live in the desert, not much landscaping stuff to bother with!)

[StilltheSame]

I agree with Gandalara - clean - dont do anything else unless it involves repairing glaring issues. We had no painting done on the advice of our realtor, but the house was largely empty as we had moved. It sold quickly in a very very bad market.