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You have such a beautiful house. I love it as it is and would not recommend putting more money into the house especially with this market. It's not 100% perfect but the buyer can make the changes once they buy it.
I like Mike's suggestion. You might get more attention if you bring it below the psychological cut off of 250,000.
In case you're interested, I'm saying this from a first time buyer perspective.
I like your house too. Kitchen isn't too bad. When you commented on it I thought that it would be dark and really 80's ish. It's not, just not super duper fancy.
I agree that you should paint anything dark and remove clutter. Don't replace any carpets. A large rung from HD can cover up a worn carpet and freshen up a room and is a lot cheaper.
Also agree with above that major renovations will be a major headache, take time and you probably won't get your money back anyway.
Much easier to just reduce the price accordingly - you'll generate interest and traffic if you are the best house in your price range. Good curb appeal too.
For me it would be the outdated kitchen and baths. You are competing with other homes that may have an edge in this department. If it were my home I would replace the cabinets, add corian (or solid surface) and do the same in the bathrooms. Personally, I like quartz, but for a limited budget you can get an updated look with corian...the cabinets wouldn't have to be custom, but I wouldn't do lowest price either. I think this could make a difference IF, and this is a big IF, you are having traffic and are not getting offers. If there is no traffic, that is probably lack of advertising by agent, or more likely lack of buyers. AND, interest rates just went up so that won't help. Don't give up like the one person stated-your home WON'T sell if it isn't on the market. Take some time and think about updating. Ask some other agents for their opinions on doing updates.
HANG IN THERE. Have faith. Be positive. Negativity attract negativity. (I am not a tree hugger, lol! But, I do think the more positive you are the more that will come to you.)
We were in the same boat as far as the kitchen. Same cabinets, we upgraded them including counter tops, floor (ceramic tile) and did it for under $10,000. That could be what a potential buyer is thinking when they look, "oh great, an 80's kitchen, okay well that's $20,000 off the price, now the bath....:
We also updated our master bath that had the pink shower and toilet. For $1000 we put in a new toilet, new vanity AND had our entire tub unit repainted and reinforced and it's now white and looks Brand new!!
It was worth the money. We also updated the flooring in the bath as well. Our house was built in 1984, but there is nothing original about here except the outside. We were lucky to sell our place to someone that saw the upgrades and new kitchen as a bonus. We sign next week and move during New Year's wknd.
lorriem, I really like your house. (I guess I'm a little bias because my parents have basically the same house in Venice down the west coast. The pool IMO is the best feature. The exterior is clean cut and you have a nice yard.
The interior is slightly dated. Maybe you can add decorative/expensive hardware (openers) to the kitchen cabinets to "spruce" them up a bit. Also, you def. need to clear the clutter off the countertops and anywhere else in the kitchen. What I mean by clutter is the coffeemaker/etc., etc...
Also, you definitely need to paint that computer room (I'm guessing its a computer room?) a more neutral color. The dark green is not a good choice IMO.
You might want to paint those bifold doors something other than brown. You do have a little too much brown IMO going on there..It looks dated but can be improved w/little $$.
Oh yeah, is that you taking the picture? I guess you're not camera shy...
I'm not going to beat the price thing again, but hearing your frustration, there must be 200 homes similar to your's in that area of Florida...I haven't checked whats sold in your area, but I'm sure your realtors have..
Do you really HAVE to sell now or can you wait a while? As you know, youre area is not ground zero in RE but not too far off....
Wow, I actually agree with you Coupon 100%!! Im shocked
Coupon is right on....
I think your house is absolutley adoreable. Its wonderful, but yes, a little outdated. The kitchen is VERY important. And I couldnt really tell by the picture, but I noticed some "busy" printed wall paper of some sort. You definatley need to get rid of that and any other "busy" items.... you need to get as neutral as possible... As much as I like your decor others may not. Also the bathroom needs to be updated. And everything I do see, are easy fixes... The bathroom for example... you could rip out that sink and counter top and put a one piece, 2 sink cultured marble top. Its not terribly expensive at all to do that... just a suggestion.
And point blank.... it is not the time to be selling your home unless you need to. And if you need to sell it, then you need to sacrifice.
I like your house too. Kitchen isn't too bad. When you commented on it I thought that it would be dark and really 80's ish. It's not, just not super duper fancy.
I agree that you should paint anything dark and remove clutter. Don't replace any carpets. A large rung from HD can cover up a worn carpet and freshen up a room and is a lot cheaper.
Also agree with above that major renovations will be a major headache, take time and you probably won't get your money back anyway.
Much easier to just reduce the price accordingly - you'll generate interest and traffic if you are the best house in your price range. Good curb appeal too.
As a buyer I'd assume that any area rug over existing carpeting is there to cover up something that the seller doesn't want me to see...so I'd pick it up and look underneath it.
If a house needs new carpets, the cost is getting taken out of any offer; doesn't matter if they cover it up with an area rug or not. I just sold a house this year so I read up on the tricks.
Looking at Pasco County's assessor site, it shows you are asking $20,000 above appraised value. Hard to do that in this market. If a new buyer comes in, his/her new property taxes will be between $3400 to 3700 per year. For that money/taxes, a lot of people will go new with a close out home from a builder. Trinity East development, not too far from you, has some builders drastically cutting prices on new construction/inventory homes. Also, the second story turns off some people, especially retirees who are trying to get away from stairs.
Unrfortunately, you bought at a high price time and are paying the consequences. If you don't HAVE to move, then don't. Keep your beautiful home and enjoy it. If you absolutely have to move, you'll have to lower your price significantly.
for me, the kitchen would be a deal breaker. The size seemed OK to me, as it looks like a pretty open floor plan [i've already closed the window, so i cant go back and peek again]
If I am purchasing a home, i do not want to redo a kitchen. painting would be no problem, but new counters and cabinets -- that i would not do as i'd be looking for that "move in condition".
tone down "loud" paint. change out the pink in the bathrooms ...
all of your rooms seem a very nice size, including bedrooms. Nice master bath. very nice sized yard. Love the pool area.
You really have a very nice home. too bad this isn't years down the road, as DH and I have friends in your town, and really wouldnt mind moving there one day.
All I can say is the main thing wrong with your home is not your home...it is the market. My house was beautiful, priced well under market, but California like Florida was hit really hard. No one is buying. If you can drop the price do so. We dropped ours $115,000 in 10 months and were always at least $25,000 under market. When we sold we sold for $50,000 under the current appraised value, and $25,000 less than we were asking at the time. We also because we did not know we were being relocated had just put in $25,000 worth of updates which we ate!
We had 3 offers, and two failed escrows. The market is ugly.
MBG
lorriem, I really like your house. (I guess I'm a little bias because my parents have basically the same house in Venice down the west coast. The pool IMO is the best feature. The exterior is clean cut and you have a nice yard.
The interior is slightly dated. Maybe you can add decorative/expensive hardware (openers) to the kitchen cabinets to "spruce" them up a bit. Also, you def. need to clear the clutter off the countertops and anywhere else in the kitchen. What I mean by clutter is the coffeemaker/etc., etc...
Also, you definitely need to paint that computer room (I'm guessing its a computer room?) a more neutral color. The dark green is not a good choice IMO.
You might want to paint those bifold doors something other than brown. You do have a little too much brown IMO going on there..It looks dated but can be improved w/little $$.
Oh yeah, is that you taking the picture? I guess you're not camera shy...
I'm not going to beat the price thing again, but hearing your frustration, there must be 200 homes similar to your's in that area of Florida...I haven't checked whats sold in your area, but I'm sure your realtors have..
Do you really HAVE to sell now or can you wait a while? As you know, youre area is not ground zero in RE but not too far off....
No that is my realtor in the pic taking the pictures. The green is my husbands home office and I wanted to repaint it both both realtors said it was a good contrast. the walnut stain closets were also fine with our realtors since our poney walls have the same stain on the top. I will ask my realtor again. Thanks so much for the info I will see what I can do.
Last edited by lorriem; 12-16-2007 at 07:02 PM..
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