sprucing up home to sell with MINIMUM costs...list your must do's (duplex, 2014)
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For me clean everywhere is more important than the fluff. I rather see a empty house with no furniture. Easier to see any "hidden" by furniture stuff. Clean in the corners, the window sills and open all the blinds. Windows open makes it seem airy ( but not if you have traffic noise). If you have carpet send tile have a reputable independent carpet guy come clean carpets. They also have attachments where they can clean tile and grout. Have them reseal the tile. That's a fairly minimal cost.
Make sure yard and front of house is clean trimmed and green. Dead flowers trees bushes? Get rid of them. Peeling paint or any eye sore repairs? Fix them. Have a friend do a walk through. They will point out things that you simply have grown used to.
As for redoing floors unless your floors are just hammered leave it alone. You'll never see a ROI. Its a lived in house. The price will reflect that anyway and if the buyer has that much of a hard on for wood flooring let them deal with it. If its a single issue to the sale than offer a modest credit back after closing at whatever price.
I agree about clean. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Then had a housekeeper come in and do another round. Window washers did the windows. It was so nice to live in such a sparkling clean house.
I was joking. If you serve alcohol you are opening up yourself to lawsuits if somebody has a drink and gets into a traffic accident or something. Gotta understand I like to kid around but wasn't serious about the martinis.
I was joking. If you serve alcohol you are opening up yourself to lawsuits if somebody has a drink and gets into a traffic accident or something. Gotta understand I like to kid around but wasn't serious about the martinis.
You could try to
Find out nationality or buyers lifestyle. Then leave a appropriate amount of alcohol or a big Bible of whatever version, Qurann, lighted menorah, Pentagram, goat head in the fridge, horses head in the bed, please park your buggy in the garage whatever. All with a note please enjoy a complimentary bottle of xyz, put up your feet and read your favorite book, sacrifice your favorite farm animal in the back yard of your new home. Please hand the money to the agent on the right and pick up your deed from the banker on the left. Thank you for your business
Quote:
Originally Posted by GotHereQuickAsICould
I agree about clean. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Then had a housekeeper come in and do another round. Window washers did the windows. It was so nice to live in such a sparkling clean house.
On a serious note I forgot the windows. That's a biggie. Dirty windows are just bad.
LIke I said in my OP....house is 7 yrs old. Built in 2007. No lead paint!
RE: the carpet....the 2 bedrooms HAVE to be replaced. Kids' rooms....some stains that no cleaning will budge. Don't ask. But they are both 11x12 ish, so some fresh neutral carpet won't break the bank.
The great room......I suppose we could get by with cleaning it. It's 7 yr old beige carpet. Been pro-cleaned once before. There aren't any horrible stains, but the main traffic areas are pretty well matted down. Lots of hardwood is the norm around here, and all new construction in our price range has it in their great rooms. Our room is 15x25...375 sq ft! That's a lot of area to cover in anything....wood or carpet.
Be sure all carpet matches. I hate seeing 2 or 3 different types of carpet in one house. so what ever is carpeted now, re-carpet all of it. No one likes a hodgepodge of floor coverings. Or, have all carpets professionally cleaned. I know a lot of people are saying "don't spend money on new carpet", but if the carpeting is badly stained, worn out, damaged, wrinkly, etc. I still say new, neutral, carpet is a good idea. Now, that said I totally hate all carpeting but in some parts of the country it's expected. (Have you ever looked at what is underneath carpet? egods, it's enough to make you throw it all out for good)
You could try to
Find out nationality or buyers lifestyle. Then leave a appropriate amount of alcohol or a big Bible of whatever version, Qurann, lighted menorah, Pentagram, goat head in the fridge, horses head in the bed, please park your buggy in the garage whatever. All with a note please enjoy a complimentary bottle of xyz, put up your feet and read your favorite book, sacrifice your favorite farm animal in the back yard of your new home. Please hand the money to the agent on the right and pick up your deed from the banker on the left. Thank you for your business
You have me snorting with amusement!!!!
You make pretty good posts. The forum won't let me give you any more rep but you are on my list of excellent posters!
One of the homes the owners were adamant the carpet was fine... it had a bad odor... one if the children age 19 had the equivalency of toddler since birth and she had accidents in the home.
A home with a bad smell will turn off 90% of the buyers from the get go.
For the total cost of $2,000 carpet and pad I had the modest home re-carpeted... it was in contract 24 hours later.
The emphasis of clean cannot be underestimated.
Electrician4you makes an excellent suggestion about having a friend walk through and give an unbiased impression.
The home last weekend already had half the closets and such moved to the garage of the new home... it showed really well... zero clutter anywhere, yet a family of 4 were still living there.
here's my take on all this. it's general and not directed exclusively at the OP :
1) Look at sold 'comps' before you spend a dime. You will be getting offers based on those regardless if your house shows better or cleaner or painted or new floors or updated anything. Meet with a selling Realtor first and decide with them where to best spend any $ if at all. Those new things you want to do can add up and end up costing you money. You maybe only see a couple of hundred back on them and even little things can add up to more than you paid for them. Then the buyers will be looking for a new roof, chimney fixes, electric, plumbing, oil tank issues. Wait and spend your cash there instead. You do not want costly surprises at the end of the deal and then wish you held off spending on the renos people can see.
2) Do the stuff that is free: CLEAN kitchens, Bathrooms, floors, walls, blinds, windows, and - OMG carpets, please!- to the point of gleaming. People are very turned off by dirt, grime, dust, hair, dirty dishes in sink, and gunk anywhere.
3) Pack up everything you don't actually need to live & store it out of the house [friend's house, storage place, container in the yard if you must.] Think as if you are living hotel style with the absolute bare minimum of clothing, toiletries, toys, desk accessories, etc. Get your closets & all cupboards tot he point of half-full so appears as if the house has plenty of storage [ even if it doesn't.] Remember, it's not forever and it will make the house show better and therefore faster. Plus you will be mostly packed for an easier move.
3) a) Sorry, nobody wants to see pictures of you and your family on the walls. You WANT them to envision themselves in your house, not identify it with you.
3) b) Also, ZERO religious artifacts or symbols. People can be affected in ways they hadn't imagined by that stuff - this includes shrines inside and outside in your yard. Again, you WANT them to think of this as their home now.
3) c) you want clean, uncluttered, "could be anybody living there"-type of feel, still feel the need for nicknacks? sigh, fine, use them in clusters of 1 or 3. Maybe battery-operated candles that have timers, wine glasses, or a glass bowl with colored beads, but don't go crazy. Less is more.
Once your house is for sale, stop thinking of it as your home. It is now a product/investment you are trying to cash in on. You don't live there anymore. If you are not prepared to handle that, then don't bother to list it.
4) Have a list of what to do before a showing and keep things that way as much as possible so you aren't' running around like crazy trying to get out of the house: dishes out of the sink, open curtains and blinds, turn on lights on every floor, take out the trash [ it smells even the expensive fancy cans,] pickup all toys/shoes/etc and put them away, make the beds, etc.
5) the cookie thing: well, look, I love the smell of cookies, but there are other cultures out there who may not and that smell may be a turn off for them. Don't assume you know who is coming to see your house. Air fresheners should be used with caution as well as fresh flowers. People have allergies to both of those things. They don't want to buy a house that they couldn't wait to get out of because they had an allergy attack. Just clean your house regularly, throw out the dinner leftovers into the trash outside that night and keep the air circulating in the house. Try not to eat smelly foods during the time your house is on the market, maybe?
6) breathe and find ways to handle the inevitable stress of selling/buying and moving.
Once your house is for sale, stop thinking of it as your home. It is now a product/investment you are trying to cash in on. You don't live there anymore. If you are not prepared to handle that, then don't bother to list it.
Your entire post was most excellent advice!!!
Especially the family pictures. Totally depersonalize the place and get rid of as much stuff as you can.
I guess I'm the only one who doesn't mind family pictures, as I enjoy seeing photos of an elderly couple, or even pictures of a family with older kids. But young children in their destructive phases (YMMV) only serve to remind me that the house maybe has been used hard.
I also love pet pictures. It makes me think that the house has a happy aura.
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