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I think what you have suggested are reasonable preparations in order to get a home ready to sell at maximum price. So many people these days are so busy, they want turnkey homes -- they want to walk in and live in it immediately, not spend a couple of weeks painting, sanding, etc. If you see the flaws, as a seller, you can bet that a buyer is going to zero in on them, too.
On the other hand -- are you affiliated with a brokerage there in Connecticut? I know things are done differently around the country, but here in Atlanta, it's common for agents to have an "agent caravan", just for other agents. We often do them before a listing goes live in order to solicit comments from other agents regarding pricing, staging, etc. Might be a tactic that you can use with your wife, so that she doesn't think you are being too fussy?
OP, I think you're right about this. Any improvements you make will be more likely to attract buyers than a price break. Buyers usually don't want to do work on a home prior to move-in. They want the home pretty and not have even more work added onto all the regular stresses of buying. As for you being an RE agent, you know more than the average person about selling a home, even though you don't do it full time. I agree with whoever said to show your wife the comps. Try to convince her, even though it might not be easy.
But don't automatically assume a buyer would rather buy a new home for a little more than a used home for a little less. I would buy a used home in a trice over a new home because I don't like the quality of new construction. My wife is in the RE biz as well. She's a home inspector. She tells me horror stories about new construction occasionally, so when we purchase our next one, it won't be new construction.
Broken tile? I wouldn't even look at the house with broken tile! Wood floors with gouges? That automatically will make me take at least $10K off any offer I'm thinking off....maybe more depending on how much of the house has wood floors. If I was even remotely interested, the broken tile would cause me to take off at least $5K to replace the tile. Not painted in 10 years? There's another $5k or more......so now we're down a MINIMUM of $20K on the price I'm going to offer you. And I'm sure there are other things that I would knock down my offer on. Oh wait there's BRAND NEW houses in the same development? Yeah, never mind. I'll go look at those since you didn't give a care about your house and who knows what other issues there are.
the problem with comps is that the town is small enough, and the market slow enough, that there are not a huge number of comps in the town - and, then part of the town is on Long Island Sound, so you could be looking at a small ranch home on the water that goes for $600,000. (If I eliminate homes on, or near, the Sound, then I have even fewer comps)
My advice: Hire the best Realtor in your area, ask him or her what you need to do and what doesn't matter, and follow their advice to the letter. They know what potential buyers look at and care about and what they don't, and you will save time and money by following their instructions.
I hired a realtor who held an agents' open house. 23 of 30 said I should repaint the walls. He said not to and never explained himself. I trusted him, paid to have other small improvements done by workers HE had recommended, one of whom decided after the fact that he was going to get more money from this "little girl" (I'm 55) than he originally agreed to, and the house didn't sell at $259.
I rented it for a year. When the lease was up he had the nerve to call me and say he wanted the listing again and that he "knew" he could sell it for $259. Before I could stop myself, and I'm not sure I would have anyway, I said, "And I know you CAN'T!" I rented it for another year and finally sold it for a huge loss but that's another topic. Don't trust realtors; they want their commission and nothing else. And they're not infallible.
You seem to feel about yourself like you are more a home owner rather than a realtor.
You don't mention you are a realtor right away. Even when you do, you say you "are licensed as a realtor" rather than "I am a realtor". And your wife does not trust your realtor experience. And you didn't mention right away the great difference in your house from the new ones in size and finished basement, instead asking how to distinguish your house......when a big thing is right there in front of you. So you must be very new in real estate and very new in selling anything.
Consequently, a big thing is you don't feel empowered as a realtor. Can you not get help from you broker who makes his/her money off your sale and should be glad to lead you in the right direction?
Yeah, and after concealing this rather relevant fact, then he comes back arguing against himself regarding prices and sizes. I smell a rat, so I'm out of here.
Refinishing hardwood floors, correctly, is extremely expensive. Almost as much as just having it removed and new flooring installed.
I would fix the broken tiles, though.
Paint is fairly cheap. As a buyer, I don't care as much about the wall colors, as I would probably repaint the rooms myself. Now if you have a 2-story great room with purple paint, you might have a problem.
A little over three years ago in 2012, we bought a home in an upscale and growing subdivision in southeastern Connecticut. (Not the expensive part near New York City) Due to a major employer relocating out of the area a year earlier, there were several homes in this subdivision on the market at the same time, so we got a good deal because the home was on the market for a while. The subdivision is now a little over half built and is continuing to grow, but 2015 was slower than 2014 for new construction sales.
It’s coming close to the time where we are going to sell the home. My wife and I are disagreeing on what we should do in preparation to sell. She does not want to do anything other than maybe clean up the home. (She’s extremely stingy with money)
I think we should do the following:
1) Paint all, or most, of the interior walls. The home is 10 years old and has its original paint in every room (and some spots/fingerprints/scratches on the walls in a few places). A new paint job will freshen it up and make it look cleaner.
2) The master bathroom has a big shower, but some of the tile is cracked. I think we should replace the tile in the shower with something that would match today’s style. (the countertops in the master bath are dark granite and the cabinetry is white, with a light neutral tile floor)
3) Due to kids hopping on and off the furniture, one of the sofas has gouged the hardwood floors in the family room. Since the home is 10 years old, I think we should look at sanding and refinishing the floors as well. The hardwood is in good shape overall, but some of the high travel areas are a bit worn. I also think we should consider staining the hardwood a darker color since it seems to be the style now.
I think since the market in this part of Connecticut is slower, we need to do these sorts of things to distinguish the house from others in the subdivision. Why would somebody buy our 10 year old house that needs work (without the above) for $540,000 to $560,000 or so, when they could spend $600,000 to $650,000 to get a brand new house in 6-7 months?
What do people here think?
I think you should examine listings for the competition that recently sold at a good price/quick time. We, here, do not know what your home looks like, nor if it is in line with the best selling decor/condition of homes in your area, so at the very least, you should:
1) paint and use magic eraser on baseboards and other small spots. Use neutral paint colors that are very safe.
2) declutter like mad, and hide away personal photos. Even declutter all the kids' toys and donate them/put them in storage if you have to.
3) research staging techniques and put away all oversized and/or ugly furniture in storage or donate it.
4) I would fix the tile section if you have extras, or it will come up at inspection and I'm sure they'll want a credit for it, unless you're in a hot market.
5) Can you put a rug over the gouged floor. I would say refinish, but it can stink up the house for quite a while, and it's expensive and painstaking to refinish. People are always happy to see hard wood, even if it's not the best shape. It's carpet that makes people cringe. If you have carpeted sections of the house, then steam clean them.
6) Clean clean clean like mad, to the point that you eat of the toilet seat. You can't clean enough, but when buyers see a very clean, uncluttered house, that looks like no one lives there, it is very inviting to them. It's hard, especially with kids, to keep it that clean, but you have to do what you have to do to sell, right? If you have pets, hide any proof they exist during showings if you can. Don't leave bowls, toys and the litter box lying around!
I think you should examine listings for the competition that recently sold at a good price/quick time. We, here, do not know what your home looks like, nor if it is in line with the best selling decor/condition of homes in your area, so at the very least, you should:
1) paint and use magic eraser on baseboards and other small spots. Use neutral paint colors that are very safe.
2) declutter like mad, and hide away personal photos. Even declutter all the kids' toys and donate them/put them in storage if you have to.
3) research staging techniques and put away all oversized and/or ugly furniture in storage or donate it.
4) I would fix the tile section if you have extras, or it will come up at inspection and I'm sure they'll want a credit for it, unless you're in a hot market.
5) Can you put a rug over the gouged floor. I would say refinish, but it can stink up the house for quite a while, and it's expensive and painstaking to refinish. People are always happy to see hard wood, even if it's not the best shape. It's carpet that makes people cringe. If you have carpeted sections of the house, then steam clean them.
6) Clean clean clean like mad, to the point that you eat of the toilet seat. You can't clean enough, but when buyers see a very clean, uncluttered house, that looks like no one lives there, it is very inviting to them. It's hard, especially with kids, to keep it that clean, but you have to do what you have to do to sell, right? If you have pets, hide any proof they exist during showings if you can. Don't leave bowls, toys and the litter box lying around!
Thanks - as I said above, the market in southeast Connecticut is not great, so it is not a HOT market.
Good idea on the carpet over the gouged area of the floor (it's maybe an area 18 inches long and maybe 10 inches wide). However, once the house is cleaned out, the buyers would get a walk through the day of the close and the floor could become an issue.
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