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Selling a home, little details make difference, showcasing home, cleaning house, change light bulbs, painting trim, coat of paint, spruce up home before showing
Sorry - true! But I think there are more of the i want it all now buyers today than there were 5 or 10 years ago. I could be wrong, but thats just the feeling i get talking to people.
This is exactly what we have been experiencing! Our house has been on the market for 3 weeks. We are in a prime location, as the realtors say, 'the sought-after part of town'. Charming town, great schools. There is very little competition in our price range or our area, because there are very few places on the market. We don't have a glut of inventory like so many towns. Buyers aren't buying, so sellers aren't selling. You would think that would be putting us at an advantage. The comments from the showings are, beautifully maintained, gorgeous views, spectacular backyard, wonderful location, crisp, clean, uncluttered, etc. etc., BUT needs upgrading. We have new windows, new interior doors, refinished hardwood floors, new carpeting, new landscaping, new paint in and out, but we're missing the state of the art bathrooms, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and a travertine fireplace (I don't even know what that is). And, the one thing we can't change is the location of the staircase to the 2nd floor - another big complaint! Here's our dilemma -- we have a 5 bedroom house, so therefore, it's probably going to attract a young family with kids, certainly not a retired couple or empty-nesters. The buyers coming through, who indeed have kids, are exactly the people you are talking about, who want it all now!! So, do we lower our price $100,000+ so the buyer can immediately make all those changes or do we sit tight hoping to find someone who doesn't care about the current trend, as I see it? The problem is the whole area doesn't have much traffic, not just us, because buyers are waiting. So, getting that perfect buyer could take a whole lot longer. We bought our house 14 years ago, and the place was a dump, stained carpets, stained linoleum floors, scratched counter tops, broken cabinets, desperately in need of fixing up, but we bought it for the views, privacy, location. With time we fixed up, cleaned up, and lived with some of the things that we didn't like, because the positives outweighed the negatives. I truly believe the mind set is different today!
no buyers remorse here...that is not what I was saying. my point is: if you want to sell in THIS market you have to go the extra mile to stand out against all of the other homes. Little things count...those who are not planning on doing anything I wish you luck. I just think you have more of an advantage if you take the time and go the extra mile...not saying paint your rooms red or whatever, just saying a nice, bright lightbulb can give your home a newer feel, replacing dated knobs can make a kitchen look new, and so forth.
I LOVE my home. I think it is great. I also think the sellers were lucky that I could look past some things. Also, there was another home we were interested in...and I went with this one b/c it was in better shape...so that other seller lost out b/c they didn't take care of some small details. (for example, tightening a pipe that was leaking gas..easy fix but scared me away)
I've done all the little things... and the big things.. and then this week I was told by my realtor who showed some pics to other realtors that the reason people are not looking at my house is the green trim paint... I was told it makes the house look dated. WTF !! It doesn't look like the rest of the area.
This is my house:
This is the house across the street... also for sale (empty)
This is the house next door. Not for sale... only 1/2 painted LAST YEAR !
dated would not have been my choice of words. I like your house and would not be turned off by the green trim. I LOVE your front tree!!!!! The outside of your house is very clean. I would not buy the empty house. I don't like the driveway. Makes me think they converted the garage to living space and I hate that. What's with the BIG stain on the 3rd house.
BINGO... they did just that... there is no garage. Although they did it when built... but it's still the "garage space".. LOL
The tree in front of my house is a Hong Kong Lotus tree. We have three of them and grew them from seeds we got from a neighbors house. They have nice white flowers in the spring and the seeds are in long pods. They don't do well in cold climates... they are southern tree. I'll miss them when I get to Kentucky... but then I can have other stuff like lilacs and forsythia that don't grow in Florida
The siding is Hardy Plank Siding... CEMENT. Very heavy. the color is called Woodrow Wilson Linen ( Lowe's ) I forget what the green is called.
It's also the ONLY house in the area with Hardy Plank siding and a solar panel. They guy on the other side has a metal roof... we did them at the same time from the same manufacturer after he hurricanes in 2004. This is his house. I took all these just today from standing on my front lawn.
And this is one of the newer houses across the street. Two houses, same plan ( one reversed ), same paint, same builder, same family ( mother & daughter ).... can we say BORING !!!!
Last edited by bcfarmlady; 02-07-2008 at 03:00 PM..
Reason: added pics
I'd plant a LOT of flowers in the flowerbeds out front. Make it POP and it would I guess detract their eyes away from the color of the trim (which is fine w/ me). But the flowers and landscaping would pull it all together for very little money.
The house across the street - YUCK!!!!!!!!!! I too would be TOTALLY turned off from the driveway. Sure this view out the front window is not scaring off the bueyrs????? Just in case it is do something to distract from that in the front if one was looking out the window in your house. That house is just AWFUL!!!
Next door - peach????? YUCK! Give me green anyday over peach. And yeah, what is that stain??? When their not home go out w/ your hose and wash that off so the potential buyers won't think they are buying next to a house that is not maintained. LOL!!!
I'd plant a LOT of flowers in the flowerbeds out front. Make it POP and it would I guess detract their eyes away from the color of the trim (which is fine w/ me). But the flowers and landscaping would pull it all together for very little money.
The house across the street - YUCK!!!!!!!!!! I too would be TOTALLY turned off from the driveway. Sure this view out the front window is not scaring off the bueyrs????? Just in case it is do something to distract from that in the front if one was looking out the window in your house. That house is just AWFUL!!!
Next door - peach????? YUCK! Give me green anyday over peach. And yeah, what is that stain??? When their not home go out w/ your hose and wash that off so the potential buyers won't think they are buying next to a house that is not maintained. LOL!!!
Good luck
I love it, wash the neighbors house! That's hilarious. I like the peach but UGH! that stain. It would drive me nuts!
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