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Speaking as a buyer.... we are looking at "starter homes"
I personally HATE so called "upgrades". Most realtors want showy, useless crap. I want a home that is USEABLE. With STORAGE and a pantry. Not flashy countertops, ugly modern flooring and weird textures on walls.
Seriously as long as the home would qualify for a mortgage as it is, sell it that way. I want good bones, good foundation and good roof. Leave the rest to me. And please price it reasonably.... understanding that the new buyer has thier own plans..... and they may not match your tastes in design.....
OP, you've gotten some good answers here. Not everyone is an HGTV buyer. Maybe they want to be, but their budget says otherwise. If your house is in good condition but just dated, I agree with the clean and declutter. Painting is also a good idea.
Price it right and it will sell. There are people out there who will buy houses with carpet, laminate counters and brown cabinets. When I sold my house with all of those undesirable items I replaced the 21 year old furnace and the roof (insurance claim), painted and removed everything I didn't need to live day to day. We priced it for the "starter home" market and it sold in less than a week.
Agreed.
As much as the HGTV-fan stereotypes portray most homebuyers as having outrageous expectations for bells and whistles and high-end finishes (and there are definitely a fair amount who do!).... most buyers, especially first time buyers, just want a house that is livable and won't be a money-pit with major need-fix-now issues...IE old roof, old HVAC/bad plumibng. etc.
Fancy new counter-tops. and "brass-free" fixtures.....sure they look nice and people take note; but they won't stop a buyer from choosing your house if it's it's priced right in a desirable location.
Thanks for the advice. We've interviewed several agents to take on the property. We were being freaked out by some who wanted us to move into an apartment, empty the house out and repaint , re-carpet.
Putting everything in storage, and renting an apartment plus repairs would seem to wipe out any price increment we might achieve due to the expense. Of course, it would benefit the agent.
We can deculture and clean but a complete move out is ridiculous. The added expense and stress of two moves - apartment, then to new house - forget it.
Thanks for the estimate of approximately 60% of normal sale value. That gives me something to think about.
I understand, GEM... and just keep talking with people, there's lots of agents out there who will have a reasonable approach to marketing your home with you still in it. In the real world, we do it all the time.
I try to advise sellers to start packing and eliminate as much extra stuff as possible.. Box it up and put it in the storage or the garage... but I also believe most buyers are perfectly able to look past someone else's stuff and evaluate the house anyway. I think most of the HGTV shows that say otherwise are full of it.
Thanks for the advice. We've interviewed several agents to take on the property. We were being freaked out by some who wanted us to move into an apartment, empty the house out and repaint , re-carpet.
Putting everything in storage, and renting an apartment plus repairs would seem to wipe out any price increment we might achieve due to the expense. Of course, it would benefit the agent.
We can deculture and clean but a complete move out is ridiculous. The added expense and stress of two moves - apartment, then to new house - forget it.
Thanks for the estimate of approximately 60% of normal sale value. That gives me something to think about.
Moving out isn't necessary. If the house is in reasonable condition, I would do a heavy decluttering, hire a cleaning crew to do a deep cleaning, repaint but hire a small local person off of Craigslist, and have the carpet shampooed.
if you live neatly enough, don't have kids and pets that are hard to follow behind, and the paint isn't extremely dated, the carpet worn, wild color, etc then you shouldn't need to move out.
if you live neatly enough, don't have kids and pets that are hard to follow behind, and the paint isn't extremely dated, the carpet worn, wild color, etc then you shouldn't need to move out.
Bo... It's the people with kids and pets who probably ~can't~ just up and move out ahead of time just to make selling the house easier. We can sell a house around them.
if you live neatly enough, don't have kids and pets that are hard to follow behind, and the paint isn't extremely dated, the carpet worn, wild color, etc then you shouldn't need to move out.
You can replace carpet without moving out, right? As long as you empty all furniture of knickknacks etc, carpet installers can move furniture around as they go.
Speaking as a buyer.... we are looking at "starter homes"
I personally HATE so called "upgrades". Most realtors want showy, useless crap. I want a home that is USEABLE. With STORAGE and a pantry. Not flashy countertops, ugly modern flooring and weird textures on walls.
Seriously as long as the home would qualify for a mortgage as it is, sell it that way. I want good bones, good foundation and good roof. Leave the rest to me. And please price it reasonably.... understanding that the new buyer has their own plans..... and they may not match your tastes in design.....
Bless you! DH and I sold in 2015 so this is old news, but over the years we'd added insulation to the attic, replaced the windows with energy-efficient ones, put ceramic tile on 2 bathroom floors (instead of plastic in one and carpet in the other), scraped off all the "popcorn" ceiling texture, put bamboo flooring in the kitchen and master bath, installed granite countertops, and took down the ugly wallpaper and painted. The structure was in very good condition. The feedback was whiny. The appliances weren't stainless steel. The light fixtures were dated. The house down the street, similar floor plan (realtor and I went in and snooped) had the entire 2-story great room, including the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, painted mustard yellow. It still had the popcorn ceilings. It sold in 5 days. Ours took 5 months.
We bought a wonderful house on a lake with ugly wallpaper in 2 rooms. We could see beyond the ugly wallpaper.
To the OP- Use your brain and don't go overboard. In our case, we painted the outdoor light fixtures flat black (they were corroded- easy fix), replaced carpeting in one room because it was stained and worn, repainted one bathroom (I was adventurous and used a very dark blue and the realtor said do something lighter), and tiled the two bathrooms I mentioned. We still spent more than we'd planned to fix it up but didn't go overboard with the latest and greatest. Some things, such as painting the outdoor fixtures, cleaning and de-cluttering are relatively cheap and have a big impact.
Bo... It's the people with kids and pets who probably ~can't~ just up and move out ahead of time just to make selling the house easier. We can sell a house around them.
well, I didn't say anyone DID need to move out. But I'm sure you see the same things I do - that a clean and neat house that has easy access for showings will sell faster and for a MUCH higher price than one where a flustered mom/dad spends all day cleaning behind children and pets and never seemingly making headway.
It's all about expectations, and laying them out, and a gameplan for each Seller we help.
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It still had the popcorn ceilings. It sold in 5 days. Ours took 5 months.
