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I'm curious...I read through everyone's post, and no one mentioned anything about being turned off by an empty house. I have never sold a house before, but may be listing mine within the next few months. I am seriously considering moving out and leaving the house vacant, as I don't know if I can live in a "museum" (as some have described it) for any length of time. Is a vacant house a turn-off?
My family is house hunting right now and we like vacant houses the best. With vacant houses, it is easier to see what you would be buying and if no one is living there now, you know you probably won't run into any difficult timing issues where you want to buy the house and move and the owners need more time to move themselves.
Have read all your comments and would like an opinion if you feel an owner should replace the carpeting or just have it cleaned right before placing on the market? Our thoughts were that new owners may want to have their own color selection or replace with wood floors. We were also thinking of giving $4,000 as an incentive for this or just let them drop the price more. Present color is neutral.
We are thinking of selling our home and have replaced the 10yr old appliances with energy star stainless steel and also will replace the shower stall door, steam clean all floor tiles etc.. We too watch HGTV and know what needs to be done but wondered about the carpet. Hopefully our cats will not become too much of a problem when it comes time.
Have read all your comments and would like an opinion if you feel an owner should replace the carpeting or just have it cleaned right before placing on the market? Our thoughts were that new owners may want to have their own color selection or replace with wood floors. We were also thinking of giving $4,000 as an incentive for this or just let them drop the price more. Present color is neutral.
We are thinking of selling our home and have replaced the 10yr old appliances with energy star stainless steel and also will replace the shower stall door, steam clean all floor tiles etc.. We too watch HGTV and know what needs to be done but wondered about the carpet. Hopefully our cats will not become too much of a problem when it comes time.
Well it depends on why you need the carpet replaced.
I didn't read through all the posts, because I started having a laughing fit! Really, people are still living in a lot of houses for sale, so you sure can't expect a model home!
I agree that a house should be clean and uncluttered. The yard should be maintained, things like that. But really...some of the things mentioned cracked me up! Some people smoke..I don't, I hate the smell, but I bet for regular smokers, they can't even smell it anymore. I agree they should try to get their house aired out, but it's still their house! And when my house was for sale, I would have realtors call me that day and expect me to get my 2 toddlers out while they looked. Well, it was winter and tough, we were staying. We did leave for anyone with a scheduled-in-advance appt, except for the day of my daughter's bday. If they didn't like it, oh well.
When you look at a house, you have to look at the house...not the other person's furniture or drapes, not the smell of the dinner they ate in a rush so they could leave before you came over, and not the toys in the basement. Real people have real stuff and live real lives. Just because their house is up for sale doesn't mean everything else comes to a grinding halt.
Saying that....the only thing that really ever bothered me while househunting were the people who locked their pets in a room and put a sign up saying to stay out of the room...so we couldn't see a part of the house, which was an instant turnoff.
My family is house hunting right now and we like vacant houses the best. With vacant houses, it is easier to see what you would be buying and if no one is living there now, you know you probably won't run into any difficult timing issues where you want to buy the house and move and the owners need more time to move themselves.
I don't think an empty house is a turnoff at all...my current home was empty when we looked at it last year, and it was easy to picture our stuff in it. Easier to really see the size of the rooms, too. It also made closing very easy...they agreed to the soonest date possible, since we had a contract on our house and needed out quick!
I don't think an empty house is a turnoff at all...my current home was empty when we looked at it last year, and it was easy to picture our stuff in it. Easier to really see the size of the rooms, too. It also made closing very easy...they agreed to the soonest date possible, since we had a contract on our house and needed out quick!
That's how I see it, too. But all of the "sell your house now" type shows on HGTV stress that the house should be "staged" and that it's important to have the house furnished so that prospective buyers will be more able to imagine living there. I don't necessarily agree, and wondered how others felt.
Well it depends on why you need the carpet replaced.
Because it's 10 yrs old, 2 kids raised and 2 cats with their puking hair balls etc... Carpet was upgraded when we built so it's not the cheapest and looks ok when cleaned but if I were buying a house I personally would want to replace. Maybe we should just not worry and leave it up to the new buyers to say something, if we're lucky enough to get a buyer.
I went into one house this weekend. Open House. And the toilet inside was black. Covered in a layer of black filth. The house was so cluttered and unkept. The owners should be embarrassed to have people in their house in that condition. It was gross.
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