Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Deep clean the house top to bottom....That helps more than you know.
You definitely need to paint the whole interior. Painting is the most inexpensive cost effective fix that there is imo.
Agree....expose those wood floors. If they are in decent condition....clean them and buff them with a good wood product and call that good. People often like to redo wood floors....let the new buyer do that. Clean and wax the tiled rooms.
Clean and spruce up the front and back yards. For instance....where there is old mulch, throw a few bags of new mulch down...get the weeds and overgrown bushes thinned out. Water the grass to green it up if needed.
Take drapes down when you paint. If you want to stage the home....be minimal, and you can get away with inexpensive sheer panels at the windows just to dress it up a bit.
We put in a new sink and toilet in our rental and it was amazing how much it improved our bathroom. It wasn't that expensive. My husband re-moved the old caulk and redid the caulk surrounding the tub, and sink, and fresh paint improved the bathroom so much.
We bought a new front door and painted our exterior, so if it needs it I suggest doing that.
Make sure the roof is sound. The plumbing is sound and the electrical is up to date. Furnace/air conditioning is good.
Your fencing issues....I'd remove any old fencing and let the neighbors fences stand alone.....nothing that you can do about that.
Otherwise your list seems ok and I hope that you sell the house fast.
H
I had not thought about NOT fencing that one side of the yard where the fence is incomplete. Would buyers really not care if the back yard was enclosed or not? I'm thinking it would appeal to more buyers if completely enclosed in case they have animals or small children. I have to find out if the remaining fence belongs to us or to the neighbors (after survey determines property line). If it's ours, I can tear the rest of it down. It would be excellent to NOT have to ask the neighbors if we can take it down. And then maybe chain link to keep it consistent with the other sides of the yard and if buyers want ultimate privacy then they could put board on board up - but they wouldn't have to right away, is my thinking.
I agree with you that a fence can be a big selling point, particularly if you think potential buyers might have kids or pets, although it may be tough to get your money back unless you can do most of it yourself.
But personally I think chain link is often considered a negative...is it common in the neighborhood? Something like this picture might be a compromise between chain link and a full privacy fence, particularly since it seems the trees in the back and the neighbor's fence on one side already provide some privacy. You also might be able to not do the side where the neighbor's fence is, assuming the neighbor's fence is pretty much on the property line and you can but up a new one against it.
This was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the year. I can't tell you the number of homes that someone has "fixed up" that a buyer for houses of that vintage looked at and moaned about all the "unfixing" that would be required to return it from a "copy new home" to its original glory. Marketed properly it could be more valuable untouched (cleaned and repaired, only) than if you threw all the modern bells and whistles at it to make it look like Any House, USA.
Save the Pink Bathroom type here, too. When people are looking for an older home, we are not looking for a house that has been "re-muddled". We are looking for "time capsule". Intact 50-60s kitchens and baths, knotty pine paneling, original doors, no vinyl. walls that separate rooms etc.
New construction is a dime a dozen,houses such as yours are unique! And, you have a captive audience!
In addition, your house is not at "that awkward age" - 10 or 15 years old.
No. It will really never attract HGTV types unless you sink a ton of money into it.
I agree with TexasHorseLady marketed properly it could actually be more valuable. Find a savvy realtor who can market it as is.
If you have real wood paneling, please don't paint it; it's part of the charm. People who like mid-century houses will love it. Not only that, if someone buys the house who doesn't like real wood paneling (heaven forbid), they can either remove it to sell for salvage (that stuff is valuable for retro renovations), or they can paint it to their liking. Painting real wood paneling is best done by pros; DIY attempts often look like utter blech.
This. I had a friend advise me to paint the beautiful original mahogany paneling in our mid-century kitchen (she is a fan of Any House, USA styling). Almost took her head off, and now that that house is a rental one of the things that is written into the lease is that that paneling will NOT be touched by renters upon penalty of death. (Well, not quite, but it is emphasized MOST strongly as we've had renters in past who painted without asking, etc.)
One thing I don't recall seeing recommended - have the house pre-inspected and make sure that you repair any major systems before it goes on the market, and keep the receipts to prove it.
Not having a nasty surprise when you're under contract and your buyer has an option period and you are under the gun to negotiate repairs is worth the money and trouble of getting the pre-inspection.
Save the Pink Bathroom type here, too. When people are looking for an older home, we are not looking for a house that has been "re-muddled". We are looking for "time capsule". Intact 50-60s kitchens and baths, knotty pine paneling, original doors, no vinyl. walls that separate rooms etc.
New construction is a dime a dozen,houses such as yours are unique! And, you have a captive audience!
In addition, your house is not at "that awkward age" - 10 or 15 years old.
No. It will really never attract HGTV types unless you sink a ton of money into it.
I agree with TexasHorseLady marketed properly it could actually be more valuable. Find a savvy realtor who can market it as is.
It depends on your market. Where I am, Long Island, NY, the housing stock has loads of drab postwar tract homes with dark wood dungeon rooms, old kitchens, wall to wall carpeting, popcorn ceilings, etc. Houses in good shape with cosmetic updates sell much faster and for more money. This includes removing or painting paneling.
Our family home was built in that same year: 1967. Just a mere 1,700 sq. ft. and VERY dated. Real plaster/lathe walls, brick-pattern linoleum, braided carpet that looked like Grandma's hand-hooked throw rugs (which I really liked). Itsy-bitsy bathrooms you could barely turn around in. None of that could realistically be fixed, or updated without immense expense. "Loud" wallpaper everywhere!
But, it was Orange County, CA so nothing "had" to be done---the land alone was the value. The Sotheby's realtor advised to do "nothing", as it would probably become a tear-down. $9 million mansion next door!
I think you have a great plan, OP. More options are available to you than in our former home. You seem to have a lot of energy to put into this big project!
FYI, I plastered heavy texturing and painted over that cheapo wood paneling from the 70s, and it came out great. What a monumental difference (another house). Cheerful, bright! Pulled out old carpeting, huge improvement! You're on the right track!
This is Freebird - thank you for all the responses. I am heading to Florida within the week !
I wish the house was in OC or Pasadena so nothing would have to be done (nice !) - but I talked to our agent today and there are literally NO homes for sale in my parents' area for any price - so he is hoping for a multiple offer situation, especially with everything we are planning to do to it to prepare it and with the proximity to schools, the major artery to the beaches and I-95 to downtown and south Florida.
A few quick notes on the posts since I posted last - I appreciate all of the responses and advice more than you will ever know.
- The house will be completely empty - no clutter or elderly people's furnishings and things
- There is no wallpaper whatsoever - awesome
Our agent recommended NOT spending the money on a fence - he said he has not had a single issue with properties not being fenced in that area - with the large palm tree on the property line and with the other two sides of the yard being chain link, he said buyers might want to put up their own choice all the way around and make more privacy, compared to using chain link for matching and for the lesser expense.
I asked him about pre inspection to uncover any issues and repair them before listing it - he said he would rather let the buyers do their own inspection and deal with what they found at that time. Definitely two different schools of thought - I would rather know. Yet the roof is relatively new - I've been up on it very often blowing off pine straw - - the HVAC is relatively new - - a plumber was just out to address and repair a water pressure issue in the front bathroom shower - - no leaky faucets or broken windows or torn screens or obvious signs of disrepair except for the drywall in the garage which is definitely going to be done.
City water, no septic tank or well. . .
The agent says for the market and the timing right now, we would not have to do much to the house and it would sell anyway.
Yet we feel that we should do everything we can to attract the most buyers and get the highest price since this money has to last my parents for awhile. And they know we aren't going to let them get evicted if the money runs out - but it only makes sense to spend some time and elbow grease and money (enough, but not too much) to make it as nice as possible and I am totally up for that.
I have a couple more questions but can't write more right now - I talked with my parents for three hours straight this afternoon and tonight and there are a couple of issues that would be good to know how to handle with mom - please stay tuned, but everything really looks like it's coming together thanks to all of you !
If you have real wood paneling, please don't paint it; it's part of the charm. People who like mid-century houses will love it. Not only that, if someone buys the house who doesn't like real wood paneling (heaven forbid), they can either remove it to sell for salvage (that stuff is valuable for retro renovations), or they can paint it to their liking. Painting real wood paneling is best done by pros; DIY attempts often look like utter blech.
So glad you said this! I LOVE real knotty pine paneling!
It depends on your market. Where I am, Long Island, NY, the housing stock has loads of drab postwar tract homes with dark wood dungeon rooms, old kitchens, wall to wall carpeting, popcorn ceilings, etc. Houses in good shape with cosmetic updates sell much faster and for more money. This includes removing or painting paneling.
I'm FROM Long Island NY. (Oyster Bay Cove and Stony Brook NY)
Not everyone on the Island wants a granite kitchen and a beigy colored bathroom. Wasn't that early 2000s?
In fact, my sister just bought a Mid Century Modern home in Glen Cove. Fortunate for her, the bathrooms and kitchen are intact.
Not everyone wants a "cookie cutter" house.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
