Selling a house tips...

I registered here quite a while ago, then lost the info. Re-registered and will try to keep up a little better. I still post at Rhondas also. We have been very busy with Zoe's college aplications and visits. She is trying so hard despite missing at least a day aweek since her Jr. year. So far she has been accepted at Rhodes (TN), University of VA, and William and Mary.

Tonight we should hear from Brown. I really hope she chooses W&M, I think it would be a good fit for her. Also, close enough to get there in an emergency. We are trying to get our house ready to put on the market to see if we can get a good price for it. The market in our area is very good. Then we are hoping to move out a lttle further where we can get a newer house for a lot less money.

We need it for tuition. My head has been quiet awful, probably due to the stress of getting the house ready and fluctuating hormones. I have had to go to the ER the last 2 months. I have never had to go 2 months in a row. I have started having uncontrollable vomiting when they get bad, which is new for me. Oh how I hope Menopause helps! Sorry to go on so much, but its been I while.

Will try to read some of the posts and reply if I can.
Hugs,
Cindy

Cindy, we are trying to get our house ready to go on the market and finding the energy is TOUGH. Kudos.

And congrats on your daughters accomplishments. impressive!

Glad you reregistered. Good to see you.

So nice to see you here. Moving is up there as one of the most stressful life situations. I don't envy you.

Re: house selling.
I don't know if you guys like to watch a HGTV - I do, and find tons of great tips that help to increase price on your house and faster sale.

First and most important thing to remember is - you need to look at your house through the eyes of BUYER, not the owner.
What might be beautiful and tasteful for you, can be flat out dreadful for outsiders.

Rule number one when selling a house- less is more, and neutral color palette rules.

So, declutter your house from all memorabilia, tchotchkies no matter how much you love them.
Put them into boxes, plastic storage bins and if your relatives refuse to store them for you - pay for storage.
It's only temporary, and may pay for itself many times over in the end.

Paint your house warm, neutral colors. If your house is small, painting it throughout in the same ONE color will help make it appear bigger. (it's true, I done it myself).

Look critically at your furniture.
Does your sofa look pretty worn out? make nice covers. also, try to make a pillow or two to put it as matching accents somewhere else in the room - it gives off a 'designer' touch.
Does your furniture make your room stuffy, overcrowded, smaller than it is? again, get rid of some, people want to buy SPACE.

Make sure - and this is especially important - that your windows allow as much light as possible, have nice window coverings that let the light thru.
(We migraineurs need to invest into some kind of inexpensive, light blocking blinds that can be rolled out of sight for the time the buyers are viewing the house.
even the discreet bamboo blinds will suffice for the time being under all that glamour.)

The bedrooms needs to be definitely appear airy and roomy.
No clutter ever, lavishly made beds (doesn't mean expensively), decorative candles here and there help a lot.
If you turned bedroom into an office- also make it look airy and sufficient. and modern. no clutter ever, and always, always DO point out that this room can be easily converted back into one additional bedroom.
btw- vice versa, point out how any of the bedrooms can be made into an office if needed.

Kitchen - kitchen is the heart of the house, family so it's super important when selling a house.
It pays to freshen it up.
Paint the walls, even the cabinets if they don't look up to par, simple exchange of cabinet's hardware for a new ones
make wonders.
If you have damage anywhere on the countertops, tiles, old rusty faucets - a new ones is a must.

Same with carpet- if you have ugly, stained, worn out carpet - ughh, it's gonna beat your price down. better exchange for a new one, doesn't have to be expensive, just nice.
Maybe you have a decent floor underneath that can be made into great finish, and only a parts that need a carpet.

Pets - pets can make house smell undesirably, and believe it or not that can be a biiiig put off for some potential buyers
particularly for those who are not animal lovers, never had any pets of their own and firmly believe once the smell is there you'll never get rid of it.
So this too, is very important to keep your animals well groomed, make sure they never ever make mess in the house,
and if they did before- then the carpet exchange is simply an absolute must.
After you do that, make sure it stays clean and keep the air in the house fresh by airing it frequently and bake bake bake.
Nothing says "home" as warmly as home made goodies :]

And finally, the bathroom - same rules as in the kitchen apply - exchange any old looking and/or repair needing fixtures, paint walls fresh if needed, put up new shower curtain etc etc.

To minimize the cost of upgrade, do all the work that can be done yourself - wrap up your head in ice packs
delegate the rest of your family and friends to work :]

While all this look like an overwhelming and expensive undertaking - it's less daunting than it is in reality.
There is a lot of work involved, true,
however when it comes to expenses it's cheaper than it looks yet can boost the sale price multiple times.
For example, if you spend $2.500 on paint, supplies, furniture and decorations you may get in return in sale
$4000-5000 more if not even more!. Not to mention guaranteed sale and usually FAST sale.
So that's a good deal.

And Cindy, these M that are related mostly to menstruation I believe they should improve with menopause.
I am recently going thru peri-meno and my periods are sometimes fewer than they used to be.
During these months, I do have less M humdingers due to the fact that the ovulation happen only once in a while
instead once a month plus the menses alone are fewer.
So - hopefully, yes, you'll feel better!


Risa

We are getting a real estate agent to help us stage the house before it goes on the market.

That is actually the best!! thing that can be done, and also you are following all the other great tips suggested by professionals
on the shows that I only relay here, Cindy.
I am sure you'll have no plm selling your house, and for the good price.

Yeah, I know, these smells. Is there any way you can move out for a week or so right after they are put down- a little vacation time or something like that, maybe?


Risa

Risa, thanks for the password help. Hopefully, that will work more than once! Probably cant do a vacation when they put the carpet down since we have pets and nowhere to send them. Plus no money for vacation . Hopefully once we move, things will settle down financially and we can take a vacation again.
Cindy

No plm Cindy
I am only a co-admin, a greenhorn newbie, so if you have any further problems please contact Milo - she'll know what to do!
Welcome back, Cindy!



Re: carpet again -
I looked up (you probably did, too, but I thought maybe everybody will be curious) how to remove new carpet odors tips
and here it is:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cleaning/msg0214544617972.html?11
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-new-carpet-smell.html
http://www.cleartheair.com/english/new_carpet_odors.html

Hope that helps!

Risa

Wow, those are great sites, very helpful. I am going to try to talk my husband into trying the Clear the Air products. Sounds promising.
Cindy

Thank Kitty Kat, we have three older bassets hounds and they are known for their distinct odor. Luckily we don't have carpeting BUT the smell is there, even though we can't smell it.

Hubby and I decided to get a storage shed so we can clean out the clutter. I love watching staging shows on TV too and that's the biggest thing they focus on.

I have one bedroom that is definitely being painted...it is poinsettia red. I'm going for beige.

One question, the formal master is downstairs...en suite bathroom with his and hers walk in closets. But, only one sink.

Up stairs is another large bedroom that has a door to the bathroom. Another smaller bedroom is down the hall and TV loft. Again, only one sink. In this bathroom we have the room on the cabinet to change it to a double sink. Everytime on House Hunters they walk in and say "Oh, only one sink....". I think it would be worth the expense to put in a double sink since we don't have to buy a new cabinet. But I'm not sure.

Opinions????

Risa or Milo, are you able to put this diverging thread into a new post with maybe a heading "Selling a house"or Staging a house. Is that okay with you Cindy? Maybe if will catch some realtors eye and we can get more suggestions.

Its fine with me. We are having a realtor talk to us today, but not the staging appointment. The house is a wreck as I have been out taking a load of items to the Thrift shop. My hubbie made the appt. without telling me. My Mom is coming over for dinner and I am what I call "crying tired"...... I want to run away.
Cindy

Everytime on House Hunters they walk in and say "Oh, only one sink....". I think it would be worth the expense to put in a double sink since we don't have to buy a new cabinet. But I'm not sure.

Char, just re-read what you wrote yourself:
Oh, only one sink....

Char, when I was buying a house I wanted one to renovate to my precise taste,
but I sure as heck was going to beat the price down to every frickin' dollar for every smallest fault I could find with the house.
Whatever popped up I was "ohhhh, but that's gonna cost us more in renovations .. we have to think of making this house
leveling the costs if we are forced to fix it, hmmm. lolol

So,if you put brand new double sinks chances are not only the buyer won't have a leg to beat the price down, it will help to increase a price of your house actually - hopefully.

And definitely re-paint your house in warm, neutral colors.

If you suspect your house smells of your sweet pets- try washing the floors with cleaner and vinegar a few times
and then at the end use a floor polish.
Remember this particular smell of floor paste of olden times? where our grandmas polished wooden floors with a rag?
THAT smelled fresh! mmmm....

Also, if you have any dark, arresting pictures, why not consider taking them off and putting up something neutral and uplifting
for a time being?
A lot of people don't appreciate certain kind of art, (like I love goth, but try to explain that to some pple!)
and do better with cookie cutter images of something airy, flowy, light and cheerful.
Whatever- as long as it sells for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Another trick I've learned on "The Stagers" is tactically place some whimsical decorative pieces strongly reminding one
of home, childhood,
like a black dial phone or slightly beaten piece of furniture among modern furnitures i.e wooden kiddie chair or horse
(an antiques, preferably)
- the trick is to induce immediate emotional connection with the place. one piece is enough - it's to jolt, after all.

Risa

I tried to split this thread into two, did it well the first time around but then wanted to make it even better
and ended up screwing it up majorly,

losing some posts on the way.



I am so sorry, Cindy and Charlotte !! and Milo, of course!! it's just that I can help myself..
and you seemed to be out of circulation the whole day, and I wanted to try my skills as a moderator


sorry for f..g it up.

I am gonna look up if there is way to restore lost posts....

Risa

No problem, Risa. Thanks for trying, I appreciate it. Now...go back to messing things up....

No problem at all Risa. I'm sure we will all live...lol

Another house selling tips I just remembered -

Remove all your personal photos.

You want to make your house as impersonal as possible, allowing the buyers to imagine themselves in your house.
It's more difficult when your relatives are popping at them from every corner, lol

Oh, and something I found online - if you have a great family heirloom you don't want to impart with - like a great chandelier
or an armchair or something like that - remove it or hide it well!

Sometimes the buyers falls in love with this particular item and that's what makes the house attractive to them.
So, if they can't have it, the deal may fall thru - and that would be too bad.

Risa

Oh, and one more thing - never ever forget about the curb appeal!
If you can't afford the landscaper, then at least tidy up your yards - front and back.

Absolutely clean up all debris, cut the weeds, mow the lawn, trim hedges etc
but also make your patio area cozy and comfy, uncluttered,
if you have pets- repair pee stains on the lawn, remove poop promptly so the buyers won't step in it, ever.
It pays to designate even only visually feeding and playing area for the dogs. (like put together feeding bowls, a nice box
or a big bowl, basket for toys etc)
At least for the time being, so the buyers will see a nice organized backyard.

For the entrance, splurge on two same great potted plants for each side of the entry way, if space allows.
Well, do whatever you think will enhance an entice


I am only so smart from watching too much TV, really, ladies!
This one was from this old show where the designers had 2 or 3 thou of budget to completely redo a place.
I forgot the name of the show, though.
There was always the guy at the beginning who announced what is going to be done,
then the appraisal with the real estate agent,
then first potential buyers who were of course criticizing left and right,

then a designers arrived, fixed it on a budget and presto!
new potential buyers this time oohing and ahing left and right,

place sold for much more
the costs of before, the products and labor and the sale after all summed up and compared

finally the big sign SOLD triumphantly staked into the front yard by the same guy who announced/commented everything.

Rings any bells??

Risa