Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

So DH and I are so motivated to make our house look as good as possible in order to sell it. I was just thinking over all of the things that we have done to our house and can't believe that we couldn't get what we paid.

I feel like sharing some before and afters if that is ok...

This was their living room on the main level of the house right next to the kitchen.






we turned it into a dining room, ripped up the carpet and the tile in the kitchen and put down laminate floors, added the "island" in between the two rooms and, obviously, painted and chaged the window treatments. we also changed all the handles and knobs on the cabinets.









Basement was unfinished.


We made it inot a huge living room, with two big storage closets and a laundry room. .

The two storage closets. The laudry room is to the right, but you cant see it in this pic.






We also added attic stairs to the hallway and changed the light fixtures, but I need to take pics of that. Oh and we changed all the molding around all the doors in the house too.

We ripped up the carpet in the office and put down new flooring.
Old:




New


We didnt replace the carpet in our room, which we still might. Today I bought a new storage cabinet for the wall in the bathroom to livin up the bathroom a bit. I also bought a new comforter set (which I know sounds silly, but it makes the bedroom look SO much nicer).

I am much more positive after looking at these pics that we could get a decent price for our small little house.

any other tips on small things I can do to up the value?

Message edited 2/18/2010 5:08:30 PM.

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

as HGTV would say....

CLEAN AND DE-CLUTTER!!!!!!

the work you have done looks great

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Great job fixing up the house!!! Good Luck selling!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Great job! I bet now you don't want to sell

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Looks great to me! Just add some food in that empty fridge and I'll move in!

In all seriousness, I can't think of any suggestions, it looks great! Good luck!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Where's your home located? Looks like an adorable starter!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

I remember when you guys were doing all this work. I hope you have a quick sale.

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Looks great!
I agree with emptying closets & cabinets to make everything seem more spacious.

We did something similar with our first floor, we don't watch TV with our guests usually so we made a large media room in the basement & we used most of the original living/dining room space as a dining room. However we kept a small sitting area there, so since it has high ceilings its considered a "great room" now. Is there any way you can remove your dining room hutch or move it more into the dining room so you can create a small seating area in the front of the room? Most people would think of the only "living room" in the basement as a drawback.
I would also put the large kitchen stools away, just keep the little ones out.
Good luck! I cried when we moved out of our first place even though I wanted a bigger house so badly!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Posted by KellyFG

Looks great!
I agree with emptying closets & cabinets to make everything seem more spacious.

We did something similar with our first floor, we don't watch TV with our guests usually so we made a large media room in the basement & we used most of the original living/dining room space as a dining room. However we kept a small sitting area there, so since it has high ceilings its considered a "great room" now. Is there any way you can remove your dining room hutch or move it more into the dining room so you can create a small seating area in the front of the room? Most people would think of the only "living room" in the basement as a drawback.
I would also put the large kitchen stools away, just keep the little ones out.
Good luck! I cried when we moved out of our first place even though I wanted a bigger house so badly!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

I also agree with the declutter rule. De-personalize. I would put your toaster oven away, show as much counter space as you can. Remove all personal pics. People need to see themselves in the house. You can make a little photo album of the before and afters, just so people can see the work you did. Maybe even remove a few bar stools. Make it look as big as you can. If you can, keep the blinds open (makes the room look ber with natural light). Looks great.

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Also, I cant tell by the pic But is therea leaf in the table? If so, maybe remove it turn the table and seat it for four. And maybe like Kelly said make a little seating area in the living room part.

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

what do you have on the small wall where the previous owner had the TV? That might be a good space for a console table to make the entry a bit more formal. And I keep thinking if you could fit two of those armless pattered chairs from target or home goods against one wall with a tiny table between them. No coffee table or actual couch.

Message edited 2/19/2010 9:14:37 AM.

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

You guys did a beatiful transformation of the house and any couple will be lucky to buy the house! Good luck with the sale and I hope you find a house of your dreams!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

From your home it doesn't look cluttered and I don't even think you have a lot of pictures up (I could only see 3 in your kitchen). I would leave them.
-I would move your microwave to the penisula and have it against the wall, or move it next to the fridge (not sure if you have room there). When you look at the kitchen you won't notice it.
-remove the stools in the kitchen. It looks cluttered to me and not convenient since you can't access the cabinets unless you move them
-try remove as much off the counters and over the cabinets.
-when we were selling, I used to hide our drying rack under the kitchen sink so my counters looked bigger
- I agree with the posters that mentioned making the dining room table smaller and taking away 2 chairs. I also think moving the hutch and creating a small seating area would be great. Even if it is 2 nice chairs.
-I would put a chandelier in the dining room and take away the standing lamps, if you can. If you can't then maybe just leave one or take the hutch off top and use it as server and then put 2 lamps and a picture or mirror over it. I actually think that would look really nice if you did that.

You guys did a great job! Good luck with the sale

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

You did a great job on your house! Good luck with the sale. I agree with what all the others have said too about de-cluttering and de-personalizing. I watch HGTV shows obsessively and those are always the things they recommend first and can make a huge difference.

Oh - and they always say to put away all pet supplies when the house is being shown. As a dog lover myself that never would have bothered me when looking at a house but I guess it's a turn off to some buyers!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Looks FANTASTIC!

Re: Getting house ready to sell...tons of pics

Your home is beautiful!!

I agree with the de-cluttering. We put our old house up for sale last Feb, and I serisously had my house bare bones... minimal pictures, EVERYTHING off every counter, table, dresser... it really makes a difference since some buyers have a hard time seeing past it.

Selling a home with children is HARD. Be prepared to have like 30 minutes to clean and put everything away before an agent and prospective buyers are coming over. I remember plenty of times getting a call from our agents office and having to run around like superwoman putting away all the kids stuff!

Keep positive. I wanted to give up after a month on the market because I was sick and tired of people coming to look and getting no offers. Keeping your home clean to show it is hard and stressful.. but you know what? Its ALL worth it in the end when you get that offer, go into contract, and then find your dream home.

Good luck!!!!!