getting a house ready to sell

Thinking of selling our house in the (relatively) near future to move OOS. The house needs some updating - pretty much all cosmetic. We plan to do *some* things to make the house more sellable (is that even a word? lol); but we don't live in one of those highly desirable areas that seem to sell in less than a week for way higher than the asking price. boo. Basically, we don't want to waste our money, but we want the house to be at least somewhat marketable. What is the best way to find out what would be good to do and what probably isn't worth doing? Would contacting a real estate agent in the area be helpful? Even if we don't plan to sell for another 6 months to a year?

Jeez. Haven't even committed to putting the house on the market and already I'm stressed!

Re: getting a house ready to sell

I would contact a REA in the area to get a sense of houses that have sold in the area recently and their selling price. I would not want to put money in a house if I wasn't going to get anything back in return.

getting a house ready to sell

I agree with the above poster. Get a REA- have them give you comps, things that can make your house sell for more etc. just so you know what to expect going in. I will say this- my house when I bought wasn't fully updated- my stove is legit from the 60s. The sellers NEVER updated the kitchen from 1968 when they bought the house, but when we bought another offer came in the day after ours, so you never know.
If some cosmetic updates wasn't increasing the value where you would make your money back plus some, I would say just keep your house clean, free of clutter etc. I'm sure a REA can give you a ton of pointers!

Re: getting a house ready to sell

I would absolutely get a review from a couple of realtors. Then I would scope out your local competition to see what people do in your area.

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Yes, I would ask an agent. They can pull comps and show you what similar homes sold for and how long the market moves.

Staging is important and pricing it right. You won't get the same price for a 1980 kitchen vs granite. But a clean, well maintained home will do much better than one that appears run down, cluttered, etc. few people are able to afford perfect dream homes so most of us buy knowing we have some work to do eventually.

I would look at any repairs, possible repainting, declutter and try to focus on homes positives.

You can do a lot with paint, simple light fixtures, replace a vanity vs whole bathroom, etc.

getting a house ready to sell

I would declutter and have a clean feel.
I wasn't impressed while house hunting if someone had a new counter top but an old kitchen. It was a bandaid imo and something that I would replace so it added no extra value to me. My husband didn't like if someone tried diy and they did a bad job, once again it was still a fix and added no value to us.

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Definitely contact a REA for comps and pricing

Things to do to help freshen up the house without costing too much:

Decluttering
Repair any holes/peeling wallpaper/scuffed walls
Repaint in neutral colors in rooms that are dark/warn out
If you have carpet, rent a cleaner - stains that won't come out? Try to cover with furniture or area rugs
Clean. Clean, clean, clean, and clean some more. Scrub Grout, organize closets, dust ceiling fans, etc.

When we were house hunting, I had a lot of trouble looking past other people's dirt. Some houses - well... I wouldn't touch anything. Others were surface clean but you can tell they weren't clean (dirty fingerprints around doorknobs, food splatters by the garbage, etc)

You would think that shouldn't matter, but it does. For a lot of people, if they can't see themselves living there, it won't work.

Re: getting a house ready to sell

You definitely need to consult with an agent to get a sense of the current home value, and a good agent can also advise on what you can do to prepare your home for going on the market.

It rarely makes sense to do any kind of updating (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.) to sell a home. It's very hard to get back the dollars you put in to renovations, and as others have said, you never know what your potential buyer will want. Clean white subway tile in a bathroom is perfect for some, but boring to others. Some people love dark wood kitchen cabinets, others want white. If you can do a little inexpensive stuff that takes more elbow grease than $$ (such as painting the walls with fresh paint, repainting trim, power washing the exterior and deck, spackling over holes in the wall, cleaning the carpets), that is often worth it.

The main things to do are cleaning, de-personalizing (you don't have to remove all personal effects, but try to put away taste specific collections and limit the number of personal photos on display), de-cluttering (thin out closets, clear off surfaces, start packing things away in boxes if you can... just neatly stack them in a basement or garage or even a spare room if you have nowhere else to put them), and repair anything that needs it (even minor things, like tightening loose handrails). It's important to give the impression that the house is well-maintained, even if dated.

Another thing that can help is some small-scale staging. I offer a complimentary staging session with an interior designer. This is not a major staging, with new furniture, all new accessories. It's a way to utilize what a seller already has, and rearrange things to maximize the space and showcase the rooms (especially if you have smaller rooms or awkward spaces).

getting a house ready to sell

I think just keeping it clean and decluttered is sufficient. And make it smell nice. I saw some stinky houses. In terms of painting, our house was freshly painted when we bought it. It was bubblegum pink. I have no idea what possessed them to do this but we repainted immediately so they wasted their money. Most people will likely want to choose their own paint colors. If you do NEED to paint, please close a neutral color.

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Re: getting a house ready to sell

Posted by shaleywhale

Posted by Century 21 Dallow - Christine Braun

You definitely need to consult with an agent to get a sense of the current home value, and a good agent can also advise on what you can do to prepare your home for going on the market.

It rarely makes sense to do any kind of updating (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.) to sell a home. It's very hard to get back the dollars you put in to renovations, and as others have said, you never know what your potential buyer will want. Clean white subway tile in a bathroom is perfect for some, but boring to others. Some people love dark wood kitchen cabinets, others want white. If you can do a little inexpensive stuff that takes more elbow grease than $$ (such as painting the walls with fresh paint, repainting trim, power washing the exterior and deck, spackling over holes in the wall, cleaning the carpets), that is often worth it.

The main things to do are cleaning, de-personalizing (you don't have to remove all personal effects, but try to put away taste specific collections and limit the number of personal photos on display), de-cluttering (thin out closets, clear off surfaces, start packing things away in boxes if you can... just neatly stack them in a basement or garage or even a spare room if you have nowhere else to put them), and repair anything that needs it (even minor things, like tightening loose handrails). It's important to give the impression that the house is well-maintained, even if dated.

Another thing that can help is some small-scale staging. I offer a complimentary staging session with an interior designer. This is not a major staging, with new furniture, all new accessories. It's a way to utilize what a seller already has, and rearrange things to maximize the space and showcase the rooms (especially if you have smaller rooms or awkward spaces).

Thank you, everyone. The responses were super helpful. It is really hard to not look at my home and think of all the things that "need" to be done and not do them. lol. We definitely need to paint, that is a given. But the things I was confused on were things like a new driveway, for example. Ours could stand to be replaced, but the blacktop is still functional at this point. Stuff like that I wasn't sure about... I bought my house years ago as a foreclosure that needed a TON of work, both structural and aesthetic... so I obviously wasn't picky We've done all the structural repairs and upgrades... now the house really just needs aesthetic updates. I just wasn't sure what would constitute a dealbreaker for the majority of people.

I can't believe how stressful it is to just THINK about doing this! lol!