What would turn you off in a house for sale ?

[pyrxtc]

I didn't mean the pictures of your house....I meant the pictures you have on the wall....

I can't hang anything heavy there because directly behind that wall is the fireplace brick. I had a lot more pictures on that wall and those are up so high because kids tended to knock down the lower one's while playing since that is used as their playroom.

less furniture will happen when my DH leaves for work since he is taking the bigger stuff with him.

 

[pyrxtc]

Tiny rooms are useless. Looks like of yours is like 5 x 9. That would be a walk in closet, not a bedroom. Maybe you can showcase it as such.

Turn offs would be musty smells and too much stuff in the house.

Smallest bedroom is 10 x 9.8. Enought for a twin bed and bureau and room to play. We use the 5th bedroom as a sewing room.

What's the finished square footage?

Just under 2000 Square feet I believe.

Also, that photo marked "hardwood floors" the tan is the wood floors. Back in the days, if you had money than you painted all wood. bare wood meant you were poor and couldn't afford the paint. Every bit of wood in this house has been painted, except for kitchen cabinets. We bought the house from the family who built the house. Everything in this house was custom built to the house.

 

[tvguy]

I guess its a totally different world in the Northeast. Many people look for old houses here.

I guess I've watched a few too many episodes of This Old House, I look at some of those projects they do in the Northeast and just wonder why they just didn't bulldoze the house.

 

[Hrhpd]

Front entry

First impressions are HUGE. The clientele you are trying to attract are those interested in an old, historic house.

I would rip up that linoleum in the front entrance and expose the wood floors.

It looks small enough to be an easy project and the first impression would be much better.

Opening the front door to a historic home and stepping onto cheap linoleum would make me want to find fault with the rest of the house.

 

[ksjayhawks]

I would
1. remove all the pictures from the walls and the hanging thing in the one bedroom
2. take down the wallpaper in the 2nd bedroom
3. repaint the interior rooms in a neutral color
4. remove the curtains and add simple blinds
5. remove the carpet tiles from the playroom and show off the plank floors
6. since you already have a dining room table in the kitchen, i would make the playroom back into a dining room
7. make the closet in the 2nd bedroom look more like a shelf by removing the hinges from the doors, filling the holes in and painting; painting the boards and shelves white; and adding boards for shelving so that the shelves come to the edge of the door frame
8. declutter, declutter, declutter
9. make sure potential buyers know that there is plumbing in the "linen closet" so that the master bath could be moved to that area, thus allowing a real entrance (with a nice closet to the one side of the now bathroom) to the master bedroom area--perhaps show some rough plans for doing such (I agree with other posters that having to enter the master through the bath would be a big turn off for me.)
10. spruce up the outside--remove clutter from the front yard, add some bushes or flower beds, maybe some shutters on the windows
11. paint the outside as soon as you can

 

[MotifNumberOne]

Honestly, it's kind of weird that you posted this at all? You posted photos of your home, and the town that you live in. Now when your listing goes active someone in theory could know exactly your address, and what your kids look like... as well as quite a bit about your personal life that you've posted in other threads.

 

[pyrxtc]

First impressions are HUGE. The clientele you are trying to attract are those interested in an old, historic house.

I would rip up that linoleum in the front entrance and expose the wood floors.

It looks small enough to be an easy project and the first impression would be much better.

Opening the front door to a historic home and stepping onto cheap linoleum would make me want to find fault with the rest of the house.

No wood floor in the front entry. It was linoleum over regular wood underfloor. We pulled it up and installed ceramic tile that you see in the picture. When the stairs were moved from the entryway to the interior of the home, the floor was changed.

 

[pyrxtc]

Honestly, it's kind of weird that you posted this at all? You posted photos of your home, and the town that you live in. Now when your listing goes active someone in theory could know exactly your address, and what your kids look like... as well as quite a bit about your personal life that you've posted in other threads.

If they wanted to know it then they could have found it out anyways. You think that people can't find out what they want about you. It doesn't take much.

 

[trishwal]

I appreciate your transparency and agree, if someone wants to find you they can and will. Your job at that point is to make sure that no one wants to find you out of malice (!) It's like, Big Brother is watching, and he is ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TICKED OFF!.

Maybe I'm a little off, but I find your house charming. I'd like to see this 3 sided fireplace, and all the niches of the house, the quirks. And it's rare that someone posts a floor plan - what a great idea, wish more would add that to their realtor listings.

Do you know where y'all are moving yet?

 

[ilovepcot]

I'd like to see this 3 sided fireplace, and all the niches of the house, the quirks.

So would I. We have a 3 sided fireplace but ours is in a comtemporary home. Very different I'd think.

 

[pyrxtc]

I appreciate your transparency and agree, if someone wants to find you they can and will. Your job at that point is to make sure that no one wants to find you out of malice (!) It's like, Big Brother is watching, and he is ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TICKED OFF!.

Maybe I'm a little off, but I find your house charming. I'd like to see this 3 sided fireplace, and all the niches of the house, the quirks. And it's rare that someone posts a floor plan - what a great idea, wish more would add that to their realtor listings.

Do you know where y'all are moving yet?

It's a great house for kids and my neighbors are awesome. We are moving to Texas, hence the reason we just want out of this house. Can't wait to live in a big city again.

The fireplace is three separate fireplaces that just happen to back up into one another. In one of my pictures, you can see the cover we placed over one. (it is removable) The flu for that one is about 4x6 inches... not even big enough for a candle but it was perfect for the rooms original use.... a birthing room.

 

[beaucoup]

I disagree. I live in an area where it snows and is cold all the time, and I love ceiling fans and would be disappointed if a bedroom didn't have one... would be something I'd have to do.

I agree. Keep the ceiling fans. I'm sure there is no A/C in a New England home of that age. And window units may not even fit if windows are small due to age of house.

We live in area & have ceiling fans in every room. I use them all summer, and sometimes in the winter because the pellet stove gets too hot or just to move heat to another room.

Whole house A/C is not common in New England. Most people I know have ceiling fans. I would be disappointed in a house without fans and really disappointed if it didn't even have ceiling light fixtures.

 

[trishwal]

It's a great house for kids and my neighbors are awesome. We are moving to Texas, hence the reason we just want out of this house. Can't wait to live in a big city again.

The fireplace is three separate fireplaces that just happen to back up into one another. In one of my pictures, you can see the cover we placed over one. (it is removable) The flu for that one is about 4x6 inches... not even big enough for a candle but it was perfect for the rooms original use.... a birthing room.

So you're moving here? Awesome. We don't have trees like you do but we do have a lot of sun. A. Lot. Of. Sun. I'm in the Frisco area of Dallas.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Quick question, are these the pictures that your Realtor is using for marketing?

 

[beaucoup]

I think the person who will buy a 240 yr old house, is a person looking for a 240 yr old house. They will understand all its imperfections and want to fix it up. And have the money to do it. Had to laugh at comments up thread about sagging ceilings. You would be sagging too if you were 240 yrs old.

Someone looking for a house or just a fixer upper, will probably not want a 240 yr old house no matter what you do to it to try to sell it.

OR, someone with money will buy it for land and location and tear it down & build what they want.

 

[Patience]

Wallpaper is a huge turn off for me. It's too much work to remove it and you never know what what condition the walls are going to be in once it's removed. Other turn offs for me: musty or mildew smells, houses that have been smoked in, dirtiness, dark rooms, water stains on ceilings, low quality windows, and bathrooms and kitchens that haven't been updated (we are not do it yourselfers and we wouldn't buy a house with outdated bathrooms or kitchen because it would be too expensive and frustrating for us to re-do those areas ourselves).

OP, here are a few observations and suggestions that may make your house show better and sell faster:

The dark brown wall color in the living areas is too dark. Repaint with a nice neutral color. You can google popular paint colors that are often used for staging homes for sale. These tend to be nice, neutral colors that appeal to a lot of people. Pick one of those and re-paint. Pull up the carpet squares and refinish and restain the hardwoods if possible. Declutter everything. For resale purposes, you have too many pictures on the walls and they are hung way too high. I would also suggest removing the window treatments in the brown room. The single curtain panel looks odd in the pictures. Simple wood blinds would be much better (not vinyl or aluminum). The open bedroom closet is much too full and the stuff in it needs to be reduced by at least three quarters. All of the stuff in the nightstand needs to be removed as do the stickers on the closet door. Regarding the exterior, I would get rid of the metal swing set in the back yard. As you already know, the outside of the house needs to be repainted. The garage door in particular needs some attention as does the front porch. I haven't seen any pictures of the kitchen or bathrooms but those need to be spotlessly clean and decluttered for showings. If you do not have an updated kitchen and bathrooms, clean and decluttered is even more important. I am not sure what the problem is with the ceiling in the brown room. It looks like it has a buckle in it. That would concern me. Can it be fixed?

Good luck, OP. It's hard work selling houses in this market.

 

[pyrxtc]

So you're moving here? Awesome. We don't have trees like you do but we do have a lot of sun. A. Lot. Of. Sun. I'm in the Frisco area of Dallas.

Yup, actually moving to Frisco. Well, that's the plan anyways. DH's new job is there and we want to live in the city he works in rather than have him commute like he does now. he currently works about 2 hours from home.

Quick question, are these the pictures that your Realtor is using for marketing?

Just one's I took last summer. I used them to show a Realtor friend the house. I had taken pictures of all the rooms but some of them never made it to my computer and I don't know why.

Wallpaper is a huge turn off for me. It's too much work to remove it and you never know what what condition the walls are going to be in once it's removed. Other turn offs for me: musty or mildew smells, houses that have been smoked in, dirtiness, dark rooms, water stains on ceilings, low quality windows, and bathrooms and kitchens that haven't been updated (we are not do it yourselfers and we wouldn't buy a house with outdated bathrooms or kitchen because it would be too expensive and frustrating for us to re-do those areas ourselves).

OP, here are a few observations and suggestions that may make your house show better and sell faster:

The dark brown wall color in the living areas is too dark. Repaint with a nice neutral color. You can google popular paint colors that are often used for staging homes for sale. These tend to be nice, neutral colors that appeal to a lot of people. Pick one of those and re-paint. Pull up the carpet squares and refinish and restain the hardwoods if possible. Declutter everything. For resale purposes, you have too many pictures on the walls and they are hung way too high. I would also suggest removing the window treatments in the brown room. The single curtain panel looks odd in the pictures. Simple wood blinds would be much better (not vinyl or aluminum). The open bedroom closet is much too full and the stuff in it needs to be reduced by at least three quarters. All of the stuff in the nightstand needs to be removed as do the stickers on the closet door. Regarding the exterior, I would get rid of the metal swing set in the back yard. As you already know, the outside of the house needs to be repainted. The garage door in particular needs some attention as does the front porch. I haven't seen any pictures of the kitchen or bathrooms but those need to be spotlessly clean and decluttered for showings. If you do not have an updated kitchen and bathrooms, clean and decluttered is even more important. I am not sure what the problem is with the ceiling in the brown room. It looks like it has a buckle in it. That would concern me. Can it be fixed?

Good luck, OP. It's hard work selling houses in this market.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I am currently working on some and some will have to wait until spring. Can't paint in the cold because the paint will not adhere to the wood properly and will chip faster.

 

[Liberty Belle]

It's a great house for kids and my neighbors are awesome. We are moving to Texas, hence the reason we just want out of this house. Can't wait to live in a big city again.

The fireplace is three separate fireplaces that just happen to back up into one another. In one of my pictures, you can see the cover we placed over one. (it is removable) The flu for that one is about 4x6 inches... not even big enough for a candle but it was perfect for the rooms original use.... a birthing room.

I'd play that up - make sure realtor knows this info. Any history you can give is going to help sell the place.

 

[Iforgetmypassword]

The fact that there's no pictures of the kitchen or the bathrooms is a turn-off. Makes me think that they must be really bad.

You say that everything matches? That doesn't mean a thing. Matching avocado green appliances? Matching cheap metal cabinets? Matching pink toilet, sink and tub?

 

[tvguy]

yes, lots of old houses here.

Even if they were to demolish, they could only rebuild within the exact footprint of the house because of lot size. But, because it is so old, it is grandfathered in and you can remodel anything inside without permits. Pictures are mine, not realtors.
.

You have an acre and you have to stay within the original footprint of the house even though you have room to go bigger? That would be a deal killer for me.
Interesting about the permits because I would think a remodel of 100+ year old houses would be the very reason you need permits for a remodel, to make sure it was safe and up to current electrical, plumbing, fire and insulation codes.

I know it must a Northeast thing, but an unfenced yard would be a deal killer too for me.