Putting the house on the market.

[lovin diz]

Ok I'm not done - I know...but please tell me in your "I don't know you so I can be brutally honest" way....hows it look so far?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54668&id=1079169750&l=6459e3de3b

I still have to get pix of my 2 college aged kids rooms and the main bathroom

And our family room has a brick exposed wall I would like to get, but right now my DH's ginormous desk is there, and I can't move it until he gets home from Orlando in June.

i see you have the same problem we do....WHITE BASEBOARDS!!!! I HATE THEM!!!

 

[rbork]

college aged kid's? missed that on the first go round. Get them to help. Put a paint brush in their hand when the semester is over Get them to help you move that big desk etc.... Tell them to pack up and move their junk to storage. Hmmm.some days I'd like to tell my teenager this!

 

[lucigo]

You don't know how much I appreciate the responses!! My friends all just say, it looks great, you will sell it in no time. Ug! (At least my internet friends, my friends here in town just don't want us to move!)

You have all given me great insight and a new list of things to do!!


Thank you so much, I can see now I still have some decluttering to do, and am revisiting the idea of a storage unit. The family room is actually twice as big as the picture shows, but has the previously mentioned desk of my husbands. Part of the issue here is that he is a teacher and I work at home, so we have 3 computer desks set up in the living area of the house...at least 2 of them can go (I still have to work).

I absolutely love my pot rack - what does everyone else think, should it come down?

The fish tank is coming down as soon as I can get my 19yo son to give the fish away...or they may go visit nemo (all drains go to the ocean right?)

The bathroom is actually a full bath, its just so hard to take a picture!!

Thanks for the comment about the globe on the ceiling fan, my DH bought these silly plastic globes so that he could put the new oversized flourescent bulbs in the fans and they look ridiculous. Think we may have to go back to traditional bulbs!


In the front of the house there is a big bush that will bloom in June...

So that should help some, and we usually have something blooming in the flowerbed, but its sure bare right now! I like the idea of getting a big pot of something for the front porch.

I have a friend with allergies and she assures me the house doesn't smell. I am afraid though that we will be the "house with the kittens" for a couple more weeks.

I'm trying to enlist the help of my kids. 21DD is a huge help, especially helping with DS7. 19DS is only home if he is asleep...grrr. 15DD has 3 weeks left to finish her virtual school and is very unavailable.

Oh - the kitchen ceiling...the drywall guy was just there that morning so it was still wet, I need to retake the picture. We had hurricane Ivan issues, and the outside roof was fixed a long time ago but the inside drywall was stained so he came and made it look like new

Thanks again, I'm going back to work!

 

[Luvchefmic]

I'll only answer what you asked re-the pot rack, I like them too BUT in your kitchen it makes the whole room smaller I think, I'd take the whole thing down. Otherwise good advice you got already

 

[hugApug]

Pot-racks are fun and functional- but they could also make a buyer think that there isn't enough storage in the kitchen. Love that your countertops are cleared off!

 

[lucigo]

I'll only answer what you asked re-the pot rack, I like them too BUT in your kitchen it makes the whole room smaller I think, I'd take the whole thing down. Otherwise good advice you got already

Pot-racks are fun and functional- but they could also make a buyer think that there isn't enough storage in the kitchen. Love that your countertops are cleared off!

That works for me, I can take it with me We do have tons of storage, originally the washer and dryer closet was in the kitchen, so now its a huge pantry. I will miss it when we move!!

 

[ceecee]

CLEAN, clean, clean and declutter. Make sure the curb appeal is neat and clean as well. When we were looking at houses the things I didn't like was too much stuff (makes it look small) and smells!!! Candles are just as bad as other smells and they don't mask the odors. I really prefer empty houses! Both the houses we have bought we empty. Our old house sold in 3 weeks and it was empty too.

 

[lucigo]

CLEAN, clean, clean and declutter. Make sure the curb appeal is neat and clean as well. When we were looking at houses the things I didn't like was too much stuff (makes it look small) and smells!!! Candles are just as bad as other smells and they don't mask the odors. I really prefer empty houses! Both the houses we have bought we empty. Our old house sold in 3 weeks and it was empty too.

Orlando is expensive, there is no way we can afford a place there and here so I doubt it will be empty unless its a foreclosure LOL Ok seriously......we can rent a storage unit and start getting rid of stuff a little at a time.

 

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

the one thing we did when we sold my father-in-law's house, which also was a brick home was pressure washed the brick. It made a huge difference, his home was 60+ years old, and didn't cost a bundle.....house sold in less than a week and was totally empty

 

[TxRabbit]

The interior of the house is a bit crowded with furniture, but remember you have to live there--it gets old fast living on the market.

You don't live in a house the way that you sell a house. It does get old but the fact is this:

A buyer will be at your house for a showing for about 10 minutes, maybe 15. Yours will be one of several houses that they will look at on the same day. The majority of time your buy will spend at your house will be standing in front of your front door, waiting for their Realtor to get the key out of the lockbox and then open the house.

They will gather an overall impression of your house and the use of its room based on your furnishings. This is why dining rooms need to be dining rooms, bedrooms need to be bedrooms. Unless your house is so special that they are attracted on that first walk through, they will likely come back to your house again to really get a good look at it, once the buyer determines that your house made their short list.

What a PP said about names for houses is right on. The buyer's will pick out a distinguishing feature of most of the houses that they see. There are the ones that are the definite NOs, like the smells, or weird colors, or other turn offs. There are the MAYBEs, and these will be distinguished by their favorite feature in the house, be it the kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, multiple garages, storage sheds, pools, whatever.

All the advise about decluttering is great. Here's what you have to picture as you make space in the room. Try to create wall space. Don't have all the furniture covering all the available wall space. Picture a couple walking around the room, can they?

Again, you don't live in that house anymore, not from the time you put it on the market. In your mind, you should already be gone. The house is already someone else's, you just have to stage it so that the new owner can recognize it. It's a PITA, but if you do it right, price it right, it should go quickly and you can move on with your life.

 

[lucigo]

You don't live in a house the way that you sell a house. It does get old but the fact is this:

A buyer will be at your house for a showing for about 10 minutes, maybe 15. Yours will be one of several houses that they will look at on the same day. The majority of time your buy will spend at your house will be standing in front of your front door, waiting for their Realtor to get the key out of the lockbox and then open the house.

They will gather an overall impression of your house and the use of its room based on your furnishings. This is why dining rooms need to be dining rooms, bedrooms need to be bedrooms. Unless your house is so special that they are attracted on that first walk through, they will likely come back to your house again to really get a good look at it, once the buyer determines that your house made their short list.

What a PP said about names for houses is right on. The buyer's will pick out a distinguishing feature of most of the houses that they see. There are the ones that are the definite NOs, like the smells, or weird colors, or other turn offs. There are the MAYBEs, and these will be distinguished by their favorite feature in the house, be it the kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, multiple garages, storage sheds, pools, whatever.

All the advise about decluttering is great. Here's what you have to picture as you make space in the room. Try to create wall space. Don't have all the furniture covering all the available wall space. Picture a couple walking around the room, can they?

Again, you don't live in that house anymore, not from the time you put it on the market. In your mind, you should already be gone. The house is already someone else's, you just have to stage it so that the new owner can recognize it. It's a PITA, but if you do it right, price it right, it should go quickly and you can move on with your life.

Thank you, very enlightening! Also hard to do but not impossible. Hopefully we will be the "house with the big yard" as our competition is the newer cookie cutter homes with little yard.

 

[lucigo]

the one thing we did when we sold my father-in-law's house, which also was a brick home was pressure washed the brick. It made a huge difference, his home was 60+ years old, and didn't cost a bundle.....house sold in less than a week and was totally empty

My husband has a pressure washer and he loves to use it. When he gets home I'm sure he will do it Only 3 more weeks.....he has been gone since Jan 20th.

 

[briarrose]

We sold our house in January. Here are a couple more suggestions on things I did. Replaced the doorbell, and new welcome mat at the front door. Replaced all the fluorescent light bulbs with regular light bulbs and had all lights on when there was a showing including basement and garage. Hid the dog dishes in the cabinet each time. We replaced all the carpeting on the 2nd floor so it matched the 1st floor carpeting (this was our realtors suggestion). We also listed the play set in the backyard as not part of the home (even though I didn't want it). The people who bought the house added it to be included with the house, so became a bargaining chip. Make sure to list everything that is not included with the house and what is staying. We went through room by room when the house was ready and wrote down the things included and not included. Like the shelves in 1 bedroom were staying but the tapestry in the bathroom wasn't.

 

[lucigo]

We sold our house in January. Here are a couple more suggestions on things I did. Replaced the doorbell, and new welcome mat at the front door. Replaced all the fluorescent light bulbs with regular light bulbs and had all lights on when there was a showing including basement and garage. Hid the dog dishes in the cabinet each time. We replaced all the carpeting on the 2nd floor so it matched the 1st floor carpeting (this was our realtors suggestion). We also listed the play set in the backyard as not part of the home (even though I didn't want it). The people who bought the house added it to be included with the house, so became a bargaining chip. Make sure to list everything that is not included with the house and what is staying. We went through room by room when the house was ready and wrote down the things included and not included. Like the shelves in 1 bedroom were staying but the tapestry in the bathroom wasn't.

Funny you mentioned the light bulbs, yesterday I got out the ladder and went to fix the ceiling fan globe that someone had mentioned, and I replaced a flourescent with a regular. It really made me notice that the other one in the room looks very dull and yellow compared to the regular bulb. Gotta get the ladder back out today!

I did also replace the welcome mat. I have to repaint the front door, the dog scratched it!! UGGG

 

[Luvchefmic]

Thank you, very enlightening! Also hard to do but not impossible. Hopefully we will be the "house with the big yard" as our competition is the newer cookie cutter homes with little yard.

Luci, there was another Disser here who is selling her home (NC I think) and she was asking advice too. She also posted a link to the realtor ad & then we could give her further help and opinions on what could be improved. We have to take care of our Dis~sisters here. Want to do that? Also when I went back to the outside of your home pic, how big is the lot, is it zoned for agriculture (horse or whatever?) that's always a big selling point to in FL as I'm sure you know. My heart goes out to you with the amount of work, but Ah! the rewards you will get, sending you wishes for a quick & profitable sale

Ruthie

 

[lucigo]

Luci, there was another Disser here who is selling her home (NC I think) and she was asking advice too. She also posted a link to the realtor ad & then we could give her further help and opinions on what could be improved. We have to take care of our Dis~sisters here. Want to do that? Also when I went back to the outside of your home pic, how big is the lot, is it zoned for agriculture (horse or whatever?) that's always a big selling point to in FL as I'm sure you know. My heart goes out to you with the amount of work, but Ah! the rewards you will get, sending you wishes for a quick & profitable sale

Ruthie

I'm really unhappy with the listing, which is why I've been taking my own pictures...sending them to her so she can replace the pictures she put on. So some of them are replaced and some really need to come off because they are hurting more than helping! My son's room is at the far end of the house so he has a window AC unit, not something I want to advertise but she took a picture of it and put it on the internet! Grrr! We have horses across the street....she took a picture of horse butts!

Anyway....here is the listing for all its worth...
http://www.pensacolamls.com/(ugo4qovgfzzkbq555xuljwnb)/propertyDetails.aspx?mls=389842

 

[Luvchefmic]

OMG Luci I see what you mean, you need her to get those horses off your site ASAP !(speaking as a horse owner) as quite frankly the fence doesn't look so great & my first thought was those horses are going to end up breaking out of there...also bedroom # 3 not looking too atractive. ..girl when you finally get here I will buy you the 1st drink at WDW

Ruthie

 

[lucigo]

OMG Luci I see what you mean, you need her to get those horses off your site ASAP !(speaking as a horse owner) as quite frankly the fence doesn't look so great & my first thought was those horses are going to end up breaking out of there...also bedroom # 3 not looking too atractive. ..girl when you finally get here I will buy you the 1st drink at WDW

Ruthie

I'm gonna need it Ruthie, thanks

My son did finally take down the fish tank today, and he says by tomorrow his room will be ready for a picture! I resent her pix of the orange bedroom today and a panoramic of the backyard. I know the bedrooms all need paint, this is what happens when you let them pick!

I can understand that she was trying to say, look you are 1/4 mile from stores and yet its the "country" but not with horse butts LOL

Whats killing me is that I have found a house in Orlando that I really like, but I know it will be long gone before we are ready to put in an offer!

 

[lovin diz]

the one thing we did when we sold my father-in-law's house, which also was a brick home was pressure washed the brick. It made a huge difference, his home was 60+ years old, and didn't cost a bundle.....

We did that yesterday...Our home is 8 yrs old, but it needed it...I just went and looked at it, and wow, it looks sooooo gooood!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Breathe ...you will find the house that is meant to be yours! Re-the horses I would have the realtor just mention them no need to see the butts, I meant it when I said I would buy you a drink I remember moving here (Sept 2008) and you can never have enough friends; esp fellow Dissers