Sell a house recently? How did you get ready to List and decide to sell?

[HeatherC]

We are seriously thinking of selling our home this fall and moving to a neighboring state to be closer to most of our family and the beach. Our kids are grown (in their 20’s) and are all in favor of it as well. This does not require a job change or anything so we have decided nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is nothing keeping us in the town we live now so we are ready for the next adventure. We are also open to renting for a while until we find exactly what we want.

That being said, we have been in this house 20 years and are the original owners. We do have some repairs we need to make but are going to talk to a few realtors in the next week to see where we stand.

I do know we obviously have to clean out and eliminate a lot which to be honest feels overwhelming. I am also not sure how many repairs we actually need to do as opposed to knocking money off the purchase price and letting the next owners deal with things.

If you sold recently, how much repair work did you do to get ready to list? How many realtors did you talk to? Did you contact realtor before you started clearing out things?

 

[piccolopat]

We're in the process of helping my mom sell her house. She can no longer live by herself and so selling now with the market hot makes sense. My siblings had a few realtors come in and give us their opinion or repairs and pricing. For this market they suggested selling it as is. The house could use some updating and the roof is old but still sound. It's hard to get contractors anyway, only one of us lives close by and so we just did as many of the small things we could do ourselves. New owners will likely want to make their own changes anyway. Most of the work was emptying the house, touch up paint and a lot of cleaning. Lots of time spent going through all of the stuff that she accumulated and deciding what was going to family members, what could be donated and what was thrown away, and then getting that stuff out. Not everything that could be donated was accepted, notably holiday decor that was in great shape. The hard part was finding places to donate the furniture and most places still are not back to picking up and so we had to find ways to transport things. Some pieces were taken by family members but some pieces still haven't found a new home and may regrettably end up going to the dump. Honestly, some stuff is being taken by family just to help empty the house and will likely be donated later on.

Take the time now to start decluttering and cleaning. Be ruthless! It's amazing how many things people pack and move and then decide later on they really didn't need or want them. Other than sentimental items and family photos which should be kept, keep asking yourself if it's worth the cost to move your old stuff or whether you can or want to buy new when you find your new home.

As for the move itself, be forewarned that it may be difficult to find a replacement home in this market. My brother's friend sold his house very quickly but couldn't find anything to buy or rent in the area he wanted and ended up temporarily in his vacation home a couple of states away. Even harder, he couldn't find a storage facility with space to rent anywhere in the state he was in and had to settle for one about an hour from his vacation home. Really crazy here in the northeast.

Good luck!

 

[kymom99]

We are in a similar position. We have property to build on. I know, I know, very expensive to build now. But our current house is 60 years old with lots of needed updates. I don’t want to go through that mess just for someone else to redo it. We are thinking about selling, then renting for as long as it takes to get the new place built. I too was wondering about when in the process to talk to realtors. People have told me to try to sell by owner while others have said surely you won’t sell without a realtor. It’s all overwhelming and a process I have never experienced in all my 50+ years. We have a house plan picked out and I am pretty sure I can secure a 2 bedroom apartment when the time comes. We just need to pull the trigger.

 

[White Cat]

We are seriously thinking of selling our home this fall and moving to a neighboring state to be closer to most of our family and the beach. Our kids are grown (in their 20’s) and are all in favor of it as well. This does not require a job change or anything so we have decided nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is nothing keeping us in the town we live now so we are ready for the next adventure. We are also open to renting for a while until we find exactly what we want.

That being said, we have been in this house 20 years and are the original owners. We do have some repairs we need to make but are going to talk to a few realtors in the next week to see where we stand.

I do know we obviously have to clean out and eliminate a lot which to be honest feels overwhelming. I am also not sure how many repairs we actually need to do as opposed to knocking money off the purchase price and letting the next owners deal with things.

If you sold recently, how much repair work did you do to get ready to list? How many realtors did you talk to? Did you contact realtor before you started clearing out things?

Not much.
1
No

 

[OhDannyBoy]

We sold our house last October.

I'm lucky in that we have a great realtor who is a family friend and an appraiser in the family who gave us some really honest assessments of what our house was valued at.

Our house was 30 years old with a 15 year old roof with minor leaks. We sold right in the middle of a crazy sellers market and really didn't have to make any repairs. Not even the roof. What we did have to do was clear the clutter. And man there was a lot of it.

My suggestion is find a realtor you can trust. Either someone you know or someone who someone you know can vouch for. They will be able to help you with staging your house, what repairs will be needed, what can be negotiated, etc.

 

[ICF]

Where we are houses are selling crazy fast and little to no prep is needed.

We just moved out of our house last weekend. We were also the original owners and had lived there for 20 years. We did nothing in terms of recent repairs to get it ready. Things like a new roof (2011), windows (2013) and a bigger composite deck (2017) had been done over the last decade or so. We worked off and on during the pandemic to start getting rid of misc stuff as we knew this move would likely be coming in summer 2021 (once our youngest graduated HS).

We purchased our new house in late June and took a couple of weeks to move the remaining "clutter" and personal items like pictures out of the old and into the new house. We cleaned the house - but nothing major. No carpets were professionally cleaned or anything like that and nothing was repainted.

Our house went up for sale 7/16 and we accepted a full price offer on 7/21. That 5 day period , is actually longer than most houses in our area (Northern suburbs of Indianapolis) last before being sold. The buyer also waived having an inspection done.

They then listed their house the next day, and it was sold by Friday with an all cash offer....we will close in the next couple of weeks.

 

[georgina]

I would definitely talk to some real estate agents. They can be helpful with advice in those areas.

We sold our house that we had lived in for 33 years in May. We had bought it from my in-laws who lived there about that long themselves. So we had a lot of stuff! We had been planning to move for a few years had started making some repairs. Our insurance company was making noises about the roof so we replaced that in 2017 or 18. The air conditioning units were old and we replaced them in 2019. When DH was cleaning out the basement we found some cracks in the concrete block that had been hidden behind some shelves, so we had some work done there. The kitchen was only 5-6 years old and was super nice, first floor bathroom badly needed a remodel but we left that for the new owners to do to their tastes.

I knew a real estate agent who had good results in our neighborhood. She suggested we sell it empty. We did have some interior painting done, and a cleaner come in to shine everything up. We had no mortgage, so were able to buy a new house and move out before putting it up for sale. It sold in 2 days, we had 8 offers all over asking price (also accepted the one with waived inspections).

 

[holden]

We too are moving. We found a great new house, made an offer and settled last month. Our current home never made it to market. Word got out that we were putting it up for sale and get got an offer of more than we ever thought possible. Our current home is 23 years old (we are original owners). House appraised perfectly. We settle on our current home this month.

 

[HeatherC]

OP here. We have been slowly trying to clear out stuff and have made some progress over the last year. We are also planning on getting a dumpster and going to town in a couple weekends.

We really only have a couple things that we really want to keep. Things that were made by my dad or uncle like a dining room hutch, Grandfather clock, etc..

Other than that and our beds we could just buy new at this point since nothing else is really expensive or super high quality.

 

[goofyernmost]

No brainer, got divorced and community property took over. Didn't even have to make a decision.

 

[neverlandsky]

Recently sold.
*Started packing, purging, and Goodwilling about 4 weeks before list.
*Realtor = we used our same one that help us buy the home to begin with. Strong well-known top firm in the area. We trusted her and her advice. A huge plus, we liked working with her. Great with communication. Met with her about 7 weeks before list.
*Home Age: Only a year old. Jobs were no more in the VHCOL area therefore we had to sell and decided to move back home to home State. We're currently renting an apartment.
*Repairs: Everything was repaired. Disclosed builder repairs and issues as well. No house is perfect. Also disclosed pest control, what pests, etc. Basically everything about the house.
*Staging: At our realtor's suggestion, we staged the house given that the backyard was unfinished. Staging = higher offers more times than not. Plus were minimalists so things were bare. Heck I didn't have pictures on the walls.
*We asked our realtor to blind the offers. No names, no love letters or photos. We didn't want any rentback. Didn't want buyers to become our landlords by closing earlier and us staying until move out day. So glad we did all of this.
*Offers: 1 off market offer, we turned down at the suggestion of our realtor telling the buyers it isn't in the best interest of my buyers to accept this and went her advice and with our gut feeling. Plus it was an offer sight unseen with 8 hours expiration. So we scramble so they could see the house and then turn down the offer. Just put a bad taste in our mouth.
*Listed house: Listed house on a Thursday, and we left town 4 hours away from Thursday-Sunday so showings can happen as we didn't have to worry about maintaining 110% clean.
*Had plan to go over offers on Monday. An expired offer had to be address Sunday night. Was the best and too good to turn down. So we took it plus took the 2nd best offer as a backup. All & all had 13 offers on the home.
*Buyer was all cash, way above list, not contingencies. A unicorn offer. With that offer though there was a lot of questions. We answered everything and provided everything within minutes of them asking. I think we caught them off guard with how prepared we were. We're extremely organized as-is. Comes with our jobs of years in management and logistics.
*Orignial close beginning of June. Since buyer wanted to change it into a trust, we asked for 2 weeks extention to close at mid-June so we didn't have to hotel it while the kids finished school. Everyone happy.
*We moved in 4 phases. A month before close DH drove uhaul and moved our furniture into storage at hometown. Then DH drove his truck down, signed lease on June 1st, and starting moving stuff in. Then DH parked his truck at the airport for 5 days, and flew back. Then flew back to hometown after Oldest's graduation. Car rentals/ride shares were very hard to come by. Then DH moved everything in. Parked his truck at the airport and flew back. We lived 3 weeks on air mattresses and suitcases in house until 2 days before close.
*4 days before close, signed documents.
*2 days before close, cleaned top to bottom of house. Checked into hotel.
*1 day before close, finished cleaning kitchen & laundry room. Scheduled final walkthrough at 2pm.
*Close day, dropped all keys and remotes on kitchen counter. Locked us out of the house. Sent pic to realtor of keys/remotes on counter. Then picked up Youngest from school and left town for final phase of move with a 2 day journey to apartment with my car. Day after we arrived drove to airport to pickup DH's truck.
*From list to close was 63 days.

*A week after close: HOA violation with new buyers of leaving trash bins outside of garage. We contacted HOA, gave them the close date, that we are no longer the owners. Also forward the email to our realtor who forwarded it to their realtor and then them.

A month after we list, our neighbors 2 doors down listed. They lived in their home less than a year. They closed $16K above us a month later. Insane market. Sorry the book. LOL

ETA: Also we secured apartment rental at the end of March, 3 weeks before we listed, for June 1st move-in. Lots of stories of sellers not having a place to land after selling their home due to the conditions of both the real estate and rental markets. Some sellers had plans to list, yet decided against it because they couldn't find anything. Some had to extend rentbacks as well. My biggest tip, have where you're moving to lined up first in this market.

 

[tvguy]

Interview several Realtors, pick their brains for suggestions on what......IF ANY......repairs or other things need to be done. Then pick the Realtor you feel most comfortable in. My son and DIL just sold their house, closed on July 2. In the market here, the Realtors said not to spend a penny on any repairs or anything unless the code or inspection required it. They had 8 offers, all over asking price within 24 hours and didn't have to spend a penny on anything.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Friends of mine put their modest home up on Assist to Sell for 20K over what they guessed it was worth and a bidding war took it up another 50K. They did clean and empty the home of nearly everything before putting it up for sale, it was neat and tidy. The new owners wanted to occupy two weeks later and it worked out.

 

[barkley]

We really only have a couple things that we really want to keep. Things that were made by my dad or uncle like a dining room hutch, Grandfather clock, etc..

any furniture that means anything to you either take with you to your rental or PERSONALLY place in a climate controlled storage facility. i know that pods and other 'we pick it up and take it to our storage facility' companies are all the rage but i can tell you that despite what the ads show of beautiful storage buildings-we have large dirt lots in our region that filled pod containers are stored on. you can tell it's not empties b/c they are clustered in groupings (and occasionally get broken into so driving by the strewn contents are visible). these containers sit out in the triple digit heat and the sub zero freezing temps-they are the quickest way to ruin good quality furniture, antiques and electronics.

 

[lifesavacation]

We sold right before COVID hit. We interviewed two realtors and chose one based on personality. They both had about the same marketing strategies and listing price. We made all repairs and repainted the interior before listing. We also did a significant amount of packing and decluttering prior to photos and listing. The realtor then came in and did some minor staging. She also helped us pick the interior paint color. We sold really quickly and got our full asking price. I honestly wouldn't have paid what our buyers did. It was just a house, but was so nicely staged that it showed really well.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

When we sold, our top advice was to purge, purge and then purge again.
After you purge, we packed away anything we didn't need extras. We pared way down, so that everything was thinned out to only what we needed.

We made an agreement, that after we purged, if it went out to the garage to the garage to the sale, donate or trash piles that it never came back.

Purge as much as you can. I open boxed and look at stuff and think to myself why did we keep this, pack it, move it, schlep it from that house, to storage and now this house. And then we purged more as we opened boxes.

We did not do a lot of cosmetic stuff, people have their own taste and like to make the house their own when they move it. We found several online inspection templates and went through the house with the list looking for all the things most home inspectors would look for. We made a honey do list of minor things that needed to be done. and spent one day doing all the little 10 min fixes. Of course our son broke a window with a soccer ball after we listed, so we went ahead and ordered a replacement and had a copy of the receipt to show it was already ordered.

We did interview 3 realtors. We wanted to get different viewpoints and perspectives. We did tell them if we didn't hire them as our listing agent that they should be a buyers agent and bring us a buyer.

I cannot emphasize purging enough.

 

[_19disnA]

Sold our home a couple of years ago when we were building a new place and moving. Get friends/neighbors/relatives/co-workers to suggest a realtor who worked well for them. We interviewed them to get a sense of if they were a good fit. Forget those TV home shows where they make it sound like you have to spend a ton of $$$ on 'staging' to sell your home. The realtor we chose said that is mostly nonsense and people look beyond the cosmetic stuff. Obviously, you want to get rid of stuff you don't plan to take with you, but having a house that looks like people actually live there can be a huge benefit when they do showings. Even before covid, it was a hassle trying to get rid of certain things we no longer wanted. We thought you could donate to various local charities and many of them put too many restrictions on what they would/wouldn't take. Check to see if your city has a recycling center since that is a good way to dispose of things you can't put in the trash, but can get rid of yourself as long as they fit in your car.

Sometimes the inspector working for the buyer will find trivial things wrong as a negotiating tactic just to get you to lower the price. We disputed some of the things they claimed were wrong which were either inaccurate or simply an older situation that had been resolved many years ago. Just because an inspector claims something doesn't mean it is true.

 

[boop0524]

We had a realtor friend we knew and trusted. If you can, try to find someone through your network that you can work with. Get some honest, even brutally honest, options on repairs and pricing. It’s better to go in with eyes wide open.

you’re gonna have to pack you stuff anyway so start tossing now. Donate, pack, toss. Heck rent a dumpster if you must but start getting it out of there. Do any repairs that are affordable and add value or are good for sellers. We refinished our hardwoods, recarpeted some areas and put new sod in the front lawn. Made a huge difference and wasn’t a bank buster for us.

Also check with your town and see if they’re requiring anything for homes being sold. We very unexpectedly had to install a sump pump in our basement because it was a new law. Huge hassle, big unexpected expense and not something I planned to deal with during closing time. A good realtor can help you here too

 

[maxaroni]

OMG, we just went through this and to say overwhelming is an understatement. However, we knew we were going to downsize several years ago, so did a few rounds of purging. The only thing we did was a fresh coat of paint throughout. Some rooms were “due”, so decided to have each room done.

I work with a realtor/appraiser who is very knowledgeable and we trust him, so used him. We told him we were ready to pull the trigger, he came over and gave us his thoughts. He said with the todays market, no need to really do anything. The house will sell and sell quickly, above asking price. Our house went on the market on a Wednesday and had our first offer that evening. We had quite a few offers and decided to end showings on Sunday, Monday was best and final offers. We chose that evening and off we went to contract. The inspection went well with most things on the list small nothings, a few items needed clarification from us. Those types of things were do the wired smoke detectors work, does the alarm system work. There were 2 fairly small issues that the buyers wanted addressed. We took care of them and that was that. We were fortunate that they were very easy to deal with. Their buyers were awful, according to them.

That was all the easy things. For us, the hard part was purging as we were packing. We’d pack and try and figure out do we take it, sell it, donate it. We took some things to Goodwill, some things went to the Veterans, other things we sold. We downsized so that we knew we couldn’t bring everything and had to make some hard decisions.

Our contract was signed in February with a closing date of 4/30. During that time we needed to secure a mover and a storage facility. Our move was in 2 stages as were moving into new construction that kept getting delayed due to supply chain issues. We were also moving to a different state, NJ to DE, so not far but we have never lived in any other state than NJ.

We spent 10 weeks in an extended stay hotel. However, we are in our house 2 weeks now and love it. This is our 3rd house, so have done it before but it had been 25 years so had forgotten how hard the unpacking is. We have some boxes we still need to unpack but we are set up well enough that we can live.

For me, the most overwhelming part was sorting through 25 years in that house. We raised our son in that house for most of his life, he was 3 when we moved in, 40 years of marriage and being sentimental. Again, we had gone through the house several times over the last few year so clean out some. However, if we didn’t know if we wanted it or not, we kept it. Once you pull that trigger, you have to make hard decisions.

With all of that said, we love our house and we are now able to do things at our pace.

 

[tvguy]

Sometimes the inspector working for the buyer will find trivial things wrong as a negotiating tactic just to get you to lower the price. We disputed some of the things they claimed were wrong which were either inaccurate or simply an older situation that had been resolved many years ago. Just because an inspector claims something doesn't mean it is true.

I guess I have been watching too many episodes of Holmes Inspection. Home Inspectors seem to miss almost everything.