selling a house

[gilby]

I need some good luck charms, ideas, hints on selling our house. Our townhouse will be done soon.
Thanks,
Kathy

 

[simonsmom]

cut the stuff in your closets in half. We rented a storage unit and put our clutter in there so house looked nice and clean. close toilet lids,open blinds, empty garbages. I made a list for our house and we made sure everything on list was done before we left each day (such as closing toilet lids,etc..)
god luck!

 

[CyndiLooWho]

~ Paint. the whole house needs a new coat of light, neutral paint. I recommend Devonshire Cream from Sears (makes the whole house cheery).

~ Declutter. Reduce the knick-knacks, books, toys, clutter, even the furniture. When we sell this house, we will store the extra dining table leaves, the overstuffed leather chair, anything that makes a room look small. Rent a storage unit - a 5x5 isn't all that expensive.

~ Depersonalize. You love that 2 wall Disney mural in your kids' room; a buyer is going to think "how many coats of paint to cover that?" and give up on your house. Once you put your house on the market, it's no longer yours. Make it right for the buyer and the right buyer will show up much sooner.

~ Look at each room in your house and ask "does this room show a clear purpose?" Buyers don't want to see a bed, a computer, and exercise equipment ALL in in one room. They can't picture exactly how *they* will use it. We actually put our boys into the same room last time we sold, so we could have a "kid's room", a "play room", and a "teen room" that clearly showed the flexibility of the house (the "teen room" had the computer in it, but it made sense).

~ Borrow or rent furniture for rooms that might be empty. We had never bought a living room suite b/c we never used that room. We borrowed a full set from my folks, including matching window treatments. The house looked a lot more put together, and like we had planned it that way.

~ If it's broken or doesn't match, fix or replace it. If buyers can see something wrong, no matter how small, they will assume that the big things aren't being taken care of either.

~ CLEAN. Clean EVERYTHING: the baseboards, the vent covers, the garage floor. People are more willing to offer top dollar for a house that really looks well cared for.


That sounds like a lot, I know. But it really works. We have sold 3 houses in the last 15 yrs. We never showed to more than 3 couples before it sold. The last house sold to the first people through it (and we never had the kind of market that was like that). They had been looking for several months and told my dh that they bought our house b/c "it looked like someone actually cared about the house and how it looked."

 

[starwood]

Start watching "Designed to Sell" on HGTV. They have lots of great ideas.

 

[goofy5]

great advice from others DE CLUTTER (on Kitchen counters make sure everything is off them) also make sure House is CLEAN (shining and pretty) Paint , fix any little things, missing knobs, the little things you really don't think about. try to look at it like a buyer

 

[hockeyprincess]

I'm not catholic and don't know if you are either, but I buried a statue of St Joseph in my front yard. House had been on the market for nearly a year. After I buried that dude it sold in no time! You can get them at any religious store and there are instructions on how to properly bury him. (Face up, face down, front yard, back yard, etc. It's very specific, and we buried him 6 years ago so i really don't remember!)

That....along with everything else already mentioned here. A hundred bucks (or a few!) in a quick remodel, with paint, fixing broken fixtures, replacing lights, etc will return you tenfold.

 

[gilby]

Our house is move in ready. completely remodeled kitchen, new carpet, ect. No clutter. New roof, new siding, new decks, not over priced. Just need a buyer. I did hear that about the St. Joseph. I will have to check that out. I am not catholic, though.

 

[Whistle]

I am currently looking for a house to buy in VA. I have been using ziprealty dot com. I would do a search for your area, and see what your "competition" is out there. It breaks down prices per square foot and shows what houses have lowered in price. You can also use realtor dot com which provides a lot but won't show you if the price has been lowered.


P.S. I had to type it like that above b/c it won't let me post links yet b/c I don't have 10 posts. Sorry!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Momto3Girls&Max]

Our house is move in ready. completely remodeled kitchen, new carpet, ect. No clutter. New roof, new siding, new decks, not over priced. Just need a buyer. I did hear that about the St. Joseph. I will have to check that out. I am not catholic, though.

How long has it been on the market? If it's been on the market awhile, have you considering having a professional stager come in? They often see things that most don't (at least on the TV shows).

 

[andrews_dad]

One thing to do is put small post-it's on things that you'd want to point out that people touring might not notice. In the home we bought there was central vaccuum deposit at foot-level in the kitchen beneath the cupboard (hidden) so you could broom dust and debris right into it. We would have never seen it without the note (and our realtor did not know it was there). Also had little notes about other little things like a dedicated high speed internet connection line, how to turn on the whirlpool tub if interested, etc.

Other tips are to make the house smell good .. sprays are OK but baking cookies is even better.

Take down the photos of you and the family .. it is THEIR place.

Ask your realtor to get feedback on what the folks who passed did NOT like so you can fix

Get the pets OUT of the house when it is tour time.

it.

 

[kyra's mommy]

I think what everyone has said totally covers it. I would only add that you actually do the suggestions they have offered. It is such an incredible amount of work but if you are serious about selling it has to be done. I started staging homes last year as a little side business. Every home I staged got an offer immediately. I don't work any magic that you can't do. It really is just declutter, and then declutter again. Clean, clean, and clean. Have some friends over and ask them what sticks out. A storage facility is so worth it. If you have two large sofas in a small room, put the other in storage. Your place needs to look larger, even if you are uncomfortable for awhile. Don't block views through windows with furniture. Most important room to keep clean is your kitchen. It has to be spotless. Keep lights on at night because people drive by at night and it creates a glow.

Good luck!! Send me a msg. if you want me to look at the pics of your house and give you suggestions.