When making home improvements, Do you consider what will happen when you Sell?

[Disney Doll]

I don't consider stuff that is "cosmetic"...paint, wallpaper, carpeting...you know, things that are easily & relatively inexpensively changed.

Something more permanent and/or expensive/difficult to change...well, you may want to consider "neutralizing" it a bit.

My DH is in real estate and he is always preaching "neutral". I agree with him to an extent. MY DSIL redid her kitchen and wanted a blue countertop and it almost sent DH over the edge. Finally I said to him "Guess what, if everything else about this house was perfect, a blue countertop wouldn't stop me from buying it, because a countertop is relatively easy to change".

Actually, what I have tended to start to do with renovations (we just a big bathroom/2nd floor renovation) is to make the fixtures etc neutral and punch it up with jazzy wall, curtain,towel colors.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Not me, I plan on living here for a long time. If you plan on moving shortly, then yes I would.

 

[aprilgail2]

I really don't on most things since I don't plan on moving until my daughter is out of school. I have lived here since I was a baby and I want to keep her here until she is out of school also. I never wanted to move as a kid in school and I wouldn't make her do it if at all possible too so I really just do what I want. I would hate for her to have to go through that "new kid in school" stuff....I took away the garage and made her a playroom...I would love to take away a bedroom and make one big bedroom for me but with that I do think about the resale value of a 4 bedroom house instead of a 5 bedroom house.

 

[disykat]

No, not if I have no plans of selling. However I do "nuetralize" things for myself. There are things I love that I wonder if might feel differently about it in a few years, so I tone it down.

 

[raammartin]

I wish I'd gone neutral in some areas of the house we built a little over a year ago. I have a neutral master bedroom and bath which I love. I also love our sage green kitchen, red dining room, blue laundry room, and the kids' rooms (DS is a light/medium blue and DD is a pale lavender). I am not crazy about the color we chose for our living room. I picked "gold" colors for the living room, foyer, and guest room/computer room because I liked them in other homes. I don't like it now and will probably change it the something much more neutral real soon. If I was buying a house like mine the color wouldn't stop me from buying it though. Painting is a relatively cheap fix.

 

[poohbear1029]

see, now that candle would chase me out of a house faster than any paint color. In fact, I like walking into a nicely decorated, not necessarily neutral, house, as long as it is not wallpaper. but scented candles and air fresheners just smell bad to me and I tend to not spend much time in homes that burn them. go ahead and bake, that works for me, but don't light that cookie scented candle. ick.

according to my realtors about 50/50 split for those who react like I do.

Our realtor actualy told us not to burn a candle while she did the open house. Not cause of the odor, but because some people will wonder what odor you are actually trying to cover up.

Our last house sold within a week. I think part of it was how it was decorated. We are not afraid to put paint on the walls and I made sure when we decorated there was a common feel to all the main rooms. The curtains matched, upholstery, etc. Not for sale, but because of my own personal taste. It sold quickly because the people really liked how it was decorated. It also had been painted within the last 4 years, so the colors were "in fashion"....not 70's avocado green.....oh, and NO WALLPAPER!!!

 

[mtemm]

Our realtor actualy told us not to burn a candle while she did the open house. Not cause of the odor, but because some people will wonder what odor you are actually trying to cover up.

Our last house sold within a week. I think part of it was how it was decorated. We are not afraid to put paint on the walls and I made sure when we decorated there was a common feel to all the main rooms. The curtains matched, upholstery, etc. Not for sale, but because of my own personal taste. It sold quickly because the people really liked how it was decorated. It also had been painted within the last 4 years, so the colors were "in fashion"....not 70's avocado green.....oh, and NO WALLPAPER!!!

Yep, that's it exactly. take out the fact that I don't like the artificial scents of candles/air freshener, that is exactly what I wonder...what are they covering up? An unscented candle would be fine with me. I do love candles, just not the scents.

The no wall paper thing is key. paint is so easy to change, but wallpaper, ugh. when I was looking for our last house, I looked at many many home, 2 specifically in a neighborhood I fell in love with. One was larger, but every square inch was covered in wall paper. I think it might have been $10k cheaper than the smaller house, but we went with the smaller one. Just couldn't deal with that much paper to try to get rid of.

We are in the process of buying our 4th house (close in 2 weeks..knock wood!) and we looked at dozens upon dozens of homes. Some of my favorites were very beautifully decorated, several had red rooms that were just gorgeous. Definitely not neutral, but very stylish and very pretty.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I'm not one to paint when I move in to a place. I'll buy something ready to go...and did. The first place I saw had way too much color, and for that reason alone I wouldn't even consider it. MAUVE of all colors. LOL! Dark green in the small kitchen, purple floral appliques on the wall tiles in the bathroom. ACK! LOLOLOL! Got out of there fast. I told the realtor I couldn't live with the color and that was it.

In my homes I leave neutral colors. In this home the bedrooms were all ready painted with color, but I like those. Neutral is the way to go when selling.

 

[georgina]

No, because we've been here 18 years and plan on another 18 at least! I guess if we moved more often it would be a consideration.

 

[kadaten]

For major things yes, for paint no. (Major = flooring, # or type of rooms, things costing multiples of thousands of dollars to change.)
Paint is easily changed with $20 and an hour's work.
If you can't afford to change my paint, you can't afford my house.
And if you won't do the work to paint the rooms, you won't like how much upkeep there is in the rest of this house....or any house for that matter! Painting is SO easy!

I paint EVERY room in my house. I think white/beige/cream walls are extremely boring and unimaginitive, and frankly, they drive me crazy. I feel like they walls should be padded if they're all white!

I use tasteful, modern colors, but do not shy away from dark ones. Heck, I have 2 dark red rooms (guest and craft rooms) in my house right now My kitchen/breakfast/family room is golden yellow with a dark red accent wall. Dining room is sage green. Office and master suite are a medium khaki (calm colors needed in those rooms). Kids rooms are medium blue and cotton candy pink DD's closet is about to go raspberry pink for punch Play room and kids' bathroom are sunshine yellow Like I said....a colorful house! Only thing left is the laundry room and I'm trying to decide what color it should be!

I completely disagree with realtors who tell people to repaint everything neutral. My stuff would look completely out of place in a neutral home. Oh, and I have experience to back me up. We've been the record-setting sales price in our area for both houses we've sold!

Edited to add.....if anyone should be worried, it's us! We just completed our 6th move in 10 years. Yes, we're military But that lifestyle will NOT prevent me from having a house that feels like HOME.....alive and filled with color!