DahlElama

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Aug 15, 2001
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The DahlELama clan is building a new compound for the GasGas (and the kids of course) so it is time to sell the old one. This is/was my first house so I have never sold one before and am in need of a little advice.

What advice do you fellow DRN'rs have regarding what I should do to the house before putting it on the market? I think Mrs. DahlElama is going a little overboard on what she wants to do to the place to get it ready to sell (example: "replace all interior doors as the current ones make the house look 'dated'". hmmmm that's just crazy to me since there is nothing wrong with the interior doors).

The house was built in 1978 and I've had it for 5+ years. I've have already done major rennovations (new kitchen, bathroom remodels, hardwood floors). Wouldn't tossing a bunch of money at this place just be a waste and better spent on a hydraulic lift for the Gasser in the new casa?

Honestly.. I could use some advice here.

Thanks! ~e
 
B

biglou

I'm no expert, but I play one on TV... I would say look for things that are "value-added". Other than keeping things clean and tidy, lawn mowed, etc., I wouldn't dump any amount of money into the old house if you aren't going to get a return on it. The exception would be if it is something essential, like a bad water heater, etc. The other thing to consider is if the house is already listed, I wouldn't add upgrades to it if the price is set.
 

Patman

Pantless Wonder
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Dec 26, 1999
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Clean! Get the carpets steam cleaned. Pack any personal stuff like pictures or collections in boxes and rent a storage unit to put it in as well as any "stuff" that is in the garage or attic. Paint the walls if they are not neutral or are dinged up. Maybe replace any stick down tile with something new if needed. Pressure wash the exterior and driveway, this will make a big difference in how bright the house appears from the curb. A fresh welcome mat and lighted doorbell with a flowering plant by the door. Plant some cheap annual flowers in a bed in the yard. We did all of this a few more things then priced out house $20 a foot higher than anything else in the area. It sold the second day on the market to the first person that walked it for the full asking price. :thumb:

Bottom line is make the house a place that a potential buyer can imagine their stuff in.
 

Okiewan

Admin
Dec 31, 1969
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Pat makes good points. Get rid of any/all clutter; nic-nacs and especially family photo's etc., they say that will allow the potential buyer to envision the place as their own easier, rather than obviously belonging to someone else, not to mention the less clutter the bigger the rooms look. Minimize furniture in rooms where there may be too much or unnecessary pieces. Keep you windows open as much as possible to keep the air fresh (unless you live in SoCal of course :p). Hire a professional cleaning crew to do a deep cleaning.

Main thing is, don't spend money that you don't have to! Make the focal points look good, but don't go overboard. When people come thru, even multiple times, it's amazing that they never notice some imperfections that seem to be super obvious to you.

We went through the same thing when we sold in October of last year; wanting to do more improvements, fix every tiny imperfection, etc. We just painted rooms that weren't neutral, and made sure everything was neat... sold in a month and got the amount we wanted. Good luck!

Make sure your realtor gives you feedback after each showing too. Any negative feedback will be helpful in targeting areas you may have not thought of.

Wallpaper is the devil. If there is any, strip it and paint.
 

zio

Mr. Atlas
Jul 28, 2000
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Patman & Okie got it down. The first time through, most people are overwhelmed and usually don't notice the very small things. They're just trying to take it all in. My wife does this thing on the side- it's called "Real Estate Staging". She takes what you have & makes it look a million times better. I don't get it. But she's a freak of nature. If she weren't so damn cute, I'd buy her a pair of designer cement shoes ;) Believe it or not, people ask her to do it. She has never advertised or anything.

Anyway, take out all the crap. Go "zen". Ditch the little nick-nacks.

Clean the carptes.

Mow the lawn. If you can't do it every week, hire a gardener of the mexican variety to mow, edge & pull weeds once a week. Won't cost more than $75 or so if your yard isn't too big.

Clean the windows, inside & out. Clean any blinds. Clean window sils, too.

Vacuum any ashes out of the fireplace.

Clean the eves of cobwebs & other crap.

Organize all closets & cabinets. You want them to see how much storage there is, not how you've had to literally cram stuff in to hide it. Pack all seasonal clothes you're not wearing now. We did the storage thing, too. Great idea.

Take all prescription medications out & lock them in your car, or in a safe. Do it. Folks steal them this way.

Get the family to only use one bathroom. Keep the rest spotless, and do your best to keep the other clean as well. If there are any hard water spots, buy some CLR. It works pretty damn well.

We also went as far as to ony eat off paper plates & use plastic cups & utensils. But we're not that good at doing dishes. If your wife is a cleaner, don't worry about it.

I don't know how "dated" doors can look, compared to the rest of the house. Door knobs, maybe. But the entire door? Raised panel, flat, whatever. Doesn't matter. Unless they have holes in them, they're fine with a fresh coat of paint.

Otherwise, I wouldn't sweat it. Most people are looking at the overall floorplan, major structures, etc. Most wives plan on "nesting" into a new home, anyway. They want something to make their own. So as long as the basic structure meets their desires, they'll overlook a few small things like what color the fixtures are (brass is out, btw. waaaay out. chrome is even not that hot. now its the darker brushed aluminum & oiled/aged bronze).

Good luck!!!!!!!

:eek:
 

Timr

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Jul 26, 1999
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(brass is out, btw. waaaay out. chrome is even not that hot. now its the darker brushed aluminum & oiled/aged bronze).

Are you gay? JK. :laugh: This is true. We've replaced our fixtures with the brushed nickel, and I've replaced the door nobs with the brushed aluminum ones.

"Queer Zio for the DRN guy?"
 

zio

Mr. Atlas
Jul 28, 2000
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Timr said:
A"Queer Zio for the DRN guy?"

I'm not gay, I'm metro sexual. And fashionable. And sensitive. I know that it is okay now to wear white in the fall, navy blue does not go with black, and never mix patterns.
 

GETMETOCA

Can't Wait For Tuesdays
Mar 17, 2002
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All sage advice :thumb: Zio, you forgot the fashion faux pas of letting your panty lines show through your slacks.

Don't forget about smells. Make sure the cat litter box is clean and fresh. Make the cat poo out side if possible!! FOr some reason wet type cat and dog food really stinks and you don't notice it anymore because you are imune to it by now. Discontunue cooking fish and other smelly foods that linger. Cigarette smoke is a real nose wrinkler even to people who smoke. Make sure the toilets are flushed. I can't tell you how many times I viewed potential houses only check out the bathroom and find a turd in the toilet. Must have been a dude living there. :debil:

Pick up your dirty clothes and laundry off the floor! Make the house look spartan minimalist by putting away the nic nacs and pictures (that is probably the one most important detail and everyone has mentioned it)
 

kmccune

2-Strokes forever
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Jul 3, 1999
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Amy's a real estate ( damn I can't even spell that tonight! ) agent and Zio and GETMETOCA got it down. The people that buy it are going to eather not care or they are going to make it thier own by remodeling, painting, stripping paint and staining..... make it neat and uncluttered and fresh.

And if you can figure out a way to slip them a few stiff drinks before they view the house let me know. ;^)
 

zio

Mr. Atlas
Jul 28, 2000
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GETMETOCA said:
All sage advice :thumb: Zio, you forgot the fashion faux pas of letting your panty lines show through your slacks.

That's why I wear a thong. Also, buttons should not pull. If you're sporting a big rack, wear an appropriate sized blouse.
 

XRpredator

AssClown SuperPowers
Damn Yankees
Aug 2, 2000
13,504
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I'll bet you won't have a heckuva lot of trouble selling, Dahl. The Boise area is H-O-T

Good luck, man!
 

Zoomer

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Nov 17, 2000
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:thumb: Put fresh, hot cookies on a platter when some one comes over to look. the kitchen is the focal point. I try'd selling mine. Then redid the kitchen floor and counter tops and sold the second day on the market. Clean, with some furniture in each room, not to much. Just enough togive them an idea what it looks like with furniture. Good luck. You going on your own, or a realitor? I did mine on my own. Tuff but do able, and no commision to a realitor. :yeehaw:
 

DahlElama

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Aug 15, 2001
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Thanks everyone! That is exactly the advice I needed. One other question... The house is just now starting to show signs of needing exterior paint. Is that something you would just do before putting it on the market or is it something to wait and see if anyone balks at?

One of the problems we have is with the schedule I work and the twins (almost 2 now). We think it will be tough to make the house available to show with us living in it. Baby gates and all kids gear and safety stuff I am told are a turn off to buyers. We were actually thinking of moving into the new place before putting this one on the market. I'd have to carry two payments for awhile but... I don't know how we can put on a good show any other way.

Zoomer - I was thinking of trying to sell it on my own. Any pointers if we go that route?


I put a couple ghetto pages up with pics of the house.

CLICK

I think it should sell without too much hassle as it is in a very desirable part of Boise (Pred - you are so right. Boise seems to be a HOT place to move to these days)

Oh yeah... Getmetoca.. no worries on cat smell. I gave the cat away last summer while my wife was visiting her sister in Atlanta. After that I am lucky I even live in this house still! :ohmy:
 
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Timr

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Jul 26, 1999
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Paint Exterior - tough to call...you could do it yourself quickly, or pay someone to do it, or you could wait to see what your buyer is like and have it as a condition of sale. Everything is a point of negotiation. They could want you to have it done, you could give them an allowance so they could do it themselves.

Selling By Owner - I did this on my last house and purchase a FSBO on my own without a realitor too. It is very doable. Especially if your move is local. If you are staying local, you don't need a realitor to tell you about market values and school districts. It helps to have friends who know the market too. One of my friends was an appraisor and lived on my street. I had him pull three comps, sales within the past 6 months, from out neighborhood so I knew what to do on pricing.

If you are selling by owner, you should be open to excepting offers from buyers that are using an agent. If that is the case, you need to be prepaired to negotiate the commision amount and have your selling price ready to go. Every state has different laws and things vary. Here, full commision on a house is about 7%. If two agents are involved, they split it, 3.5% each. So, if you sell to an buyer with an agent, I would only offer a half commision. In fact, I sold my house to an out of town couple with an agent for only 3%. If you set your price thinking that you would sell to an agent, then you automatically have a bit of a cushion if a buyer comes to you without an agent. Meaning, you could come down on your price about 3% and still net the same amount to your bottom line.

Other people may think differently, but open houses are something of a waste of time. We did our by appt. and were ready to show the house at anytime within 15 minutes. Also, if you are going to sell by owner, you should look into getting an ad on a For Sale By Owner web site. They will build a nice listing for you with about 15 digital pics. If you house is the type that will appeal to first time buyers, this is the place to be, they do much of their priliminary shopping on the web.

Find a good closing attorney. Before you start this whole thing. One thing you will have to do if you sell and/or buy by owner, is know how to put together the contract. There are contract templates that you can download in PDF form from the internet. Also, your local board of real estate agents will have a standard contract that would be helpful to you if you can get your hands on it. Anyway, the closing attorny really represents the mortgage companies, not you, BUT they can be a great resource to you anyway. If you write a contract between you the seller and person X the buyer, take it to the attorney and have them proof it. You don't want to show up at close and find out that there's an issue with the verbage. They may charge you for this service, but it's worth it to know that you have every detail spelled out.

One thing that was cool; when I bought my house, they were selling by owner and my wife and I didn't use and agent. So, our negotiation was smooth and easy and fair. After we determined price and dates, we just went over to their house and sat down at the kitchen table. We had a great conversation about the little details. She wanted to keep this and we were like OK. She asked: "do you want the swing set?" "If you don't want to move it, our toddler would play with it." "Ok that's yours." Then they asked, "do you want the hot tub?" And I was like, "Hell ya I want the hot tub." They said, "Ok we were going to get a new one anyway at our old house."

Basically, this experiecne comes down to the people involved. If you are selling to A$$holes, it's probably better to have an agent as a buffer. If the people are reasonable, it's not difficult to work through. I've done it twice now, and my friend has bought and sold 5 houses on his own in the last 6 years. He was a great resource to me.

Hope this helps.
Tim
 

Timr

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Jul 26, 1999
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BTW, the pics look good. Good Job on the kitchen, I just completed the kitchen in my current home. New cabinets, counter tops, tiled back splash, tiled floor, redone windows, new paint, completely gutted the two pantrys. You get the picture.
 
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