Tentatively Decided, Making A Move...

[Lauri D]

Well, I have had a lot to think about in the past almost-week, and I have come to a tentative decision to sell my house and make a big move. :tiptoe:

After weighing my various options and "combinations" of potential plans, it just seems to make the most sense. I bought the house 9 years ago at the perfect time (right before the meteoric rise of housing prices here) so have made out like a bandit there, which of course doesn't help me if I'm just sitting on it. It's too much work for me maintain myself (being an older home, with a very large yard) and that has become a constant source of frustration for me. While I've enjoyed/enjoy many aspects of living there (the location mostly, proximity to the beach), I'm not sentimentally attached to the house and not particularly close with my neighbors or anything.

While I absolutely love my boss, the job itself is a "dead-end" in the sense that there's nowhere to "go" in the company, and I don't want to do what I am doing for much longer. Actually I haven't been wanting to do it for a while, but it's been secure and stable which I've needed over the past year.

Anyway, here's my question and what I need to start researching. I've never sold a home before. I want to make the smartest possible choices with regard to what I fix up/improve before putting it on the market, what will provide the maximum return on the investment and all that. What potential buyers are looking for already being done and what not to bother doing because they will want to do their own thing anyway.

Sorry about the rambling incoherence of my sentences; I didn't sleep much last night on account of mulling all this over. :yawn:

(As a side note, I must say there is a weird an unexpected feeling of liberation at the thought of starting fresh. I really have no attachment to anything in my house other than Dempsey, of course, and my laptop. Everything else can go. It's a good feeling; if it won't fit in the MINI, it ain't coming with me.)

[wei yau]

I'm a lazy bastard. I'd get in touch with a realtor. It's in their best interest to sell your house at the optimal price. They'll tell you what needs to be fixed.

The only other piece of advice I have is watch HGTV.

But, I really didn't write this post simply to provide utterly useless information. I wanted to congratulate you on your decision. It takes quite a bit of courage and I hope it works out great for you.

[livius drusus]

(As a side note, I must say there is a weird an unexpected feeling of liberation at the thought of starting fresh. I really have no attachment to anything in my house other than Dempsey, of course, and my laptop. Everything else can go. It's a good feeling; if it won't fit in the MINI, it ain't coming with me.)

Mmmm... Stufflessness... I think it sounds fantastic, Lauri. I'll leave the killer real estate advice to someone who knows what they're talking about ( :cough:Brandi :cough: ), but you have all my best wishes and congratulations.

:vibes:

[Lauri D]

Thanks eldar and btw, :bhello: and welcome!

Yeah, the realtor thing is probably the first important step, but I am also sort of dreading it because they can be a pain to deal with. I want to get a referral from a friend or something, not just pick one randomly, so I need to start putting my feelers out.

I'll have to find HGTV (I know I've got it just not sure what channel it is). My ex mother-in-law watched it constantly so I would sometimes see it when I was over there and it did have some informative programs.

[Scotty]

A realtor may be a good idea, but get one that you have references from. They can take some of the hastle out of the experience, at the cost of some of your gain.

Knowing what needs fixing is always a good thing. Any potential buyer (that has any smarts at all, unless they know exactly what they are getting into) will have an inspection done. Usually, you should fix what they say needs fixing before selling (or before it can be bought sometimes). Some home loans will not give out a loan unless they know the house is in good repair, and that inspection tells them that (on some level of course, you can have crappy inspectors).

But, what you want to do, is to make sure that the "approach" to the house is clean and tidy. What people see when they first get to the house is what starts them down the path to wanting to buy. New paint in the front, mowed grass, nice flowers blah blah blah, all help a lot.

Even if out back it looks bad, the first things they see will be the most important. Get them in the door.

As for inside, again, clean and neat, but it doesn't necessarily have to be spotless as neat. It doesn't have to look empty, just nice.

If you have things that you think need fixing, or need fixing, or whatever, list them here and I am sure people can tell you what really needs fixing before selling, and what is just cosmetic or unimportant to inspectors.

-Scott

[Lauri D]

Thanks liv, and thanks for the awesome butterfly greeting addition to the smilies. It's poifect. :yup:

[Shake]

I'd go with what Eldar said. If it's your first time and you don't want to get screwed over, get a good realtor because it's their job to know all the little things that could trip you up, and help you avoid them. IMO it's worth the price. Of course, I am a little biased since the wife was in real estate for about 3 years. No, but really, I do think it's the smartest thing for your situation.

So ... where ya headin'? What'cha gonna do next?

[wei yau]

Oooh, here's an actual useful tip.

We toyed with the idea of selling our house a couple of months ago, in order to move closer to work. One bit of advice that was useful to me was to not only remove clutter from the rooms, but take down anything personal, such as framed photos of family, trophies, awards, etc.

Most people like to picture there own stuff on the walls and this leads to a favorable impression of the house. I don't know how true this is, but I've always thought we should try and make the house look like a "model home" in a new development. Nicely decorated, but devoid of anything directly personal.

Makes some sense, I guess.

Although, if prices have truly risen in your area, I'd imagine it's a seller's market. That's clearly to your advantage, I would think.

[Lauri D]

Hiya Scotty -

Yah, the in-front thing is very important, and also presents one of the major challenges, as I have a very large front yard that wraps around (it's a corner lot) and is very, very run down. OTOH, I've often been told that it's desirable for its potential on account of its size - almost a blank slate for someone who wanted to do their own thing.

Thanks for the advices :)

[livius drusus]

Thanks liv, and thanks for the awesome butterfly greeting addition to the smilies. It's poifect. :yup:
:pleased: Believe or not, the minute I saw it I knew it was destined to be your signature greeting smilie.

[wei yau]

....and thanks for the awesome butterfly greeting addition to the smilies. It's poifect. :yup:

And thank you for welcoming me with the smilie. :qthanks:

[LadyShea]

Gimme a call tonight Lauri, I have been researching this heavily as you may know.

Simplified versiom

As Eldar said already. Store a bunch of your knickknacks/wall art. You want to give an indication of where things might go, but there needs to be enough white space for the lookyloos to envision their own things. I have no idea why, but if people see things in the house that go against their personal values or beliefs they are turned off (for example I watched a tape where a woman decided against a house because she was Jewish and there were many Catholic trappings laying about. No matter that they would be moved with the previous owner!). It's all psychology.

Paint all the walls a neutral. Navajo white can be bought by the 5 gallon drum for cheap. Fresh paint makes the place appear clean, and like a fresh canvas for the new owner

Clean out closets and cupboards (put stuff in storage). Stuffed closets and cabinets give the appearance of not enough storage space. Lots of space and organization again just appeals to their sense of "all my stuff will fit here nicely"

If any of the big things are new, play them up, if theyre old, downplay them. If you put on a new roof last year or a new AC system, announce it. If the hot water heater is from the 1960's, maybe just don't mention it

[viscousmemories]

Congrats on making the decision, Lauri!

I'd give you advice but as I think you know the one time I owned a house it was all about the floods and foreclosure, so I'll just go ahead and refrain from cursing you. :)

[Lauri D]

Thanks vm :) Yeah I forgot about that story... :eek: Thanks for not cursing me though :D

Hey Brandi! :) I am going to the Angels playoff game tonight but will definitely call you either tomorrow night or whenever is convenient for you. I knew you'd be the one to talk to. :bow:

[AspenMama]

I sold my old house a couple of years ago and bought a brand new one. I certainly don't regret using an agent. She sold my house in one week-- all I had to do was keep it clean. She did all the marketing and kept me appraised of the legal stuff. I poured a bunch of decorative rocks into a 2 foot area area around the front of my house and left a few plants. It filled in the dead space very nicely and looked great. I kept the lawn mowed, pine needles and leaves raked up as well. I think a huge help also was fairly new carpeting in the house and having painted the concrete downstairs in the laundry room as well as really cleaned up some water damage in the basement.

I will third or fourth the clutter thing-- get rid of any excess junk now. Pack other stuff up and put it in storage. Bring in some plants-- Green growing stuff is always good.

When I was walking around looking for a house, clutter, dirt, grody carpets, overgrown gardens, small bathrooms and a lot of dark areas were things that turned me off the most. It might be worth it to hire a maid service for a bit depending on your ability or desire to keep things clean!

[Ensign Steve]

I agree with the majority on the 'fix the things that need fixing' front. Most little $$$ you put into it will add up to big $$$$$ in the house's value. This coming from someone who is aware of a few of the things wrong with the place. ;) Quick fixes, most of them.

My mom replaced a garage door, planted a garden, and had new windows put in. Spent about $8000 and improved the house's value by about $35000, if I rememember exactly.

Organizey, organizey, organizey! hehe. xoxo good luck!!!

[copiae]

Anyway, here's my question and what I need to start researching. I've never sold a home before. I want to make the smartest possible choices with regard to what I fix up/improve before putting it on the market, what will provide the maximum return on the investment and all that. What potential buyers are looking for already being done and what not to bother doing because they will want to do their own thing anyway.


Hey Lauri,

congrats on your decision to move.

My parents sold thier house a few years ago, and apart from the usual cleaning up of everything, they touched up the interior walls, hired a professional gardener to make the outside look really well kept, and before any inspections, they sprayed a little bit of vanilla spray in each room.


The vanilla spray did two things: first it hid all the residual odours within the house (the ones you cant smell coz you are used to them), and the second thing it did was make the house smell like vanilla, which really smells good. Other nice (read: gender neutral and inviting) smells can come from percolating coffee, or baking bread (!!!).


Cheers,

[Farren]

Wow. I never knew selling a house was such a fine art until reading this thread.

Lauri, you better make sure wherever you move has a spare bedroom!

[LadyShea]

I agree with the majority on the 'fix the things that need fixing' front. Most little $$$ you put into it will add up to big $$$$$ in the house's value. This coming from someone who is aware of a few of the things wrong with the place. ;) Quick fixes, most of them.

My mom replaced a garage door, planted a garden, and had new windows put in. Spent about $8000 and improved the house's value by about $35000, if I rememember exactly.



Unfortunately, you have to be somewhat careful here as the appraisal price is based on the recent selling prices of similar houses in the area. Some imporvements may make your house more attractive than the one down the street, but may not actually increase the price or appraisal.

Our house was supposed to have a pool, that we spent a fortune making the pool work and hold water and look kick ass doesn't add anything to the appraisal at all....it simply makes it more attractive then the house down the street that didn't remodel their pool.

Does that make sense? Just be sure any money you spend isn't just giving new shit to the new buyers at your expense and wouldn't have made a bit of difference. You can't ask for 30k more than everyone else in your area just because you got a new roof...most people will buy the cheaper house and roof shop themselves.

[JoeP]

Lauri! I'm thrilled by your decision! Good luck in the selling and the hunting.

I'm a bit surprised by the various comments on making it look like a new model place. I've always thought evidence of comfort and being lived in is important - the people who will be motivated by a completely-new appearance will only in fact buy a new house. Yes, you would want to take out anything particularly individual or freaky, because there's a chance someone will be irrationally put off. And definitely don't over-decorate. I remember a place I saw which had different coloured bold, floral carpets in every room - and wallpapers to match - a turn-off. If there's a room you have to redo, make it neutral as Brandi suggests, but I don't think you need to tone down everything.

Anything you can do to make the yard look less run-down you should consider. Obvious problems or negative appearances play a big part in people's decisions.

I agree you should get an estate agent, or whatever it is you call them over there. Pick a person you like and feel you can trust.

joe

[JoeP]

Wow. I never knew selling a house was such a fine art until reading this thread.

Lauri, you better make sure wherever you move has a spare bedroom!
Lauri, you've managed to make Farren post a two-line reply. This may be a first ....