Sprucing up house before sale

[DaveInPgh]

I was also told to take down my art, I have pretty eclectic taste

I think your realtor got it right. Pretty sure it would freak out some buyers.

[Outdoorsygal]

Painting is the easiest way, so if you can get "dump stock" from the painting stores (Kelly Moore, Sherwin Williams) and pour it together, it will save money.
You can paint a few rooms two colors such as the ceiling a white color and the walls a different color. That's pretty classy.

[snafu]

It really depends on the housing market in your community. How many days on average does the realtor's data show it takes to sell? Are you in a 'hot' market that can generate a bidding war? If you don't trust your realtor, get two other opinions. Ask them define your target buyers because your house only gets a few minutes to make it's best impression. They know what will sell and what will go stale and languish unsold. In our area, millennial's seem to expect 'move-in' ready. Disney Steve type buyers are a minority and difficult to find.

One serious issue is how long do you want to have your house on the market? How much patience does your family have towards the idea of strangers traipsing through your home? You operate on other people's schedule, leaving on little notice when a realtor with or without client decides to visit. More annoying, are looky-lou's who find entertainment value in checking out houses. Worst are agents who show your home as the comparable of why another house is better value for their client since the commission just a few words from success.

The suggestions and link offered by kork gives you the biggest bang for the buck with a fair amount of work. We're not talking about a few dollars selling an old sofa or a used car. A house is usually the most expensive thing we buy. Paint is cheap from mis-color bin. Lots of up-to-date used lighting on FB electronic sites if money is the goal. Get everyone to pitch in- Good luck

[scfr]

You have already received some good advice. It really depends on the age and condition of your home, what buyers in your market are looking for, and how quickly you want to sell.

Keep in mind that the realtor's commission is based on sales price. If you spend $40K fixing up in order to get a $20K higher sales price, that is good for the realtor but not for you.

Sometimes you can achieve the result you want for less. For example, when we were preparing to sell our house, we painted the trim and front door, and put on new door hardware, and it looked like the entire exterior had been newly done.

[creditcardfree]

As for carpet, paint, and other decorative things, I think that's where people get into trouble, especially when they go all neutral. If I looked at a house and it was all white walls and beige carpets, I wouldn't be attracted to that at all because I'd know the first thing we'd want to do is rip out the carpets (even if they were brand new) and paint the walls (even if they were freshly painted) so that we could put in things we actually liked.

All neutral is too subjective. White walls and beige carpeting would be bad. But there are a lot of neutral tans and off whites that are warm and inviting. Many new builders put in multi tone color carpets.

When we bought our house, it had old carpets and we knew we needed to replace them. We were fine with that. The seller didn't waste money and the price accounted for it.

I think this is actually smart to be aware that this is an option when buying...you get a better deal because the buyer isn't trying to get back all the money they put into it.

[creditcardfree]

You have already received some good advice. It really depends on the age and condition of your home, what buyers in your market are looking for, and how quickly you want to sell.

I agree! A thirty year old home with brass fixtures is dated. Buyers are going to be comparing the home to newer ones, which have newer fixtures and a smaller to do list. There is a buyer for every home, but how quickly will that buyer come to your home if it looks fresh and updated. Pretty fast in my experience (I've had homes sell in one day, five days and five weeks).

[moneybags]

Wow, great responses here! I'm usually in the camp of DisSteve, why spend the money, but I realize it will help sell the house faster & maybe closer to asking price. I'm not a decorator, don't like to spend money, & have never cared to keep my house "current".

Luckily, we don't smoke or have pets, and we have no clutter! We also had our kitchen re-done 2 years ago and carpet is not that old. I think we're going to go with painting (our realtor suggested using the currently hot colors - grey tones) and changing all the old light fixtures (all brass; as someone mentioned, very dated). We're going to skip things like adding a backsplash in the kitchen and changing the tile in the hallway to hardwood. Also, have a few minor repairs to do.

I'll keep you posted - this is going to take some time!

[disneysteve]

I think we're going to go with painting (our realtor suggested using the currently hot colors - grey tones)

Here's a perfect example of where this can go offtrack. If we were in the market for a house today and walked in to a place painted gray, one of us would likely make a comment to the effect of, "It's nice that they put primer on the walls but why didn't they finish the job?" So we would put a note on that viewing that the house needs to be painted before we would move in and would rank the place lower than others that were more move-in ready.

[disneysteve]

home with brass fixtures is dated.

Really? I didn't know brass ever went out of style. I thought that was one of those classic kinds of things. Are you talking about door and cabinet hardware? We don't have any in our house but I'm just curious what the "in" thing is today.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Clean carpets don't put in new stuff. We're tearing out any carpet for allergies when we move in. We'd be happier with a worse price or credit than new carpet we'll just tear out.

[moneybags]

Really? I didn't know brass ever went out of style. I thought that was one of those classic kinds of things. Are you talking about door and cabinet hardware? We don't have any in our house but I'm just curious what the "in" thing is today.

I am clueless with decorating and don't keep up with what is on trend. The brass in my house that she specifically pointed out included light fixtures, fireplace screen, strips on the floor that divide the carpet/tile. Bronze or nickel is currently in .

[disneysteve]

I am clueless with decorating and don't keep up with what is on trend. The brass in my house that she specifically pointed out included light fixtures, fireplace screen, strips on the floor that divide the carpet/tile. Bronze or nickel is currently in .

That's nice. And next year it will be pewter and the year after that it will be chrome and the year after that it will be mahogany. Who the heck cares? If that's going to keep someone from buying my house, they are being outrageously too picky.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

A lot of first time home buyers are that picky. Once you've been through it you look for different things.

[DaveInPgh]

I am clueless with decorating and don't keep up with what is on trend. The brass in my house that she specifically pointed out included light fixtures, fireplace screen, strips on the floor that divide the carpet/tile. Bronze or nickel is currently in .

I am with Steve on this one although in a hot buyer's market making those type of changes could make the difference between a fast sale and it sitting for awhile.

[moneybags]

After all that, the move is on hold. DH took a job that allows us to stay put for now. A bit of advice for anyone selling your house - call more than one realtor. We talked to 2. Realtor 1 wanted us to put about $5000 into the house; Realtor 2 suggested closer to $500 in updates and wanted to list the house $35000 higher, so basically a $40000 swing between the 2.