Selling a house

[NuclearNed]

My wife and I just bought a new house, so we are trying to sell our old house. We need to sell it quickly, but get at least a certain net amount from it. We are big fans of the HG channel, so I've been trying to learn all that I can to make this house move.

Right now, we are both in constant cleaning mode, and I've been catching up on all those little projects that I've put off for the last 9 years that we've lived there.

So far, the house has been listed a week, and we've had it shown to 5 groups. There have been no offers yet, but since it is still early I'm not too worried.

Are there any good tips and tricks to make the house show better?

 

[sohcrates]

Bake bread or cookies during the open house. The smell works wonders.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: sohcrates
Bake bread or cookies during the open house. The smell works wonders.

We've been doing the next best thing - right before a showing, we've been lighting Yankee Candles, one on each floor.

 

[nwfsnake]

Declutter to the max. Rent storage space and get rid of all but essential furniture to make the rooms look larger. Neutral paint colors also help. Good luck!

 

[imported_Imp]

Front yard: spice it up. Was a newspaper article recently, one of the best ways is the front yard. It's the first thing people see and it'll get the word out; "oh, did you see ____'s yard, it's the nicest on the block and they're selling". People love to show off, and even if the inside looks like crap, if they outside is spotless, 99% of the people who walk by will never know better. Try to do something better than a nice lawn, add a 'waterfall' or fountain, some fresh flowers, etc.

 

[lokiju]

Staging is key.

People under rate having staging of rooms done but from what these home selling shows always seem to confirm, people have no imagination whatsoever and need to see how it could look with furniture.

But keep in neutral and simple.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: lokiju
Staging is key.

People under rate having staging of rooms done but from what these home selling shows always seem to confirm, people have no imagination whatsoever and need to see how it could look with furniture.

But keep in neutral and simple.

That might be a problem. We close on the new house at the end of August, at which time we will be moving out of the old one. Hopefully, we will get an offer before then...

 

[vi edit]

De-clutter
Keep it clean
Keep the colors neutral
If you have old cabinets/fixtures put updated knobs & hardware on it
If you have nasty carpet get it replaced
Keep your windows open and let the light in
Spruce up the outside - new coat of paint on the trim, modest landscaping, ect.

Really though, just keep it clean and tidy.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: nwfsnake
Declutter to the max. Rent storage space and get rid of all but essential furniture to make the rooms look larger. Neutral paint colors also help. Good luck!

We spent a long time decluttering, even though more could probably be done. We sent a lot of non-essential items to my in-laws' house for the reason you stated. When we bought our house, we mostly painted in neutral colors because we knew we were not going to stay in this house forever.

 

[pravi333]

you may want to pull it off the market until you finish up cleaning and your projects, because if it stays too much time wise in the market then they'll start asking it for less or people will assume theres something wrong with the house.
But if you think the projects & cleaning is not a big deal & the house can sell without them then leave it in the market.

 

[Injury]

I'll give you $20 for it.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: lokiju
Staging is key.

People under rate having staging of rooms done but from what these home selling shows always seem to confirm, people have no imagination whatsoever and need to see how it could look with furniture.

But keep in neutral and simple.

That might be a problem. We close on the new house at the end of August, at which time we will be moving out of the old one. Hopefully, we will get an offer before then...

I saw a home-selling show on HGTV (or Discover, TLC, whatever) recently where they rented some nice furniture for the showing. I think they spent $600 to rent some decent-looking furniture for a month and apparently gained $10K+ in perceived value.

 

[NuclearNed]

So does anybody know any good tricks to getting the house to appraise at a higher value? The house only has @1700 sq feet of finished floorspace, with an addition 200+ sq feet in a single car garage. The lot is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 an acre.

Improvements we have made, hoping it helped our resale value:
new installed range/microwave (1 yr old)
new 30 year roof - architectural shingles (~2-3 yrs old)
new HVAC unit (2 months old)
new water heater (~2 yrs old)
new concrete patio
all new insulated vinyl windows (1 yr old)
all new storm doors (1 yr old)

...among others.

Our real estate agent told us the major factor in our appraisal would the floorspace. She said all this other stuff wouldn't significantly improve our home's value I don't see how that can be the case.

EDIT: the bullet tag doesn't work???

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: lokiju
Staging is key.

People under rate having staging of rooms done but from what these home selling shows always seem to confirm, people have no imagination whatsoever and need to see how it could look with furniture.

But keep in neutral and simple.

That might be a problem. We close on the new house at the end of August, at which time we will be moving out of the old one. Hopefully, we will get an offer before then...

I saw a home-selling show on HGTV (or Discover, TLC, whatever) recently where they rented some nice furniture for the showing. I think they spent $600 to rent some decent-looking furniture for a month and apparently gained $10K+ in perceived value.

Very few places can get away with that. If you live in a typical neighborhood it's very simple to do a comparison of your house to any number of similar homes within XX miles. # of bedrooms, # bathrooms, garage, sq/ft, lot size, ect. Those are all very static factors that play into a majority of a homes value. If you live in a home that is very similar to 20 other homes within 10 miles of yours and they are all selling for $150,000, there is no magical brush you can use on your house to make it worth $160,000.

If you have a very unique/custom built home that can't easily be compared then there are more liberties you can take to boost the perceived value and appeal of the property.

But for most homes you aren't going to fool a halfway educated buyer.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
So does anybody know any good tricks to getting the house to appraise at a higher value? The house only has @1700 sq feet of finished floorspace, with an addition 200+ sq feet in a single car garage. The lot is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 an acre.

Improvements we have made, hoping it helped our resale value:
new installed range/microwave (1 yr old)
new 30 year roof - architectural shingles (~2-3 yrs old)
new HVAC unit (2 months old)
new water heater (~2 yrs old)
new concrete patio
all new insulated vinyl windows (1 yr old)
all new storm doors (1 yr old)

...among others.

Our real estate agent told us the major factor in our appraisal would the floorspace. She said all this other stuff wouldn't significantly improve our home's value I don't see how that can be the case.

EDIT: the bullet tag doesn't work???

I kind of addressed this in my last post. They certainly won't hurt the sell, but they aren't value adders. They are value maintainers. If the place needed a new roof or the ac was ancient a potential buyer would use that as leverage to make a lower offer.

 

[dullard]

To increase the value of the house, you need to bring in the richer buyers. Rich buyers don't want a small house, a bad location, or too few bedrooms/bathrooms. That is just about all they really look at before declining to ever see your house. A new microwave (can be had for less than $200) just won't bring in the richer buyers. Thus, a new microwave won't increase the value of your house. Like Vi_edit said, it will maintain your house value in the high range of your current target audience, but it won't change that audience to significantly increase the house value.

When you bought your houses, did you say "Hmm, this house is not at all in my price range, but it has a new patio so lets look at it"? Probably not. You never went there at all because it was outside of your price range. Same goes to the people looking at your house.

At this point, you really can't increase the value much. But you can do minor things (all mentioned above) to knock the socks off of people who think your house is in their price range. The key is to go for cosmetic changes. Don't spend much, but if there is any visible flaw, conceal it.

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: lokiju
Staging is key.

People under rate having staging of rooms done but from what these home selling shows always seem to confirm, people have no imagination whatsoever and need to see how it could look with furniture.

But keep in neutral and simple.

That might be a problem. We close on the new house at the end of August, at which time we will be moving out of the old one. Hopefully, we will get an offer before then...

I saw a home-selling show on HGTV (or Discover, TLC, whatever) recently where they rented some nice furniture for the showing. I think they spent $600 to rent some decent-looking furniture for a month and apparently gained $10K+ in perceived value.

Very few places can get away with that. If you live in a typical neighborhood it's very simple to do a comparison of your house to any number of similar homes within XX miles. # of bedrooms, # bathrooms, garage, sq/ft, lot size, ect. Those are all very static factors that play into a majority of a homes value. If you live in a home that is very similar to 20 other homes within 10 miles of yours and they are all selling for $150,000, there is no magical brush you can use on your house to make it worth $160,000.

If you have a very unique/custom built home that can't easily be compared then there are more liberties you can take to boost the perceived value and appeal of the property.

But for most homes you aren't going to fool a halfway educated buyer.

Doing the staging doesn't change what the house will appraise for, it will help it sell faster though.

 

[Dacalo]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
Our real estate agent told us the major factor in our appraisal would the floorspace. She said all this other stuff wouldn't significantly improve our home's value I don't see how that can be the case.

Unfortunately, that is the case. You will never get the full value back for improvements. That's why usually it's not a good idea to upgrade parts of your house unless you intend to live there for a while to take advantage of value offered by the improvements.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: Dacalo

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
Our real estate agent told us the major factor in our appraisal would the floorspace. She said all this other stuff wouldn't significantly improve our home's value I don't see how that can be the case.

Unfortunately, that is the case. You will never get the full value back for improvements. That's why usually it's not a good idea to upgrade parts of your house unless you intend to live there for a while to take advantage of value offered by the improvements.

The improvements we did were for us - we have only casually been looking for another house, and didn't have any real plans to move. Then we found our dream home, so as it turns out all these improvements may not benefit us much, unless they help the house sell.

 

[NuclearNed]

Another question:

We painted a lot of our interior with flat paint. Over the years, it had gotten some scuffs and marks on it (as flat paint is prone to do). Short of repainting the interior, is there any way to buff out marks on flat paint?

Overall, the paint still looks pretty good, but it is one of the more obvious deficiencies of the house.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
We painted a lot of our interior with flat paint. Over the years, it had gotten some scuffs and marks on it (as flat paint is prone to do). Short of repainting the interior, is there any way to buff out marks on flat paint?

I hate flat paint for that reason; plus it makes me feel like the water is zapped out of me whenever I enter those rooms. Thus, I don't paint with it. But, I have heard good things about Mr. Clean Magic Eraser from people who do have flat paint. For a few bucks, you might as well give it a shot in a hidden area (to see how well your paint reacts).

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
We painted a lot of our interior with flat paint. Over the years, it had gotten some scuffs and marks on it (as flat paint is prone to do). Short of repainting the interior, is there any way to buff out marks on flat paint?

I hate flat paint for that reason; plus it makes me feel like the water is zapped out of me whenever I enter those rooms. Thus, I don't paint with it. But, I have heard good things about Mr. Clean Magic Eraser from people who do have flat paint. For a few bucks, you might as well give it a shot in a hidden area (to see how well your paint reacts).

Definitely practice with the Mr. Clean Eraser in a small area. On flat paint you can very easily "over buff" the area and you'll have a shiny spot that sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

[nanette1985]

Ignore those HGTV shows. They're entertainment.

The number one thing you can do right now is empty all the closets, kitchen & bathroom cabinets, shelves, etc. And then go back and put in just a few items for decoration. And take out half your furniture. "Decluttering" just isn't enough. You need nearly empty. It makes the place look a lot bigger.

I'll second the reply that says to concentrate on the entrance. First impressions do mean a lot.

And, clean. Scrub. Everything. Worth it.

Best of luck to you! Hope you get a lot!

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
So does anybody know any good tricks to getting the house to appraise at a higher value? The house only has @1700 sq feet of finished floorspace, with an addition 200+ sq feet in a single car garage. The lot is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 an acre.

• Improvements we have made, hoping it helped our resale value:
• new installed range/microwave (1 yr old)
• new 30 year roof - architectural shingles (~2-3 yrs old)
• new HVAC unit (2 months old)
• new water heater (~2 yrs old)
• new concrete patio
• all new insulated vinyl windows (1 yr old)
• all new storm doors (1 yr old)

...among others.

Our real estate agent told us the major factor in our appraisal would the floorspace. She said all this other stuff wouldn't significantly improve our home's value I don't see how that can be the case.

EDIT: the bullet tag doesn't work???

Fixed.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
We painted a lot of our interior with flat paint. Over the years, it had gotten some scuffs and marks on it (as flat paint is prone to do). Short of repainting the interior, is there any way to buff out marks on flat paint?

I hate flat paint for that reason; plus it makes me feel like the water is zapped out of me whenever I enter those rooms. Thus, I don't paint with it. But, I have heard good things about Mr. Clean Magic Eraser from people who do have flat paint. For a few bucks, you might as well give it a shot in a hidden area (to see how well your paint reacts).

Definitely practice with the Mr. Clean Eraser in a small area. On flat paint you can very easily "over buff" the area and you'll have a shiny spot that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Yes - The Mr. Clean Eraser works pretty well, but they do leave an area that can be easily seen from the right angle.