Help!

[forHISglory]

I need all the help and advice you can give me. If you have a story or experience that would help, I'd appreciate that, also.

We are getting our house ready to sell, hoping to put it on the market early this spring. We have a list of things we need to do to spruce it up.
1. Touch up outside paint ALMOST DONE; WEATHER IS STOPPING US NOW
2. Improve landscaping with some new bushes and plants
3. Make the front porch more inviting.
4. Paint the interior
5. Put in new bathroom and kitchen faucets
6. Possibly put in new carpet in upstairs bedrooms
7. New light fixtures in dining room and living room.
8. Continue to declutter and box up non essentials
9. Clean like crazy
10. Put a tile backsplash in kitchen

Here's what I need: Do you have any specific tips about any of the above projects? Which would you rank as most important? Least important? Any ideas about how to do this frugally? Where can we find the best buys on the things we need to buy? What brands or stores work best for you and why? What tools do we need to invest in? Any tips for keeping our sanity? Should we consider new kitchen countertops (just have formica now)? We intend to do the work ourselves (at least we think we can handle it).

For what it's worth, here is some additional info that might help you in giving us advice:
1. Home is worth about $200,000 (in our part of Missouri, that is an upper middle class price).
2. Home sales are flat here right now. Only a couple of homes for sale in our subdivision. Neighborhood is solid and people tend to stay here a long time.
3. We are hoping to spend no more than $2000. Is that realistic?
4. Home is 30 years old, newer roof, newer water heater, brand new furnace, newer mid-priced kitchen appliances, fantastic cabinetry, 2500 sq. ft., 3 car garage and workshop, 4.5 wooded acres, 2 patios, about 5 miles from town and an hour from a major city, county water and sewer, underground utilities, solar heated plus radient wood stove plus electric furnace, big plantation-style porch on front, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, large closets but not walk in, library, kitchen, dining, living, fully finished walkout basement, laundry room, solarium. Each bedroom has a private loft above it, in effect, a 2 story bedroom! Which of these features do you think would make the best selling points? In which areas would it make the most frugal sense to improve?

I know this is a lot of info. We built this home 30 years ago and now we need to figure out how to best improve it and sell it. THANKS!

[forHISglory]

Can you believe that I forgot to say something in that huge post? Wanted to mention that shopping options are the local lumberyard and hardware stores (very expensive), Walmart (good prices but not much choice), and a Lowes and Home Depot. Any experience with any of these places for getting good deals?

[chatterweb]

Keep spending to a minimal.
Do # 1 4 6 8 and 9 stop there.
Spend under 800.00

500.00 is best.

The home may not sell and you are out how much $$??

Advertise to sell on Craiglist, even if you get listed with a realtor.
Good Luck!!

[Jamauk]

I would keep the home improvements to a minimum - especially in this market, you may not get that money back.

I honestly think the most important things are curb appeal - power wash the outside (sidewalks, front porch, etc....) & declutter, declutter, declutter - make sure all of your closets and cupboards look very organized and NOT crowded. It'll give the illusion that there is A LOT more space than there really is.

Other than that, I'd just try to spruce up what's already there.

It seems we're about 30 years behind you! We're getting ready to put our house on the market, too - so we can build our dream home together!

Good Luck!

[homemaker66]

you should try and steam clean the carpets upstairs to see if the improves them. I also would not put alot of money into the outside use what you have. Declutter & reorganize. Make the home feel warm and cozy. We sold our home a couple of years ago and we did not have alot of money to put into it so we made it feel warm inside. I took down alot clutter stuff off from the walls because this made the rooms feel bigger. Lots of candles burning on the days of the showings. One time i put soft music on in the background and that really worked well when people were looking. So just use what you have and save the rest.

[joyofsix]

I just watched a show yesterday that said many buyers drive by and if they don't like the outside don't even stop. I'd work on curb appeal, maybe repaint neutral colors and clean and declutter like crazy. That seems to be what the Sell This House shows do. I wouldn't invest in new fixtures or carpet unless it's just beyond sprucing up.

[ilovechocolate]

Curb appeal is everything. Make sure everything is clean, the yard and garden areas are neat, maybe have some pretty flowers on the porch. And for the inside--try simmering some cinnamon on the stove. Just put some cinnamon sticks in a pot of water and keep it on low. Also, let in as much light as you can into the house---open up drapes, etc.

[Daisygirl]

Tune in to some of the shows like Sell This House. The whole poit there is to cosmetically make a home inviing and show off its good points.


I was considering selling my house last year, so I called my realtor (also a good friend). I said, "Jeanette, be painfully honest and tell me what I need to do to get top dollar for this house." So she walked through and some of the things that she told me to do were surprising. All in all the list she gave me was under $500.

She recommended painting my stairway walls a neutral color (they are orange, lol), change a couple of dated light fixtures to the plain $10 light fixtures available at walmart, repairing a spot on the bathroom floor by replacing one tile and adding quarter round, and steam cleaning the carpet in my daughters room, along with adding a strategically placed area rug to cover the nail polish stain.

She told me not to go to huge expense with renovation type repairs because most people end up changing that stuff anyway.

I decided to keep my house, but the infor was good to know in case I do decide to sell somewhere down the road.

Best of luck!

[stinkbug]

I have a little experience in this area (staging) so I'm going to jump in here....
DO clean up outside, touch up trim and doorway. Maybe new mulch in the flower beds and keep the lawn as tidy as possible at all times. No junk, no toys, etc. (people WILL do drive-bys.)
Clean, clean, clean! If you have pets or are a smoker you'll need to clean carpets and possibly paint. Paint is a good investment if yours hasn't been touched up in awhile and have an active family. Go neutral, but warm colors in main living areas. (I consider 25.00 a gallon a good investment)
Bathrooms....30 years old? How is the tile, does it need to be regrouted? If you don't want to replace faucets, you can scrub and clean them with CLR and they will sparkle like new (we did this and it worked very well, and we didn't replace our 30 year old faucets before selling). How dated are your fixtures? You can replace most ceiling fixtures for about 20.00. Dining room will be more, but brass fixtures really date a home. The kitchen sounds great! Clear the counters to the absolute minimum and keep it CLEAN. Seriously, our realtor told us up front that our house would sell because it was clean, and it sold the first day to people from out of town who looked at 6 similar homes in one weekend.
Your home sounds wonderfull....4.5 acres for 200,000...I wish!!!
I'm going to disagree on the candles, etc. when you do showings.(unless they are unsented and purely for ambiance) So many people are sensative to smells and have allergies, this can be a turn off and make people wonder what you are trying to cover up. I personally will not tour a home with pungent *aromas*.
Also...what is the competition? Do some open house tours in your area. Listen to comments other make while in those homes. Are you competing with new construction?
Did I mention declutter? :-) Rent a pod if you have to for extra furniture that you'll want to keep but is crowding rooms. Oh, and get rid of any funky wallpaper!!! (or borders) Even if you love it, odds are, others will not.

[stinkbug]

One more thing....clean your windows! Inside and out. If your window coverings are dated, remove them to let light in. They also harbor smells, so at least have them cleaned. If your home is two stories, you might consider professional window cleaning. I have 23 windows and can have it done for about 100.00. If you are in a rural area, odds are, your windows get pretty dirty! (ours do)
Basically, you want your home to appear well maintained. I think being the original owners is a big plus. You want people to see the pride in your home and that you've loved and cared for it, not just lived in it.

[FreesiaE]

8. Continue to declutter and box up non essentials
9. Clean like crazy

I think these are the most important. I'd get it cleaned and staged and then invite a few friends over to walkthrough and grade it for you no holds barred. They offer fresh eyes and may notice things you do not. You may also want to consider really only "living" in one or two rooms and leaving the rest alone so you don't have to constantly clean them.

[forHISglory]

Thanks for the great advice. Stinkbug, I appreciate your experience. Jamauk, I wish you the best on building your home. Ours is a log cabin, and we literally built it ourselves, almost every step of the way.

I'm taking a second look around the house today and trying to see it through a seller's eyes. We don't want to spend any more than we have to, but on the other hand, if the house doesn't sell, we will just continue to live here, and we want to live in something nice with quality. It's a hard act to balance (at least for us).

If you have more advice, send it on. I appreciate every one of you!

[Daisysmom]

The biggest piece of advice after selling 2 homes is make sure the price is right! When choosing a realtor, make sure they show you comprable home sales in your area so you can make sure they are pricing your home correctly.

We have a neighbor that is selling their house - move in, mint condition (pottery barn colors, new baths, redone basement), and their realtor priced the house way above what other homes were selling for around the area. Although they have had a lot of activity because it's in such great shape, the one offer they had came in $75k below what they are asking (which BTW was already at a reduced price from the original asking).

Good luck, a home that is priced right will sell right away and may, even in this type of market have a bidding war. Unrealistic pricing leads to a lot of frustration and time wasted.