Need your comments and advice, PLEASE!!!

[forHISglory]

Here's the link to our house-for-sale internet tour:
http://www.visualtour.com/inventory.asp?u=108430

look for visual tour #0146 5521

I'm shamelessly imitating Jamauk, who posted her home link! (Thanks, Jamauk)!

Anyway, I was impressed by the advice you gave Jamauk about her home, so I'm asking similar questions. After you look at the tour pictures, could you give us some feedback? Any advice on making the home more sellable and attractive to buyers? It's been 30 years since we tried to sell a home, and things have changed a lot. We are hoping that our home is one that will appeal to buyers, but we just need some feedback.

If you have any questions that aren't made clear by the tour, would you let me know? Because if you have questions, so might the folks who are looking for a home.

I really appreciate any help, comments or feedback you can give us. Don't be afraid to post things that are negative. We need to hear truth.

[Izzybeff]

All I can say is that I wished you lived in Iowa by us cause DH & I would LOVE to have your house. It's exactly what we've been looking for..

It's beautiful, I probably wouldn't change a thing.

[Jamauk]

What a beautiful home! And I do have to tell you that I'm absolutely in love with your pantry! I sent the link to my DH just so he could see your pantry while we're still in the beginning stages or drawing out our floor plans!

I have only one question for you and its not really related to your selling - sorry! I know you guys built your home entirely yourselves and its a log home (just like us!), I was surprised not to see any interior log walls, do you drywall against the log walls? If so, how did you come to that decision?

Questions are purely for selfish reasons as we are about to embark on building our own log home!

Good Luck with your selling!

[forHISglory]

Jessica,
Our home is frame construction with 1/2 log (red and white cedar) on the outside. This gave us the log home look, which we think fits living in the woods (and we are on the edge of a large state park here in MO). But it gives us a more traditional look inside. Also it gave us better insulation ability and better insurance rates!

Thanks for the compliments. And yes, I LOVE the pantry. No matter where we move, I think I want another pantry just like this one.

[forHISglory]

Izzybeff (sounds like my grandson trying to say "Elizabeth"),
If we can sell this home in MO, then we are moving to Iowa to be closer to family. So we would sort of be neighbors!!

[PrairieRose]

I don't have any suggestions. It's really lovely. I would think that unless the market is really depressed in your area that it should sell before long. Have you had many showings?

[stinkbug]

I love this house!!! The only thing I would suggest is that the virtual tour is jumbled and I can't figure out which room is which and how the actual floor plan is layed out. I don't see where the front entrance enters the rooms....things like that. I think the tour is kinda confusing and is almost too many photos. I have seen sites that show an actual floor plan and I like that idea. I just can't get a feel for how the rooms relate or how it flows....JMO...since you asked Also, I can't tell which is the master and is there a master bath? Maybe I wasn't following it right...

[Frugal Nurse]

All right.. I am risking another embarassing moment. (I critiqued another room and I could have just kicked myself in the booty- After reading it- AFTER hitting submit I thought I was too harsh)

Anyway, BEAUTIFUL HOME!!!
Definitely well built solid construction and well maintained in impecable condition.



As a buyer, here are my thoughts that I jotted down as I went through the tour. Now.. this is just the tour, which is what people are going to see to select the house they want to visit.

FN's Train of Consciousness during the tour....
Why are we spending soooooooo much time on the outside of this house? pic after pic after pic? 20 pictures! I wonder if the inside is lacking and that's why there is devotion to the outside.......
These pics are from the fall... kind of a dull-a baron lot and not much curb appeal. No flowers to welcome me.
Why weren't those leaves brushed off the porch? (I wonder if these people are messy people?)
Plastic chairs?
Oh the view from the porch is FANTASTIC! Breath taking!!

Now on to the kitchen. THE most important part of the house. It WILL sell the house- or not.
Nice solid cabinetry. Looks possibly custom-made. Very nice. not cheap stuff here.
But are the cabinets hapazard? Placed.. where ever you could put a cabinet?
The pantry... PERFECT!
The counters - consider upgrading the counters. A little investment A HUGE return. Granite. Corian. Quartz. you will have a buyer... instantly.
What kind of appliances?... what? mismatched appliances? oh oh.
Is that a tile floor? or vinyl. Instant buyers for tiled!

Love Love Love the sunroom!! It's peeking in there... but not capitalized- where are the pics of the sunroom?
Too many books, books, books! too many! They are nicely lined up.. but they seem like they are everywhere.
This one's hard to change.. but there seems to be only windows on one side of the house. that's the oddest thing I've ever seen. Is that customary in your area?
Beautiful doors. Solid. Sellable.

I like the simple cleanliness of the rooms. But I can not tell if wood floors.

The basement area is VERY confusing. If it's still in that condition, I wouldn't post a pic of that disorder. If you've improved the area- decluttered and simplified it... I'd post a new pic on the tour.

Disclaimer:
This is just my stream of consciousness. It was the thoughts in my head as I was going through it. It in no way implies anything, other than your home is gorgeous, in excellent condition- but to appeal to a buyer (in today's market) you need to consider upgrading a few things.

counter tops
flooring
Bathroom fixtures in one of the bathrooms is very outdated.
clear the basement clutter
clear the office stuff
capitilize on the beautiful scenery- and reduce the number of 'siding' house pics.
Pots of flowers welcoming guests


oh god! I hope I don't regret this!!

[Cricket1]

I agree--beautiful house. There are a lot of outside pics, but I don't think those would hurt you at all. Lovely!

[forHISglory]

Frugal Nurse,
I do NOT regret one thing you said. You have helped me immensely. While compliments are nice, I grow thru constructive criticism. Thank you!!!

Here is some additional info:
1. New furnace and AC
2. New interior and exterior paint
3. Roof and water heater 4 years old
4. All electric
5. Range has built in grill
6. Microwave is combo with convection oven
7. Undercounter task lights in kitchen
8. Yeah...... lots of books, but we are both teachers and our offices are at home and we work at home. We use them all.
9. Floor plan: I agree that it would help to have this posted. I'll talk to the realtor about this. First floor is atrium door entrance into the solarium, and then the rest is a great room (living, dining, kitchen) and a half bath. Second floor is 2 smaller bedrooms, a 8 by 3 linen closet, guest bath, and master suite (bedroom, master bath, small area that we made into a library). Each bedroom has a loft and stairs, which makes them into essentially 2 story bedrooms. Finished walkout basement has hubby's office, family room, full bath, craft area, and laundry.
10. Lot of outside pics: yes, and I don't know why. And the flowers now are beautiful. We have 4 flower beds, plus the wild ones in the woods and the flowering trees in the woods. And we have hanging pots in the porch area.
11. Back windows, or lack thereof: Definitely different. The house is designed as an energy efficient solar home, with all window facing south to take in the exposure and eliminate northern wind seepage. Electric bills average about $120 or so a month, and that includes heat and AC.
12. Utilities: County water and sewer, electric cooperative service (means that we get money back from the electric we use each year.)
13. Kitchen counters and bath and kitchen fixtures are outdated. I agree. We wondered about replacing them, but both an appraiser and the real estate agent counseled to not do that, but to keep the price lower and let the buyers do this. Do you think this was good counsel?
14. Land: All wooded, 4+ acres, walking trails, next to state park of about 4000 acres, in subdivision of homes where each home has to be on at least 3 acres, paved roads, about 5 miles out of town.
15. Community: Excellent school system, low taxes (about $1600 a year), safe, good hospital, good shopping, good parks and library, about 45 minutes out of St. Louis, sits on crossroads of 2 highways. Cost of living is lower than much of the nation; unemployment rate is is a little less than the rest of the nation. Lots of commuters to St. Louis area.
16. Cabinets in kitchen: not sure what you mean by haphazard???? Not disputing it, but I'm just not sure what you meant. Cabinets are solid wood and custom.

With these facts, does the pricing seem right? We thought it was a little high, and were surprised when an appraiser told us that it was worth more. What aspects of the home/community would you emphasize?

Thanks again to all who gave some feedback. I'll talk to our realtor about some of this.

[dianne9106]

A simply stunning home and very nice price! FrugalNurse hit a lot of things that I saw as well. My one piece of advice is - you have toooo much stuff in your home. I know the basement is a place for storage, but I mean throughout the whole house - every corner and workspace is occupied. You keep a very tidy home, but I think for potential buyers they will want to see the true projected amount of space. Still a lovely home!! I wish it was in TN! We would have def bought something like that - just breath taking!

[Suzi T.]

Hi, I think your virtual tour would better serve you if we could see the rooms! The lighting is terrible. Have your agent redo the spread and turn on EVERY light in the rooms to get a better picture. Otherwise the pictures do you no good. The outside is lovely and i am sure the inside is too. BUT I'm not trying to see it to buy it.Best Wishes

[Shoshana]

Yes, you have a beautiful home. I'd also suggest organizing the pictures better, and perhaps including ones from the spring/summer instead.

Agreed with the leaves and plastic chairs...

As far as the interior furnishings -- I think this will be your biggest challenge. You want potential buyers to be able to imagine themselves in your home. That's very difficult to do when there are family photos, and so many personal touches. The decor needs to be as inviting and neutral as possible. Basically, that means no knick-knacks, photos, or nice personal touches. Some of your country accessories also might make it hard for some non-country buyers to make that leap of imagination.

I also think you should pack many of the books -- one bookshelf full of books would be enough. Again, books are very personal and some people will find so many of them overwhelming.

Wasn't there a gray shower curtain in one bathroom? Maybe white shower curtains and plain white towels would be a good choice...
Good luck!

[Jskell911]

I think that given your responses to everyone's input, perhaps you could ask your agent to update the tour a bit.

A nice spring tour with the landscaping at it's best would be perfect. But as a potential buyer with a low attention span, I wouldn't stick around to long w/ outside pics. After 1 from each the front, back and each side, I want to see inside!

From my addiction to HGTV, I have to agree on the too many books. You want to highlight the built-ins not the books.

And a couple of cheap upgrades to the bathrooms might help. Faucets, door pulls, easy stuff like that.

Obviously you do not want to spend a ton, so focus on the easy cosmetic improvements.

Watch a few episodes of Design to Sell, they focus on these small changes that make a huge impact.

[forHISglory]

So far, so good!
Your responses are helping us take a second look, and that's exactly what I needed. Ever notice that when you live with something for so long, you don't really see it?

We can take down the personal pics (I think we only have a couple), and some of the collections. No sweat. Hubby and I agreed that we need to ask the realtor to take some nice spring pics to substitute for the late winter ones. He also agreed that the picture of his shop (which is behind the detached garage) looks pretty messy, and he'll work on that.

We are still wondering what to do with the books. Because we are not full time teachers, we have no office space at the University. All of our work must be done from home, and our books are working books, not decoration. Bottom line is that we must have access to them. And we can't afford to rent an office somewhere. Any suggestions?