Home Decor

[Tigerphoenix]

My hubby and I are doing some repairs and renovations to our home in hopes we can sell it and buy another house. Anyone have any suggestions of what will help sell my house?

This is what we are already doing:

Repainting (inside and out)
New cabnits in the kitchen
New light fixtures
New carpet or tile (haven't decided yet)

[jeny]

When your house is up on the market, declutter, everything. Rent a storage facility if you must, Clean out hose closets, get rid of family pictures. Make it look like a model home.

CLEAN. Baseboards, ceiling corners, organize medicine cabinets and kitchen cabinets. Everything will be opened and inspected.

[Tigerphoenix]

We plan on doing that. One problem I do have is several animals. Any suggestions on that? (This is the first time I am selling a home so I am in the dark)

Thanks for the help ;D

[jeny]

I would suggest boarding your animals, or leaving them at a relatives house if you have an open house. If a realtor is coming by with clients, it would be good if you could take dogs for a walk or whatever. What kind of animals?

[Voxo]

Just sold our place, we are closing on Friday. Three almost identical condos were on the market at once, and ours sold to the first people who looked at it. got an offer within a week. The others are still on the market.

For paint, definitely neutral. But I'd do something other than white. My walls were painted a color called El Dorado tan. When you walk in the room it almost seems white, but a hell of a lot warmer. Feels more cozy.

Ditto Jeny - de-clutter! Get rid of the crap. I had a pretty neat place, but very cluttered. I got rid of a lot, and put simple vases & flowers (fresh and dried) on the end tables and such.

I have a dog. (Smoke too - but we quite smoking indoors before we put on the market.) I required the realtor to give me 10 minutes notice to show. I work at home so I could do it. Here was the drill, after the call: Husband grabbed dog bed and stuffed it into the outside storage closet. I ran through the entire house and sprayed with Febreeze. The whole thing. Some people love dogs, but others think they stink so you need to keep it smelling fresh.

I did NOT change the carpet, even though it REALLY needed it. Just cleaned it, and gave up a couple bucks to the seller. I didn't see the value, and I ended up conceding $1,000. I have weird angles everywhere, no way could I get new carpeting for a thou.

Re light fixtures - do you really need them? I'd think they may make the place more attractive, but not add to value.

Cleaning - yes unfortunately. Every nook and cranny, just in case. Esp. closets, sparse ones look bigger.

Cabinets - seem to be a funny thing. If they are shabby, they certainly detract. If they are nice but of mid-level price, they look good but don't add value. Take a close look at it, if they are merely ho-hum but not awful or in poor shape you might consider a sweet looking new counter top instead.

[Voxo]

Where's the input from out BB realtors?

[Tigerphoenix]

I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 birds, and a rabbit. We keep the house pretty well deoderized (or at least as far as I can tell).

The new lights were a must. We have one that is damaged (hurricanes) and we wanted to replace a broken fan.

We went with a bone color for the walls (a little darker). The outside is going to be meduim gray with a tan trim and dark green for the shudders .

We haven't talked to a realtor yet. We wanted to fix the house up first.

[jeny]

I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 birds, and a rabbit. We keep the house pretty well deoderized (or at least as far as I can tell).

If at all possible, get the cats, rabbit and birds out of the house. They have an odor that is detectable to people without pets. The dogs are not as big of a porblem as long as you can get them out for an open house or a showing. If you can't get the small animals out of the house, change the litter/clean the cages every single day, no matter what.

The new lights were a must. We have one that is damaged (hurricanes) and we wanted to replace a broken fan.

We went with a bone color for the walls (a little darker). The outside is going to be meduim gray with a tan trim and dark green for the shudders .

We haven't talked to a realtor yet. We wanted to fix the house up first.


Don't spend a lot of money on this stuff. Talk to a realtor immediately. They have experience in staging homes and will be able to tell you what you have to do to increase the value of your home.

Watch "designed to sell" on HGTV. They have a lot of really good ideas. They go in and do a renovate of a home before it goes on the market. Their budget for the renovations is $2000 and they usually do a lot with that money. We've been watching and taking notes. We'll pu this house up in April. ;)

[BrandonL]

TigerPhoenix, well-considering I kinda know your situation, my suggestion would be to blow up your house, and just sell the land.

J/K

Really though, do bring in a realtor to look the place over like others have suggested. They will point out stuff that needs to be done. But, one big thing is to have the place inspected. It would be a nightmare to get right down to closing and find out you have termites, or carpenter ants, or a cracked foundation, or bad electric, or.....

[Tigerphoenix]

TigerPhoenix, well-considering I kinda know your situation, my suggestion would be to blow up your house, and just sell the land.

J/K

Really though, do bring in a realtor to look the place over like others have suggested. They will point out stuff that needs to be done. But, one big thing is to have the place inspected. It would be a nightmare to get right down to closing and find out you have termites, or carpenter ants, or a cracked foundation, or bad electric, or.....


lol thanks for the encouragment Brandon ::) ;D

[Voxo]

I agree with Jeny, contact the realtor first. S/he will know what sells a house, and what adds to the value of a house in your neighborhood, and it will take a pro ten minutes to tell you. No need to waste money on things which will not offer you a return. A realtor will drop things to get to you, they want your listing! They want it badly!

[Voxo]

One thing - I vote a big NO on the inspection. Once you have inspected, most likely (depending on your state) you will legally HAVE to disclose ANY problems that are found. Forget it, let the seller do it. Any problems that are found will be subject to negotiation.

[I-RIGHT-I]

Remove the pentagrams from the living room walls, the chicken entrails from the spare bedroom and update the kitchen. The biggest bang for the buck in resale comes in the kitchen, the lowest an in ground swimming pool in the backyard. And for Pete's sake cover your tats when showing the house and keep your little Ozzy Osborne look-alike children away from the prospective buyers.

[Tigerphoenix]

Remove the pentagrams from the living room walls, the chicken entrails from the spare bedroom and update the kitchen. The biggest bang for the buck in resale comes in the kitchen, the lowest an in ground swimming pool in the backyard. And for Pete's sake cover your tats when showing the house and keep your little Ozzy Osborne look-alike children away from the prospective buyers.


Cute ::)

I was looking for serious advice but I should have expected some show of pure idiocy from someone. Not surprised that it was you IRI.

I do thank you for the laugh though. :-*

[Voxo]

Cute ::)

I was looking for serious advice but I should have expected some show of pure idiocy from someone. Not surprised that it was you IRI.

I do thank you for the laugh though. :-*


IRI actually gave you very sound advice. But since he is an emotional cripple he has to sandwich it between bullshit. Pay attention to the middle part, and ignore the rest.

[wendy]

The kitchen does sell the house.

If you've got a kick-ass kitchen, it will reduce the impact of any other problem areas...like small bathrooms, small closets.

[I-RIGHT-I]

Cute ::)

I was looking for serious advice but I should have expected some show of pure idiocy from someone. Not surprised that it was you IRI.

I do thank you for the laugh though. :-*


You're welcome. Sorry, all my good advice, (it's all good) comes with a price. I'm sorry but I don't go around saving the world for free so you're just going to have to take the humorous biting sarcasm with the good and be thankful I even notice you. Hey, you mean to tell me your kids don't look like Ozzy and you don't have any tats? Come on, I wasn't born yesterday. :P

[Annie04]

IRI amazes me just how "real" he really is. He hides it very well. He blew it with the puppy post though...it's his weak spot.

[Tigerphoenix]

IRI actually gave you very sound advice. But since he is an emotional cripple he has to sandwich it between bullshit. Pay attention to the middle part, and ignore the rest.


I did get the good advice from the post but I just had to say something to him. He is fun to mess with sometimes. ;D

[Tigerphoenix]

You're welcome. Sorry, all my good advice, (it's all good) comes with a price. I'm sorry but I don't go around saving the world for free so you're just going to have to take the humorous biting sarcasm with the good and be thankful I even notice you. Hey, you mean to tell me your kids don't look like Ozzy and you don't have any tats? Come on, I wasn't born yesterday. :P


:P You are nuts and that is a good thing.

Oh and just to let you know I don't have kids. And by tats do you mean tits or tattoos? Tits I have tattoos I don't. ;D

[Tigerphoenix]

The kitchen does sell the house.

If you've got a kick-ass kitchen, it will reduce the impact of any other problem areas...like small bathrooms, small closets.


The closets are pretty big for a 2 bedroom house and the bathroom is a pretty good size (small for my tastes. Can't get a gicozie tub in it :( ). I think the kitchen may be a problem though. It is open and pretty big but the washer and dryer go in the kitchen. So that may be a turn off.

[Satan]

The kitchen does sell the house.

Amen.

[wendy]

So that may be a turn off.


Not necessarily. Are they sitting out in the open or are they in a closet?

[Tigerphoenix]

Not necessarily. Are they sitting out in the open or are they in a closet?


Open unfortunatly. The lay out of the kitchen really is a poor design.

[Eyes]

Have you considered renting out your present home?

[Tigerphoenix]

Have you considered renting out your present home?


Hmmmmmm That is an interesting option. Thanks eyes.