Needing to sell & downsize

kaydee

kaydee

New Member
Location
Kearney Mo
My realtor says that although my home is beautiful and in excellent taste, i need to update. I dont want to spend thousands just to find a buyer who will redo it their way after spending so much money on it.
 

As a buyer I am perfectly willing to paint and do basic repairs. But…I will get a property cheaper because it needs those very things. I do not know where you live or what you think your home is worth…but if I was clueless I would have a home inspection done prior to putting the home on the market and fix those easy things that look bad on a basic inspection. Then declutter…and make it spotless.
 
Usually if a realtor suggests an update, it’s because they can see potential for a increase in price for a minimum amount of work. If you are unsure, why not ask this realtor for specifics. Ask what exactly this realtor wants done and why. Ask how much he/she thinks your house is worth, and how much he/she thinks they can sell it for with the update and minus the difference. If it’s reasonable you may want to consider it, and if not, it’s good to talk it over anyway , so you are both on the same page. Our realtors suggestions we did and it paid off. Your situation may be different but good luck either way.
 

Wallpaper is out of style, colors are not as desirable as greys and whites are, etc. Pull up carpet and replace with hardwoods..... there is mostly tile in our home! It would prob be a good idea to replace appliances, but I would definitely give the buyers an allowance to do so.
 
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I agree with you and I would disagree with your realtor and advise you to find a better one. Let the new owner do all the redecorating and remodeling according to their own tastes. All I think you need to do is make the home livable, fix everything that is broken, declutter and clean everything up and price it appropriately. If there are specific problems or issues that interfere with showing the home these can be discussed with your realtor one by one. Point being you don't want to spend unnecessary cash that cant be recovered in the sale transaction.
 
kaydee said:
Wallpaper is out of style, colors are not as desirable as greys and whites are, etc. Pull up carpet and replace with hardwoods..... there is mostly tile in our home! It would prob be a good idea to replace appliances, but I would definitely give the buyers an allowance to do so.
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Anyone really interested can imagine your home with upgrades and neutral colours.
If you aren’t interested in doing it then say you’d like to sell it as is. The choice is always in your hands.
 
Tell the realtor that if you wanted to do expensive updates then you would want to stay put.....that will settle that, no listing, no commission.

A fresh coat of paint would not hurt. Neutral colour, and clean till everything shines. Even inside the appliances and cupboards, they always look and if it's clean it leaves a good impression. Make room in closets even if you have to store stuff, having enough storage is always an issue.

First impressions are important, it sets the stage, so good curb appeal, plants and a nice welcome sign do not cost much.
 
An ex-wife had a realotor friend tell her of all the many things
she needed to do before selling...she did two, fix a deck where
some boards were loose, and repaint trim...realtor also said
she Must "Stage" the home....she didn't and ended up with
higher price than she was asking......
 
I sold my smaller house in a smaller town in California after the downturn of 08. It was dated. Had popcorn ceilings that I didn't mind.

The first realtor I had was a literal POS, listed the house for 150 square feet and stated she could not change it. Luckily that office closed and I was able to dump her. I got another agent and the first people who looked at it through her, bought it.

They ended up selling and someone flipped it. I had looked it up online.

I don't think everyone wants or needs the super updates. I don't. Yes, wallpaper can be distasteful to some. For me it would depend. But I would not go with a bunch of updates you don't want. I have read the landfills are full of stuff pulled out of houses. Much I'm sure was in good working order but was just 'dated.' What a waste.
 
Remy said:
I sold my smaller house in a smaller town in California after the downturn of 08. It was dated. Had popcorn ceilings that I didn't mind.

The first realtor I had was a literal POS, listed the house for 150 square feet and stated she could not change it. Luckily that office closed and I was able to dump her. I got another agent and the first people who looked at it through her, bought it.

They ended up selling and someone flipped it. I had looked it up online.

I don't think everyone wants or needs the super updates. I don't. Yes, wallpaper can be distasteful to some. For me it would depend. But I would not go with a bunch of updates you don't want. I have read the landfills are full of stuff pulled out of houses. Much I'm sure was in good working order but was just 'dated.' What a waste.
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My home was a custom build in the 90s. It has a upscale tuscan feel to it with faux finishes, but isnt gaudy. Yes, it is dated but geesh, for as old as it is it has been well taken care of and I am never embarrassed of it. Carpet could def be replaced (I did raise children in the home) but not gross and an allowance good be given for that..... I think it has to do with our area. Many homes are much newer than ours, but they are at $250 sq ft, while ours is a much larger property at $150 sq ft.

I hate selling homes! It is so stressful!
 
kaydee said:
My home was a custom build in the 90s. It has a upscale tuscan feel to it with faux finishes, but isnt gaudy. Yes, it is dated but geesh, for as old as it is it has been well taken care of and I am never embarrassed of it. Carpet could def be replaced (I did raise children in the home) but not gross and an allowance good be given for that..... I think it has to do with our area. Many homes are much newer than ours, but they are at $250 sq ft, while ours is a much larger property at $150 sq ft.

I hate selling homes! It is so stressful!
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Selling that house I owned was extremely stressful. It is one of the top stressors of life.

I think someone will be thrilled with your home as it is, for the price they get it for. There are people who don't care about all that updated stuff. Clean, safe and in good working order is all I need.
 
@kaydee, get quotes and advice from 3 different real estate agents.

You already have a clean house, so don’t worry about that. Decluttering is the most essential thing. Store what you want to keep. People have different tastes. As a buyer, I much rather have a solid home that I can remodel the way I’d like it. A good agent can convince any agent of that.
 
When I sold my house 13 years ago and when we sold the last house three years ago, I felt that it was not needed to completely repaint the house inside. If I painted it white, somebody would come in and say, "Oh, yuck, everything's white....I can't wait to put some color in here!" and if I painted it anything else, they'd come in and say, "Oh, man, I'm going to have to paint everything white!" So we just priced the house(s) reasonably and said that nothing would be repaired or updated....what you see is what you get. If we went too long without results, we were considering offering a redecorating allowance. Thankfully, the houses sold as-is.

I cleaned the carpets, windows, dusted the hell out of the ceiling fans and the tops of cabinets, make sure everything was spic-and-span. That was as far as I was willing to go. Both houses sold quickly, mine for more than I was asking.
 
We bought and sold 10 homes in our lives. Our present home is #11.
I agree with all the advice listed above. You need to feel comfortable with your realtor and share the same vision for the sale of your home.
Keep it very clean. De-clutter, rent a storage space if necessary. Keep your yard clean as well and make it appealing. Leave the premises when there is a showing and take your pets with you if you have any. Make all the immediate repairs. Have a flyer available to the buyer with all neighborhood information such as schools, churches, utilities, supermarkets, etc...
If you have them, leave all your appliances manuals in a drawer. (We did that each time we moved, buyers appreciated it. We also mentioned the purchase date, and a service number in case they needed to contact them)
I do not think you need to stage your home. They say to hide all your personal things like jewelry or personal pictures. Some realtors use a computer program to stage a home by using pictures only. That is a nice way to do it and less costly.
Good luck with the sale of your home. You got this!❤

PS: I forgot to mention to make some cookies prior to a showing. The house will smell so good and the prospective buyers will enjoy a treat!
 
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I have sold two houses very quickly by doing the following:
  • Paint all walls and ceilings, including basement walls. An off-white is always safe. (like Drifting Dune) Bright white can help a basement.
  • Refinish floors, although a good cleaning and a product over the top can help a lot. I don't know if I would want to be working with that heavy sander now! I also painted the basement floors.
  • Replace a badly worn kitchen counter. Go with an inexpensive laminate. I also replaced the back splash.
  • Remove clutter. Remove as much as possible!
  • Cut the lawn. Trim trees. Remove outside clutter.
  • In summary, the visible surfaces.
All these things are fairly inexpensive if you have help except for having to hire out a floor refinisher. They will get you a quicker sale at a better price.
 
Michael Z said:
I have sold two houses very quickly by doing the following:
  • Paint all walls and ceilings, including basement walls. An off-white is always safe. (like Drifting Dune) Bright white can help a basement.
  • Refinish floors, although a good cleaning and a product over the top can help a lot. I don't know if I would want to be working with that heavy sander now! I also painted the basement floors.
  • Replace a badly worn kitchen counter. Go with an inexpensive laminate. I also replaced the back splash.
  • Remove clutter. Remove as much as possible!
  • Cut the lawn. Trim trees. Remove outside clutter.
  • In summary, the visible surfaces.
All these things are fairly inexpensive if you have help except for having to hire out a floor refinisher. They will get you a quicker sale at a better price.
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We did everything our realtor suggested which was:
Paint ceiling white and walls a neutral colour
Take all our stuff and store it in containers downstairs.
Finish kitchen and add new countertop which we were in the midst of doing. We had grey kitchen cupboards and grey ceramic tiles.
Finish stairs in maple
Clean windows
Clean area rugs
Take all personal things down including pictures
Purchase curtains for spare room
Clean yard
Keep driveway clear for parking
Take pets with us when house is shown

Our realtor told us not to finish the basement since it was partially done

We had 25 viewings, 9 offers and our house sold unconditionally in 4 days for much more than asking price
 
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Lots of great advice here. Don’t lower the price because it’s not staged.

The one odd thing that I notice in a house is the lack of headboards in the bedrooms. That, and toilets that are left open.
 
The two most important rooms in a house in terms of a sale are the kitchen and bathrooms. Why? Because they show their age the most. If they haven't been updated in 40 years, that will definitely decrease the number of possible buyers. Here is why. The average age of buyers is about 35. They do not want to buy a house that looks like the one they grew up in.
 
jujube said:
I cleaned the carpets, windows, dusted the hell out of the ceiling fans and the tops of cabinets, make sure everything was spic-and-span. That was as far as I was willing to go. Both houses sold quickly, mine for more than I was asking.
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When I sold my house, my agent was impressed by how clean I left it. She said the buyers will appreciate it. Apparently a lot of people don't clean well. It had not been cleaned well for me when I bought it.
 
I will add one more thing. Ask your realtor for “comparable ” homes in the neighborhood that have recently sold. This tells you what the other guys received. Then look up your area on a good website like realtor.com or zillow and see what you are competing against. Try to stay specific to homes immediately around your area. Look at the photos on each home. This will give you a good idea what to expect. Good luck.
 
As always, a good realtor can assist you in evaluating what your specific market is experiencing. Most areas are showing a 5% decline but NOT uniformly across the US; there is great demand for starter homes as there is very little inventory right now.

You cannot use examples of people getting "over asking" and "multiple offers" without taking into account that mortgage rates are much higher right now (altho they have declined slightly in the last 2 months) than they were 8-12 months previous. We took out a new small first (to free up equity) in late 2021 at 2.75%....no way anybody is going to get anything close to that nowadays!

As others have posted, thorough cleaning and some paint can work wonders. If wallpaper is really an old-fashioned pattern, use an oil-base primer and then latex paint to cover. It'll work just fine and can make a big difference. Good lighting is also key - there's a reason why pro photos are so attractive. They are not only framed properly from just the right angle, they are also using additional floodlights. People respond very positively to well-lit spaces, and it takes additional light to make a photo resemble a sun-lit interior.

Housing Market Predictions For 2023
Forbes, April 6, 2023

(excerpt)
Will the Housing Market Crash?
Due, in part, to the ongoing inventory problem keeping home prices elevated, many economists predict the housing market is more likely to correct itself from the double-digit percentage jumps seen in home prices the past few years rather than crash. “[H]ome prices will be steady in most parts of the country with a minor change in the national median home price,” said Yun.

However, some housing market watchers believe that homes in some areas could see sales and price growth, particularly in locations where home prices have remained affordable over the past few years in relation to median income. “We’re estimating about a 5% drop nationally,” says Sharga. “Some markets, believe it or not, will probably see prices continue to increase.”

Yun concurs, noting that home prices will see gains or declines depending on the region, with lower-priced locations likely to experience price increases and expensive areas seeing dips.

Other experts point out that today’s homeowners also stand on much more secure footing than those coming out of the 2008 financial crisis, with a high number of borrowers having positive equity in their homes. Consequently, the likelihood of a housing market crash is low.
 
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