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Selling My House, Need Advice. (1 Viewer)

Terry Hansen

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I'm looking for some advice on selling our home. We purchased our home 4 years ago and would like to upgrade to a newer home and better neighbourhood.

First thing I would like to point out is the city we live in is one of the hottest home markets in the country right now. Prices are escalating and it is definitely a sellers market. We should have no trouble selling our home.

My question is this, what sort of things can we do to maximize our profits (given the current market conditions)? We have done some interior painting but some of our house is outdated. We want to sell quick so we don't want to do any major renovations or work, and given the hot market is there any point to doing any work to our house in order to sell?
 

Jeff Ulmer

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As long as the house is uncluttered and clean and the yard is reasonably neat for presentation, I wouldn't worry about doing anything major unless repairs are necessary.

Leaving some of the outdated stuff around will let potential buyers use their imagination and chose their own ideas for improvements.
 

Terry Hansen

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We do have a rotten window which I was going to replace, but a couple people I've spoken to said to leave it unless we were going to replace all the windows.

What about flooring? We have some ancient, discolored vinyl flooring we were wondering about replacing.
 

Jeff Ulmer

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I would leave the window. I doubt replacing it would affect the resale value. The new owners can decide to replace it, or replace all the windows.

As for flooring, this is something I would also leave, although others may disagree. While it may improve the appearance to replace it, you should consider that your choice in a replacement is unlikely to be what your buyer would want, so this gives them the option of choosing their own style. Replacing flooring is not as simple as just pulling up the old and sticking in new. Done properly this may include a whole new subfloor to get things leveled, and the new owner may prefer tile or some other covering, so new lino won't increase their perceived value. The cost may not be recovered, especially if you are looking for a quick sale.

Another thing to consider is that depending on the age of the flooring, it may need to be removed professionally because it could contain asbestos.
 

Terry Hansen

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Thanks for the replys Jeff.

One more question. When we painted our main floor last year, I was going to replace the trim and paint the doors as they are old and I got paint on the trim in spots. Should I do this or leave it?
 

Mort Corey

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If the paint spots on the trim is obvious, I'd repaint. A buyer might be concerned that if you did a half way job on one thing then perhaps there are other (and maybe more important) maintenance items that were not done properly.

Mort
 

mylan

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See if you can scratch it off first. This works better if the trim is oil based paint but should still work due to the trim being a higher gloss.
 

Philip Hamm

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Are you absolutely sure of this? Things have changed a LOT in the house market in the last 6 months or so.

My advice: Find a good realtor using personal references.
 

Terry Hansen

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Oh ya, I'm sure. From May to June prices rose nearly 6%.
Clicky

We are going to try and go the sell it yourself route. My neighbour just sold his house that way.
 

Jeff Ulmer

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Even if you are going to sell by owner, I would have the home appraised by at least three realtors, which should show you what kind of competition you have with comparables, and give you a realistic range for pricing the home. Realise that some appraisals will be undervalued because the realtor wants to flip the home quickly, while others will be unrealistically high in order to get you to sign on with the agent (who will then ask you to drop the price to a sellable price after you've signed the contracts).
 

Dennis*G

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Another good thing to have in hand is a home inspection report. That way you and the future buyer know what might be wrong with the house and anything major maybe you can take care of it ahead of time. Inspection will probably run from $200-$700 depending on your area
 

Jim Sentry

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Get in touch with a local mortgage person. Have that person pre-approve any buyer before signing a contract or insist on getting a pre-approval letter from the buyer's mortgage person.

Look at comps in your neighborhood if they have more up to date appliances update yours.

Clean, clean, clean, depersonalize, paint where necessary, throw scatter rugs on top of the linoleum.
 

Eric_L

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Yes, clean clean clean. De-clutter. Spruce up the landscaping - alot. Curb appeal. THe kitchen is the most important room. Master bath is second. THen living room, master bed, then the rest of the house.

Clean the garage. Paint the floor.

When hosting an open house - bake cookies and leave them out. The cookies are nice - but the aroma sells homes - it is a 'homey' and comforting smell. (Use a pre-mixed cookie dough roll to avoid a mess)

No heavy perfumes or air fresheners. No closed window coverings - lots of light in the house. All lights on.

Give an allowance for new floors - don't replace them. Something to be said for having a budget provided by the seller to pick your own floors.

Plant flowers in planters and around your home.

Good luck.
 

Paul D G

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I can't emphasize cleaning and depersonalizing enough. We rented a storage unit and anything we wouldn't be needing in the next couple of months we boxed up and stored. Knicknacks, books overflowing the bookcase, cds, kitchen clutter, kids toys - everything. Our tiny house looked like a model when we were done. Even our realtor was impressed - he didn't think we'd get it done. And if there is something you need, just run back to the storage locker and get it.

Have the windows cleaned professionally. We did this and we were amazed at the difference.

If you're willing to repaint, then make sure the colors are pleasing to everyone. Just because orange is your favorite color, leaving your living room painted that way is going to turn people off.

We had an offer on our house on the 2nd day it was open for viewing. They were bright sunny days and the clean windows and clutter free house just made the place feel large and spacious. The kitchen (painfully tiny - my wife spoke endlessly on how she wanted to redo it) looked, well, I won't say large, but I'll say not-as-tiny with clutter free countertops. We also had lots of lights on.

-paul
 

MarkHastings

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My brother would agree heavily on this train of thought. When he sold his condo, he repainted everything white. The walls could always use a fresh coat of paint and a new paint job will DEFINITELY help sell the home.

My brother's philosophy came from a Realtor who said that people like to see white walls because most people have such strong opinions about color that (if a room is painted a certain color) they can't see passed that color.

White walls makes the place look cleaner and bigger. Also, the last thing someone wants to think about (when buying a new home) is painting the walls.
 

nolesrule

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If you want to sell fast, use a Realtor. Not being in MLS will affect the speed at which you will find a buyer.

Otherwise, make sure you have a real estate attorney to help with the contracts and other legal issues. And get multiple appraisals from professional appraisers. Ask for too much and you'll sit on the house longer than you want. Ask for too little and it'll cost you thousands.
 

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