[Yorio]

I have come to the conclusion that women and men have different views when selling our homes. I would like to do minimum face lift to the homes before selling as I know, people coming in will want to change anyway. Also, I feel the cost of renovation will not be recovered in most instances. On the other hand, my wife will want to renovate wherever possible and at times to her liking even when real estate agent tells us to avoid personal taste. We'll be here only couple of more years. I mentioned our differences to some of the couples and they seem to agree with the conclusion. Sell low and don't renovate or sell high and hope for the best with renovation. That is the question.

[Patty55]

My view is that you're not going to fix it up to live in it why fix it up to sell it. I also don't believe in hanging on to your price, just get the best you can and move on.

Maybe the reason these women do this is because they really don't want to move, y'think?

Oh, I'm a woman, so much for the "it's a woman thing". LOL.

[jblum315]

When I sold my big house in NY, it kind of hurt my feelings when the first thing the buyers did was rip out all the new carpet I had put in. They probably repainted too. I think when you do major improvements like updating a kitchen and/or bathrooms, it makes a difference in the selling price, but decorating doesn't mean much.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Yorio

I have come to the conclusion that women and men have different views when selling our homes. I would like to do minimum face lift to the homes before selling as I know, people coming in will want to change anyway. Also, I feel the cost of renovation will not be recovered in most instances.

From one man to another, I must say, you couldn't be more correct in your judgement.

[shcisamax]

Originally Posted by jblum315

I think when you do major improvements like updating a kitchen and/or bathrooms, it makes a difference in the selling price, but decorating doesn't mean much.

Updating of baths and kitchen is key. Clean and uncluttered is better than decorating. People need to be able to see themselves in the space and most cannot if it is "decorated". Less is always better...unless it is empty.

[terrieb]

Originally Posted by Yorio

I have come to the conclusion that women and men have different views when selling our homes. I would like to do minimum face lift to the homes before selling as I know, people coming in will want to change anyway. Also, I feel the cost of renovation will not be recovered in most instances. On the other hand, my wife will want to renovate wherever possible and at times to her liking even when real estate agent tells us to avoid personal taste. We'll be here only couple of more years. I mentioned our differences to some of the couples and they seem to agree with the conclusion. Sell low and don't renovate or sell high and hope for the best with renovation. That is the question.

We are in the process of putting our condo on the market. I painted every single wall in neutral colors so the rooms have a fresh look. Took down pictures and left them down only placing one or two back in each room painted. We updated all the faucets in the bathrooms and kitchen, new ceramic flooring in kitchen, entrance foyer(s) and replaced kitchen counters with a quartz countertop. Removed excess items and stored them in finished attic. I, too, am a potential buyer once we sell our condo. I am looking for updated bathrooms and kitchen. I do not want to spend the money myself to fix it up. If I do not like the taste of the homeowners kitchen or bathrooms, I won't buy the house. It is still a buyers market and I am sure I will find a house to my taste. So my opinion is, as a seller and as a buyer, I want move in ready and will find a house that is move in ready. The least amount of work I want to do is paint which I love to do by the way. One girl's opinion.

[ugotme]

I agree with you!
Wife & I are discussing what to do if/when we eventually move to TV.
NO WAY am I going to put a lot of money into fixing up what really isn't broken just to make it look better to sell. People will buy and (more than likely) rip it out anyway.
I would rather ask less - you never recoup the full amount of your "investment."
If you are lucky on some - you may get back 50%.
Make it presentable, clean and airy, sell it and enjoy!

THAT - is my opinion. LOL

[gomoho]

As a former REALTOR I told many clients "I know you invested a lot of money to make the house look beautiful", but you won't recoup it all. What does happen though it makes the house more saleable and someone will probably pick yours over one that is not updated. So the shorter time to sell could be looked at as recouping some of the money.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by gomoho

As a former REALTOR I told many clients "I know you invested a lot of money to make the house look beautiful", but you won't recoup it all. What does happen though it makes the house more saleable and someone will probably pick yours over one that is not updated. So the shorter time to sell could be looked at as recouping some of the money.

I am not a realtor but I took our realtor's advice to heart last year when we had our Cincinnati home on the market and we repainted the entire house in and out in neutrals, and we had already updated all light fixtures and faucets in the last three years and all surfaces in baths and kitchen in granite and kitchen appliances in stainless steel too.

We caught up on any delayed repairs and tried to look at the house with the eye of a home inspector who we knew would come in eventually.

We decluttered and minimized and had all carpet cleaned and all draperies were spotless and I updated the bedspreads and added a few "now" accessories.

Our realtor told us that in a down market it mattered little how low you priced it with the market glutted with low priced homes. The attractivly presented ones would sell first.

I took out "my" colors and " my" style and made our home look as much like an unlived in model as I could. We priced it as low as we could stomach and expected it to be a long time on the market. She also suggested that we remove all perennials and cut back shrubs neatly and SMALL, put down fresh mulch and have trees trimmed..We also replaced cushions on outdoor furniture and decluttered the garage and had it sparkling too. I really hadn't noticed HOW much the out door cushions had faded or how cluttered our garage had become. I brought all of those updated things with us so I didn't feel like I lost money on that outlay of cash.

She said that if you want to sell your home, have it ready right out of the chute. She said some people start changing things after it goes on the market, when they don't have results and lose the potential buyers that saw it and didn't like it.

It sold in nine days with a bidding war and we got more than our asking price, but not as much as we could have gotten a few years back.

That is our experience, actually a year ago in June. Things may be a little better now...I hope so anyway for all of you.

[gomoho]

Gracie - you had one awesome REALTOR - she gave you the best advice ever and the results confirm it. Congratulations on listening to her advice and the quick sale.

[Ron1Z]

When I buy used homes I look for the big ticket items, New HVAC System, New Roof and not one on top of another,new windows and doors, Water filtration system, etc.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

Updating of baths and kitchen is key. Clean and uncluttered is better than decorating. People need to be able to see themselves in the space and most cannot if it is "decorated". Less is always better...unless it is empty.

Another former realtor here. I agree with Shcisamax.

Clean and uncluttered is key. Most people think that their clutter is tasteful and beautiful. No it isn't. Pack up everything in boxes, including family photographs, so that it looks like a model home. And if your rooms are stuffed with furniture, put some in storage. Updating bathrooms and kitchens will definitely make a house more saleable. However if you can only do one thing, get rid of any wall paper and paint with neutral colours. It will freshen up the home.

It is important to appeal in three ways.
Smell -- have a pot of cinnamon simmering on the stove
Hearing - have soft music playing in the background
Visual - clean and neat, with windows washed and light flooding in

Whatever you do, don't follow prospective purchasers around the house

[CaptJohn]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

Another former realtor here. I agree with Shcisamax.

Clean and uncluttered is key. Most people think that their clutter is tasteful and beautiful. No it isn't. Pack up everything in boxes, including family photographs, so that it looks like a model home. And if your rooms are stuffed with furniture, put some in storage. Updating bathrooms and kitchens will definitely make a house more saleable. However if you can only do one thing, get rid of any wall paper and paint with neutral colours. It will freshen up the home.

It is important to appeal in three ways.
Smell -- have a pot of cinnamon simmering on the stove
Hearing - have soft music playing in the background
Visual - clean and neat, with windows washed and light flooding in

Whatever you do, don't follow prospective purchasers around the house

Good advice plus what Gracie wrote.
A former real estate broker and remodeler of 40 years here.
Fresh neutral color paint is the minimum and neatness and decluttering counts.

[Yorio]

Guess you are telling me to do all that? We've done the kitchen to open up to the dining room because younger couples don't entertain in formal dining rooms any more except at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And what is this obsession with granite counter tops? We've done the bathrooms and most younger couples don't take bath but showers only? We've redone the patio and the family room. Now, if we throw away the furnitures, get rid of paintings and stuffed animals, could we get a bidding war going? I hope so.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Yorio

Guess you are telling me to do all that? We've done the kitchen to open up to the dining room because younger couples don't entertain in formal dining rooms any more except at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And what is this obsession with granite counter tops? We've done the bathrooms and most younger couples don't take bath but showers only? We've redone the patio and the family room. Now, if we throw away the furnitures, get rid of paintings and stuffed animals, could we get a bidding war going? I hope so.

I'm not telling you to do that Yorio. We knew we wanted to unload our property. We had tried this life as snowbirds for four years and wanted to move here full time and watched nice homes in our neighborhood with prices slashed linger on the market in West Chester, Ohio. That was the advice from our realtor. We did it, and got lucky. I sent her a copy of this thread to thank her once again for her advice.