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March 23, 2006
Attn: Anyone who has bought a house in the past...
Today was the arranged day for the real estate agent to drop in and give us pointers as to what we should do for remodeling work and what to save our money on. I would like your thoughts too! Since many of you were perspective house buyers at one time...Or even looking back on it what would YOU want to have in a house? Any pointers and tips will be very much appreciated!
Here are a few things she said & our thoughts on it:
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Living Room:
1. Scrape/Sand down the texture on the wall.
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
2. She said we could leave the floors, just finish them.
Our Thoughts -We just can?t bring ourselves to do this. We have some free flooring we are going to be down since the cracks in the current floor are huge, we are talking wide enough to lose pens and pencils in.
Would YOU be okay buying a house with this kind of floor??? I wouldn't care because I know we would replace them, but I don?t feel I could speak for the general public...so what are you thoughts??
3. Finish trim work
Our Thoughts -Were already planning on it
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Kitchen:
1. Add a hood vent
Our Thoughts - We were surprised to find out this was required by law
2. Add upper cabinets & finish lower cabinets
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
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Bathroom:
1. Add ceramic tile
Our Thoughts - We were going to add wood in the sink/toilet area and tile in the tub area, but she strongly advised ceramic tile in all areas so we might go that route.
2. Cover with a cabinet the pipe/faucets for the tub which sticks out of the sink/toilet wall
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
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Master Bedroom:
1. Finish Trim
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
2. Put up closet doors
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
3. Add Carpet
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
4. Scrape/Sand down the texture on the wall.
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
********************
Kids Bedroom:
1. Scrape/Sand down the texture on the wall.
Our Thoughts - Were already planning on it
2. Sand and re-varnish wood floor
Our Thoughts - We didn?t think of doing this, but it is a good idea.
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Utility Room:
1. Replace ceiling & ceiling insulation
Our Thoughts -Were already planning on it
She didn?t mention it but the floor would need ceramic tile as well
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Guesthouse (if we leave it)
1. Add bathroom
2. Kitchenette
3. Finish interior walls/paint/add flooring
Our Thoughts -Were already planning on it
********************
Heating & Cooling
Since we have only a wood stove for heat and do not plan on running the window units, she suggested we buy a window unit that has a heater in it.
So in summary most of what she said we already knew and was planning on doing. Matter of fact we were planning on doing MORE than she suggested. But if we can save a few steps, then that will help out a lot.
We are thinking of leaving the guesthouse instead of moving it, since we found a piece of land, the perfect location that has a really old house on it. We are finding out more about it this weekend. It?s going for only $15,000 which is immensely cheap! Its in the very rural, unlike it is here anymore. Speaking of location, the real estate agent said we live in a really good location for selling. It?s quite a desirable area, which we already knew based on some things we had been hearing.
Anyway like I said before if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or advice we would love to hear it, since this will be our first time selling a house!
Comments (9)
laurie:Did I miss something? Are you selling soon?
Posted by laurie | March 23, 2006 11:53 PM
Posted on March 23, 2006 23:53
Jessica:Hello Laurie! Well we aren't really sure when we are going to sell, since it really depends on how quick we can complete our projects to the house, which we want in good shape before we EVER sell.
Originally we only bought this fixer-upper to fix up, and be the stepping stone to our "dream home". Well we have had some dramatic changes, and this has given rise to the opportunity to move and *may* have even found our dream home in the process.
The main reason we are moving is to simplify. We have two plans which would succeed in this. We dont know which we will go with in the end, but we have a LOT of work to accomplish regardless!
Posted by Jessica | March 24, 2006 12:15 AM
Posted on March 24, 2006 00:15
Twilightmama:Hmm, I wish I had advice...I've never sold a home before and have only bought one, so I'm no help, lol. But I wish you much success in selling your house and in your goal to simplify. That's very admirable!
Posted by Twilightmama | March 24, 2006 1:05 AM
Posted on March 24, 2006 01:05
Patricia W.:I have never bought a house that was in move-in condition. All three have been Handywoman Specials.
However, I currently have a house in Texas that has been on the market for 6 months with no buyers. I was totally duped by Re-Max and listened to their advice. Dumb dumb dumb
I now have a new agent who doesn't mind working for her commission and has been very straight-forward.
My house had some foundation problems that got worse with the drought N. Texas experienced last fall/winter. This will end up costing me $7,000.00 to fix but in the end, it will increase the value of the house by $10,000 (so it is a worthy investment) not to mention the house will readily qualify for any loan and pass any inspection thereby opening up my sales base considerably.
From everything I've seen, get rid of all of your clutter, make every room have a purpose (no junk rooms with miscellaneous furniture, i.e. computer desk, exercise equipment). Fresh paint, new floor coverings, wash all of the windows, dust any and all ceiling lights and fans, I bought vanilla scented plug-ins (smell matters) and when I was looking for a house up here in Michigan, I really noticed when a house smelled dank and stunk and when they smelled pleasant. Get rid of any and all pet smells and hair, same goes for stinky cigarettes/cigars.
If there is an area that is too dark, lighten it up with inexpensive lighting. Make the kitchen and bathrooms sparkle. These can be huge turn-offs if they are the least bit dirty. If you have a house that is painted or if it's brick with trim, paint it with a bright, fresh coat and make sure all bushes, trees etc are trimmed and neat looking.
It sounds like your realtor has given you a good list but the reality to any of this is you never know.
Just make sure that whatever you put in to it you will get back on the sale of the house.
And last but not least, I wish you the best.
I've learned so much over the past two months when it comes to selling a house. Your realtor is extremely important and if you get a dud it can take a long time to sell.
Posted by Patricia W. | March 24, 2006 4:58 AM
Posted on March 24, 2006 04:58
Jessica:Thanks Kim & Patricia!!
We are trying to gather as much info as possible so as to not go into this blind. Since this would be our first time selling a home...
~ Patricia sounds like you are like us when it comes to buying a home, only sounds like you have had a little more experience at these things! Hope all works out for you & thank you very much for all that information!! I am going to write those pointers down in my book!
~ Kim Thanks! So much has changed since the storm, esp in the line of work, that its seems very necessary to de-robe ourselves of a lot of debt. And we seem to have the perfect opportunity to do so, since our neighborhood was blossoming even before the storm, but also after the storm it continues to do so.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Posted by Jessica | March 24, 2006 10:10 AM
Posted on March 24, 2006 10:10
Laurie:OK! It all makes sense now...here's my advice as a seller and a buyer. :) We just sold our last place in August and bought a new one the same month. I made a website when we sold the old place which you can find on www.willamettehouse.com. We sold the house ourselves - and I have to say up front we live in a town where houses generally go fairly fast, depending on condition, etc. However, our house was the exact same model as two houses down the street, and ours sold twice in one week (the first buyer fell through after 3 days and then we got another buyer). But, one of the other houses was on the market for several months after ours, and since it was just like ours I would attribute the sale based on these things: 1) I put some thought into creating a website, finding the website name and buying it, and then putting an add with the website into the paper. 2) Nearly everyone that visited the house was impressed with the colors. One person asked if we'd sell the furniture with the house since everything went so well together. 3) We cleaned until it was spic and span. 4) Installed Bath and Body works room fresheners throughout the house. 5) Lined up our clothes in the closet according to color...I thought this might send a message that we're anal, and people like that when buying a house. 6) We did paint two brighter rooms more neutral, but kept the other colors, as we decided a well decorated house might sell faster than a boring house. 7)Went to all the carpet places in town and asked for samples of their "in stock" carpets, cause they're usually cheap. Replaced the carpet with the best one we found. 8) Made sure one of us was in the backyard during showings...we didn't want both of us in the house overwhelming people...I read that was a bad thing to do.
I can tell you when we were looking at houses to buy I had two things in mind, I knew we could fix up a lot of things, in fact maybe I'd prefer to fix up a kitchen, because I have very particular tastes, but I didn't want to spend any money on the floors or roof. So we found a house with good floors and a new roof. ;)
Posted by Laurie | March 25, 2006 1:51 AM
Posted on March 25, 2006 01:51
Jessica:Thanks Laurie! What colors would you suggest? Because I am with you...an interesting house would sell better than a boring white walled one! That's funny about the clothes, I have done that before just for fun, I like seeing the gradient of colors in my closet. =)
I REALLY like that last tip ~ it would probably be better to take my two boys outside to play, when viewing a house. That way hubby can show them around and the kids aren?t constantly saying "come see this" or trying other ways to get the people's attention. Thanks million?I?m going to store all these for the hopefully near future!
Posted by Jessica | March 25, 2006 5:55 PM
Posted on March 25, 2006 17:55
Laurie:Good question, what colors? Well, to give advice I'd really need to see what your place is like inside and compare it with some swatches. But, what I can tell you is that contemporary colors (or those that most people find currently pleasing) generally have an undertone of grey or brown. For exmaple, to find the best blue, go to a paint store, and find swatches that look grey, but in your head you think, "it seems kinda blue though". And when you put it on the wall, it'll look blue. I get a lot of compliments on my taste in blues, and it's because I've always used that trick, find a grey that kinda has a hint of blue. My current favorite is what I would describe as sky blue. It's extremely similar to the blues you'll see in pottery barn right now (but I thought of it first!!haha). Anyway, the color I'm attached to is called City Lights and is from Pittsburg paints. Again, looks almost exactly like pottery barn light blue in their catalog. At our old place I did a lot of browns, and the color that always got compliments was "bamboo" by dutch boy. It was a very pleasing light brown that made whites really pop. And, finally, if you're thinking of yellow I've found the greatest creamy yellow called Napery by Sherwin Williams. I found this paint color in an issue of Old House magazine, went and bought it. It looks extremly creamy with a hint of yellow. It's lovely and happy. :) Finally, I'm not very good at picking greens, but some of our friends have a lovely creamy light light green in their living room, I could ask them what it is if you are interested.
Posted by Laurie | March 25, 2006 9:18 PM
Posted on March 25, 2006 21:18
Twilightmama:I know Laurie said they sold their house on their own and I'm not sure if you will be using an agent or not, but I thinkg it's a GREAT idea to have a nice website about your house. I know you'd be able to come up with something wonderful that would set your home apart from all the other listings. Sometimes people get emotionally attached to what they see photos of before ever even seeing it in person. Remember when my dog Penelope had puppies and I did a photo session with all the pups and created a website (http://www.onewomanslife.com/puppies/) Wow, those puppies were snatched up in a day. So I second the idea of creating a nice page for your house when you're ready to sell!
Posted by Twilightmama | March 27, 2006 9:25 AM
Posted on March 27, 2006 09:25
