That said, im guessing Mr and Mrs Lime Violet are in financial trouble, getting divorced or some other reason to leave it “as is.”
“A house almost exactly like mine down the street from me sold very quickly last fall for $150k less than mine is worth because it was so dated (I’d been in it when it was being sold a few years ago.) The young couple who bought it had painted but that was about it.”
But you have not sold/bought your house last year, right? How do you know that yours is worth $150k more? 
Just had it appraised for a refi in May. Plus, I know what home’s like mine in my town are selling for,
I was one of those people who, 30 years ago, wanted a house that was turnkey. DH and I walked away from some fabulous houses because the wallpaper was dingy, the bathroom was dated, or the kitchen had some cracked tile. We were young, inexperienced and had no idea how to go about making changes. Fast forward 25 years and, when we were looking for our so-called downsize nearby, we seriously considered some genuinely distressed properties. By then I had found the contractor of my dreams.
If you have the right contractor, nothing is scary!
We’re in the camp of wanting a house that has NOT been ‘flipped’ or move-in ready. We would rather change it to our tastes (plus I’m tired of grey walls, white trim, glass tile, stainless appliances, white – or grey cabinets). They are few and far between in the PNW. I see so many flipped (or staged) homes that all look alike.
I also know if I have to update a home to sell, I’m not going to put in the same quality as I would for myself – and I’m assuming that is the same scenario for most flipped homes, and those ‘updated’ simply for the sale. We have been looking at options more seriously for about a year, and few have been lovingly cared for by the previous owner and left alone.
When we look at the sales history, many were also bought anywhere from 3-6 months prior for about 100-200k less (We’re in the 300-400k market, which is also very rare in the PNW). So how do you find these non-flipped homes??? Our realtor says they’re foreclosed and we would have to be willing to go to auction and bid site unseen, but I disagree. Numerous foreclosures may have been true 5 years ago, but I doubt that’s the case for many of the homes we’re seeing on the market now.
On the sales side, my realtor friends tell me I need to get our current home move-in ready, which just makes me question whether it is to help US, or to help the Realtor. (fwiw…our current home is not in the PNW, but still in a decent although no where near as expensive market). They tell me most millennials don’t want to do the work (or don’t know how to do the work) needed.
Side note: We decided to rent for a year, to explore neighborhoods before considering a purchase. Unfortunately while we’ve been scoping out areas and trying to decide what we want, the market has also skyrocketed. Bummer!
There are very few foreclosures in the current market. Not even worth your time.
Look for the grandma homes that are being sold by heirs As Is. however, those are the homes the professionals are picking up with all cash, in order to flip for a profit.
Just thought I’d share a house I found browsing realtor.com the other day. I have no clue what they were thinking. There are other similarly built homes in this city that are simply lovely with very nice original woodwork that have been updated while keeping the original “bones”. This one - not so much. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/368-Highland-Ave-SW_Roanoke_VA_24016_M64189-10702#photo25
Actually, that’s a gorgeous house – but it will require a lot of wallpaper stripping!! And paint stripping, if someone wants to go back to the original wood trim. But I absolutely love love love the details. (The kitchen – not so much.)
We ended up doing a 3 year rental to a military family for our house instead of selling. We refinished all the wood floors, which needed it for years but it was too daunting to take on while we lived there. We also painted the entire house a neutral color. I think it completely lacks personality, but it is what it is. We ended up getting these renters because they said every other house looked like a rental, where ours looked like a home.
Our market is dead over a certain dollar range. In the month we had it listed we had one person look and another agent preview it. The agent was already talking about lowering the price - and we were already putting it on 100,000 less than we paid 13 years ago and we had renovated the kitchen, bathroom, finished the basement and did tons of other work. So, we will just let it ride these 3 years and see what the market looks like after they leave. At least we have good tenants.
Ugh!!!
Not my taste but underneath all the wallpaper and the dubious colors it’s probably a fine home.
Least Complicated: Reminds me of the line from the movie :“You’ve Got Mail”,
“she studied decorating at Caesar’s Palace.”
How about this house for sale? I wonder what the realtor thinks?
http://newstalk1290.com/south-texas-home-offers-luxury-space-and-mannequins/
That house would always feel haunted to me.
@LeastComplicated that’s very early 90s wallpaper. I remember when everything looked like that. The addition on the rear is very weird with the step down and I hate the red trim with the white brick. It’s too bad wallpaper fades so much that you can see where every picture was. Stripping wallpaper is an awful job.
The kitchen is dreadful - layout and cabinets. I never understood those handles in the middle of the door so you can get confused about which way they are going to swing.
Just wow on the mannequin house. It looks hoarderish - but at least it looks clean.
The Roanoke house is beautiful underneath all of that. At least the old part is. Regarding the woodwork, I very, very strongly doubt that anyone could succeed in stripping it back to the original wood. Possibly if it is painted with latex. Once woodwork is painted, it is painted forever, unless perhaps you can spend a huge sum on historic restorers, if there are any available. But that house would look fine with the woodwork painted some classic shade of white.
I must say that that kitchen is just godawful!
The mannequin house is hilarious, but it looks like it is nice underneath, and not even weirdly finished.
@lookingforward I googled calcimine. Yikes! Not something we have, thank doG.
@VeryHappy @LakeWashington @mathmom Like I said, there are several homes in this style on the market in this city that don’t have all the crazy wallpaper and painted trim. The ages range from 1884 - 1920’s. A couple of them look very nice and are very lovingly restored. I was looking at them because they are in a walkable area of the city (I’m looking for retirement possibilities) and I love the architectural details of these homes, but they don’t meet my requirements for my retirement home at all except for the location. We’re looking for single level (or at least MBr and laundry on the main level), move in ready, and low maintenance, so none of them fit the bill. But they caught my eye and I spent a lot of time looking at them because they are such interesting houses. And Mathmom, the trim is worse than you thought - I think it’s actually melon colored, not red!
@eyemom We considered renting our current house for a period of time as well. BUT you need to be careful about selling it after that time. My understanding was that if you rent more than 2 years, it becomes an investment property. Since we’ve owned our home more than 25 years, the capital gains as an investment property would be awful. OR, perhaps you can return and live there another 2 years?
The previous owners of our house would have loved the wallpaper house. Toile, toile, and more toile!!! I couldn’t stand it, and paid a contractor to take that down first. I took care of the pink and white sponge painted walls in the living room. Mine is only 50 years old, so the trim is not as nice as the wallpaper house. The master bedroom stayed red/coral until a year or 2 ago. The Tiffany blue in the hearth room lasted maybe 5 years. Oh, the hours stripping the wallpaper from the kids’ bedrooms. And the tartan carpet. What memories.
I just cannot even imagine trying to show that mannequin house to potential buyers. How about an Open House??/ How would anyone even walk through that place??? I think that one almost takes the case for worst photos in a listing
It does show why some sell-worthy spiffing is good.