And apparently, know the right agent.
@GRITS80 There are differences in local laws. We have lived and bought and sold in several states. The state we are in now does not require disclosures. Sellers can just choose to strike out the disclosure page. Seems very wrong to us but so it goes. They also require that potential buyers submit their inspection reports to seller in the event of issues and if buyers back out due to inspections (which is hard to do here), the listing agent will use the inspection reports to share with other interested parties (which seems like theft to us, since inspectors earn their living by doing inspections. If the potential buyer is the customer, that’s the only party we think should be able to use the report. Anyhow, I digress). The point is, get to know the laws in your state.
Our CA realtors did something clever. They had our house inspected, then had everything repaired. Buyers were shown all the papers. They didn’t ask us to repaint, but had the faucets replaced. They also had my ex move out a lot of furniture and staged with the rest.
Hen time comes for me to sell my FL home, I may do the same.
Re: selling…and the towels…we had a laundry basket with very nice very light color and white towels and rugs that were put out for showings. When we were called about a showing, we took our used towels and rugs away, and put these out. Put the other stuff (including any counter clutter) in the laundry basket and put it in the back to our car, and off we went.
We also had a small photo album of before and after shots, and copies of receipts for payment for all of the new things in the house. And we had photos of all of our gardens outside in bloom…something was always blooming at that house, and we wanted prospective buyers to see that.
We’re about to choose a realtor and get started on prepping our house, but there are a few things we’re unsure of.
- We have 31 yo wood garage doors. One realtor we talked to said we should just paint them. Another said, since it's what buyers see first as they come to the house, we should replace them with new vinyl doors. Those doors would cost $2500-3000. DH thinks we should paint first to see how they look & then decide if we should replace them. Any ideas?
- The bigger question is what to do with the flooring in the FR, kitchen, eating area, and DR. Those rooms, going right to left along the back of the house are the FR, eating area, kitchen & DR. Right now we have carpet in the FR & DR and vinyl in the kitchen/eating area. The vinyl and FR carpet definitely need to be replaced. We've had realtors say replace all the flooring with hardwood (one said we'd recoup the cost); or clean the DR carpet and put Pergo or LVT in the kitchen/eating area and FR (it seems weird to me to leave only the DR with carpet); or clean DR carpet, replace FR carpet and put some sort of flooring (hardwood, LVT, tile) in the kitchen/eating area. Those rooms in total are around 1000sq ft (the kitchen/eating area alone is about half of that) so we're talking about quite a bit of money with some of those options. The kitchen/eating area is separated from the FR by a large doorway and half-wall. The kitchen is separated from the DR by a standard doorway. The DR is adjacent to the sunken LR with hardwood floor, so one realtor said only hardwood or carpet would work for the DR.
We don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of $ on the prep work, but we want to be sure that buyers show interest. From all of your experiences, what flooring options should we consider for our situation?
@shellfell, I am a card-carrying member of the RCHA (Registered Carpet Haters of America), so my opinion may be suspect, but I would say:
- Definitely hardwood in the DR.
- What to put in the kitchen and eating area depends on whether a buyer would be likely to redo the kitchen. There is no point in investing in something expensive like real tile or slate if that is the case.
- I would say going from hardwood in the FR to fake wood in the kitchen/eating area and back to hardwood in the DR might look strange.
So in conclusion, I think these are your alternatives, probably in descending order of cost:
- hardwood through out.
- hardwood in FR and DR and a LVY that looks like tile or stone in the kitchen and eating area.
- hardwood in the DR and Pergo/LVT through the rest.
Lastly, just paint the garage door. A nicely painted wooden door will look nicer than vinyl, as long as it is in good shape.
@shellfell, flooring is such a personal taste issue, what one buyer may like, another may hate. Why not just clean the carpet and vinyl flooring, and paint the garage door. On other hand if vinyl and FR carpet definitely need to be replaced, offer some amount to be left in escrow.
We haven’t really talked about high price ranges and what maximizes that, when possible, versus a moderate list price and getting that. That can drive some decisions. In my larger neighborhood, most homes have hardwood, but you wouldn’t get away without showing area rugs.
Also, imo, what you offer in concessions works better for the structural big jobs like the roof than design or style elements, Eg, floors. They’re going to walk in and have two reactions: do I like this and how much can I underbid.
So my thoughthought, as before, is: what will they see first? Can you even see the family room from the entrance area?
The garage door needs to be washed and primed first.
From the entrance, you see the floor in the kitchen/eating area. Once past the foyer, you see all the rooms. The vinyl isn’t in good enough condition to just clean, and the FR carpet might be OK with just cleaning, but that’s debatable. One realtor did mention giving buyers an allowance for flooring, which we’d consider if we don’t make all the changes. We’re just trying to find the sweet spot of how much to invest in prep vs. what will buyers be turned off by.
All of your suggestions about the garage door are in line with what we were thinking, so thanks for confirming that.
Find a realtor who will take the fixing-up risk along with you, so they spend only what they truly believe will improve value. Assuming total commission is 5%, splitting to 2.5%, realtor getting 2%, have the realtor pay 1% of everything spent fixing up. If painting costs $10,000 but doesn’t increase value, realtor loses $100; if value increases $20,000, realtor gets $400 minus $100. This can make speculative spending more realistic.
Good luck finding such a realtor, especially in a down market. 
It is a PITA as is being a seller’s agent, so most realtors prefer being a buyer’s agent or builder’s rep. Chances are, a realtor who agrees to this will be desperate for customers (read: not a very good agent to begin with).
Also, if you spend $10K and they stand to earn $100 off that, they really have no interest. $100 more? Hardly worth it.
@shellfell I’d be surprised if a potential buyer would be ‘turned off’ by hardwood flooring in the entire area. Bigger question is if you’d recoup that money in resale. I always think it’s sad–and I have done it, too–that we wait to spend the money on sale-preparation instead of enjoying the changes ourselves!
I’m following this thread as we are also thinking ahead a few years about what should be done to sell our house. We have the ‘old school’ (3 inch, light oak) hardwood floors throughout but current trends seem to be wider and darker. Don’t see myself removing this flooring as it is in good shape and just needs to be refinished. Like in many homes from it’s era, this flooring spent much of it’s life hiding under avocado green shag carpet! Still, I wonder about resale…
I know that buyers wouldn’t be turned off by hardwood in the entire area, but would we recoup it in resale? One realtor said yes, another thinks it’s not worth it. And as you point out, not everyone will like the hardwood we choose. In looking at recent comps in my area, some sellers have hardwood throughout, but alot have ceramic tile in the kitchen which definitely wouldn’t have appealed to me if I were buying (too hard, too cold).
"We have the ‘old school’ (3 inch, light oak) hardwood floors throughout but current trends seem to be wider and darker. "
I can’t help but think the dark floors are going to be out soon. In fact, I’ve seen a move to lighter floors again. Never been a fan of the dark floors myself because I like a lighter look and feel (many months of winter so give me light!) and they show dust and dirt too easily.
Interesting points about hardwood floor colors. I love hardwood floors and wouldn’t consider a house without them, That said, was looking at a new house once and it had very dark floors and grey walls, just would never work for me. In terms of wall paper, people who like it generally cannot understand why someone else might not, much like my SIL who put up a ceramic tile portion behind her stove of a flower pot with flowers. I love old houses but I don’t like old wallpaper or designer wallpaper or wallpaper with dragons, or prints or texture, etc. To a new buyer, these means outlays of cash and Saturdays spent changing it-No thanks. Simple is best. (Light hardwood floors can be made darker). The thing is, you are making your house the most appealing to the most number of people.
People who think that dark floors are must have in their house never had a white cat. Plus, if the dark stained wood chips, the chip will reveal the wood underneath. Chips and dents are much less visible on lighter flooors.
Darker than the usual blond oak doesn’t have to mean coffee dark. A shade or two lower ( a darker honey, a cider) can do the trick. The refinisher can do this.
The thing about selling price. It’s not just the math, spend 40k, make back 40k-plus. Or do I spend 15k and get it back? It’s the desirability, how quickly it moves, how easily, and making a prospect want it. You want the $ baseline to go up, if possible, if feasible, and for them to feel it’s worth the price range. That doesn’t have to mean a rehab. It’s about finding the sweet spot.
It’s the psychology, not the haute decorating look. Around here, crown moldings can matter. I’d spend the few hundred on those if it takes your basics to a new level, in that that first view.
Some projects are small. There was a time when a good kitchen pot rack (on a wall,) with some nice pots (pristine bottoms,) evoked a response in a prospect. Lol, maybe a couple of copper ones, buy them cheap at Marshall’s.
That’s the “good towels” thing. But by the time they get to the bathroom, it’s later in the tour.
About my friend’s home that just sold, in 6 days. I had relooked at the online pix and the place looked a little worn. You know how, sometimes, you look at an ad and it looks like an old, old person lives there. Not shabby, but not perky. Then I looked at the two others on that street and I’d call their decor “grad student.” So, worse. And they were listed at over $1 mil.
It may be that my friend’s place benefitted from being 200-350k less expensive. The work to strip the wallpaper or repaint the red portion of a room probably seemed like small potatoes.
Sibling’s house just sold after 13 days on the market.
Last fall they painted the interior. Baths updated a couple of years ago.
They left the carpet on the upper floor (hardwoods on the main floor) and just had it professionally cleaned.
The main rooms in the house were stripped of most furniture, a few of the remaining things moved around, and staging furniture brought in.
Front door painted, front and back yards cleaned up and mulched.
Everything inside and out was immaculate.
When our house was built in 1971, my parents had Swedish finish hardwoods installed. The neighbors had dark, dark stain. The dark flooring was in style for only a couple of years, putting paid to my RE agent mom’s contention that classic flooring is classic for a reason. The flooring is still beautiful.