<p>Now that my husband and I are emptynesters, it is time to sell the house and move to something smaller and more affordable. The house is overdue for an inside paint job, new carpet and there are some repairs we have not wanted to spend the money on, so in turn they haven’t been taken care of. We might be closer to the point of needing to selling the house instead of wanting to sell it and I don’t want to throw the money or the time into the painting, carpeting and repairs. My last real estate agent said she recommends all homes be painted and carpeted in a neutral color; I would rather give the buying an allowance for this. By an allowance or selling the house cheaper, the buying can have the carpet and paint they want, not what I think they want.</p>
<p>Are people going to come in and see a house not newly painted and carpeted and not want to buy? Personally, I would rather do that myself if I was the buyer, but maybe I am not the norm. This is an upper middle class neighborhood, so maybe people would think our home was not up to the standards; but maybe they would like that they could get a deal for the neighborhood. We have two dog, one that sheds a good bit and both that bring in lots of dirt; as a buyer, I would rather have new clean carpet put in before I moved in.</p>
<p>We don’t have the cash right now to paint, carpet and repair, but we want to get the house on the market. I can not put builder grade carpet in at the price our house will sell for and really don’t want to spend more. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>We are getting close to selling a condo my mom owns and has not kept up. We were cautioned by our realtor that if people smell desperation they will low-ball you on offers. I would paint and carpet to try to get the best offers I could.</p>
<p>We sold my mother’s townhouse (20 years old) that had some outdated colors but fairly neutral carpet that was about 10 years old and in excellent condition. It was sold last May at the height of poor economy, yet right after the incentive program for 1st time homebuyers went into effect. She did have a lot of people come in and complain about the colors (peach/green), however, agent quickly remedied that problem by convincing mother to agree to a painting allowance. This worked and the couple that purchased the home were thrilled with it! A lot of buying/selling of real estate, I’m convinced, has to do with finding the right person(fit-alot like college!) and of course, location, location, location. A good price point will go a long way as well. Plus, I have always thought that painting a house (interior) before listing was almost a waste. I would much rather have an allowance for paint and get to choose colors, rather than a bland color scheme throughout. But, many feel that having neutral colors helps to promote the sale with regards to space, etc. Consider a painting allowance as part of the sale. Good Luck!</p>
<p>snowball, personally, if I were looking for a house and came across yours, and if the house was structurally sound (no LP siding, no molds, no cracks in the foundation, etc.), and the price was right, I’d buy it as is. I hate the neutral paint and run of the mill carpets that everyone puts in to sell houses. Additionally, I would expect a home like yours to sell at a discount compared to what the homes sell for in your neighborhood. H and I are hard-core DIY people, but there is a large group of byers who do not know how to hold a hammer and therefore want a house in perfect move-in condition.</p>
<p>I would consider painting, if the interior needs it, but not carpeting. If you paint the rooms yourself–not a lot of work–and give an allowance for floor finish, you might get the best of both worlds. I don’t think that the paint necessarily has to be neutral, but it does have to work well with your furnishings.</p>
<p>But that’s partially because I hate carpeting, and any house I’ve ever looked at I have calculated the cost of ripping it up and having wood and/or tile floors installed. If I were buying your house, I’d rather have the money to put towards the flooring I prefer.</p>
<p>If the inside of the house looks very tired, it will be harder to sell. Not only does it give the impression that the house is in poor repair–which may not true, but that’s how it looks–but most people have no imagination. Many people want to just be able to move in, and not have to launch into a lot of painting/papering/sanding/refinishing.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest consulting someone who “stages” houses for sale. People I know have had really excellent results selling properties that have been staged, and the services of the stager and the recommended changes cost significantly less than the price cut the realtor was suggesting.</p>
<p>People are generally subject to their first impressions and the ‘feel’ they get from looking at a house. I think something like a poor condition (or very individualized scheme) of the interior is one of the most noticable features in a home for the home buyer and a strong influence on whether they’d buy that home or how much they value the home. They might be able to logically understand that they could paint it anything they wish but it still has that subtle emotional sway on them.</p>
<p>Allowing a ‘credit’ for the paint, etc. isn’t the same as having it done and ready. Firstly, the credit just boils down to a lower price which is somewhat arbitrary in the first place. Secondly, a credit like this results in an out of pocket expense for the buyer and they might not have the money to do it. In other words, if you painted the interior with an acceptable scheme it’ll be included in the cost of the home and hence the mortgage. If you don’t then that’s an expense they need to come up with.</p>
<p>If you can manage it at all I’d say repaint the interior. It’ll (hopefully) be a short term expense that you’ll recoup your investment on quickly when you sell your house and maybe even increase the value of your home more than the investment.</p>
<p>Painting an interior is one of the least expensive simplest things a homeowner can do to improve or change the appearance of their home. I think it’s more noticable and certainly less expensive than the carpet unless the carpet’s some wild color or in super poor condition.</p>
<p>Given all of that, as a buyer I’d be happier with a lower-priced home with an unappealing interior paint/carpet so I could get a lower price and redo it to my tastes as you indicated but I don’t think ‘most’ buyers look past the subtle presentation and view it differently than me.</p>
<p>I would also consider painting. Unless you have 2 story ceilings, it can be a DIY thing and the cost is relatively small.</p>
<p>The problem is that even if a house is structurally sound it is harder to sell “as is”. There are potential buyers who are able to look past the “cosmetic” items and visualize the house with new paint, new floors, etc., but most people can’t do that. </p>
<p>Perhaps you and H can come up with a budget of how much you would be able to put into the house and then talk with a staging person on how to get the most impact for your money.</p>
<p>We are in the process of selling out house to move to another country. We were just going to sell it as is, but the realtor told us to do few minor freshen ups. </p>
<p>We did:
replaced some tiles and painted the bathrooms. Some paint was coming off, a buyer may think it’s a water leakage. The tile’s grout looked dirty, so it was redone.
painted the family room and hallway.
fixed broken railing on the deck and power washed it.
power washed the roof to remove moss</p>
<p>I think we spend around $5000 to do all that. Our realtor said our house looked like a different house. He said by doing those few things we could get a better asking price and prevent a lot of unnecessary questions.</p>
<p>We will move a lot of stuff into storage to make the house look bigger. My H is going to “stage” the outdoor patio to make it look nicer. We’ll see how long it’s going to take us to sell the house. We are pricing it well, and the good thing is we don’t have the urgency to sell because my company is paying for housing overseas.</p>
<p>We recently bought a home and are planning to sell our current house in about a year. I am facing the same issues but also have looked at it recently from the buyer’s side. Most of the homes we looked at before making our offer had been repainted and recarpeted. That was NOT a deal breaker to me but it was a factor in deciding between two properties…one I would have to arrange a painter and carpet layer in an unknown area, one I would simply have to live with new but neutral paint and cheap carpet. I went for the cleaner option.</p>
<p>To sell our house we have decided to paint the entire interior. All floors are hardwood but we are going with a good clean and shine, not refinishing. Our HVAC is new, the roof will be, and the hot water heater will also be new by then. After looking at all we looked at, systems updates, a newish roof, a dry basement, solid plumbing and wiring, and cleanliness were the factors that made us want a house. Stainless steel and granite in a dump of a home do not impress me, nor shoddy workmanship on recent repairs and improvements. Do what you can, do what you can afford, and I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>Are people going to come in and see a house not newly painted and carpeted and not want to buy?</p>
<p>Some people won’t- when I first looked @ houses, I was really young ( 24) and I tend to get distracted-, in our price range, real estate agents also tended to show us really bad things, so that the " better" homes, stood out more.</p>
<p>Depending on how bad it is, I would paint a neutral color- but cheap paint.
Putting half your stuff in storage is a good idea- but I have no idea what it costs to stage a place- some of them look silly.
I would have the carpet cleaned really well & rent or borrow if you don’t own any, nice area rugs- which will brighten it up especially if you have taken half of your furnishings out.
I also would suggest- renting or borrowing- real potted plants- for the porch- bathroom etc- makes a huge difference</p>
<p>I agree with everyone who said paint but do not recarpet. I’d hate to tear out the cheap new HD carpet the seller just put in to replace it with the one I like (or hardwoods!), but I can repaint an average room in a couple of hours using premium paints for less than $50.</p>
<p>Declutter and clean everything. Wash windows and create curb appeal. A clean house (even with worn out carpets!) feels homey and inviting. Regrout tiled counters - it is easy, and it makes a huge difference.</p>
<p>PS - do not powerwash the roof if you have composite shingles. Power washing strips them of their weather-protecting coating. Use a reputable roof cleaning pro for that.</p>
<p>I, for one, want the house I buy to be ready to move into. I don’t want to have to paint/carpet, etc. Moving is ordeal enough and I don’t want to have to do a lot of things before I can settle in. </p>
<p>We have always repainted in white where needed when we sold our house. It all depends on the quality of your walls or the color. If you already have neutral walls, you can just paint the walls that need it. If you have kids, walls may be scuffed from furniture or have handprints (these might be removed with a good cleaning). We always had buyers and potential buyers remark on the state of our house, and all we did was paint. I didn’t worry about walls that were blocked by furniture, ceilings, or difficult to reach areas. Of course, if your walls are in colors, there’s the question of matching. If you do it yourself, it’s not costly. </p>
<p>On the question of carpet, unless it’s in really bad shape, perhaps all that’s needed is a good cleaning. It will also give the house a very fresh smell.</p>
<p>Clean your existing carpets (so they look decent) and paint your walls.</p>
<p>New carpets can be a bad thing if you choose something that a potential buyer doesn’t want. That can hurt a sale.</p>
<p>Another tip (we did this and our home sold in 3 days.) Remove excess stuff/furniture from your home (put in storage or one of those POD things). Your home will seem more spacious and roomy.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this would work in your area but when my parents sold their house about 5 years ago, it definitely needed updating and carpets. We all jumped in and did a lot of painting and cleaning, etc. They did move into their new place before they put it on the market so that helped with the “de-clutter” issue. We had them leave behind a few pieces of furniture so we could stage it. Regarding the carpeting, a local flooring company re carpeted and tiled the entrance hall and waited for payment until the house sold. It was a lot of carpet around 3.500 square feet. The flooring company said they did it all of the time. I agree with what the other posters have said. Pack up everything you don’t need, put it in uniform boxes neatly stacked in the garage or basement. Clean the dickens out of everything, including windows. Make sure your closets and cabinets are straightened and not crammed. Paint as much as you can, even think about painting closets. Don’t forget about the yard, bushes trimmed, grass cut and edged a pot or two of flowers by the front door and maybe a simple wreath, if you use two pots make sure they match, they don’t have to be fancy, and make sure they are big enough to be seen, Hobby Lobby has plain clay pots and a very reasonable price. You want to create a sense of welcome, space and good maintenance.</p>
<p>Around here, the realtors tell homeowners to not only repaint and put in new neutral carpeting, but also granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Lot of $ - and we’re not even in a horrible real estate market.</p>
<p>I would repaint for sure…and depending on the condition of the carpet, I might do that too. Go with Home Depot and recarpet in a nice light beige. De clutter…rent a storage space to store excess furniture.</p>
<p>Your goal is to make the place look big, bright and CLEAN. Add some welcoming touches…plants, nice smells, a few nice pillows and other accents. It will help to sell it quickly and at a good price. If you don’t know what to do, hire an agent who is also a “stager.” Good luck!</p>
<p>I appreciate the suggestions and opinions. The bedrooms were painted a year ago, before when we didn’t think we would be moving; unfortunately, we painted them in colors to match bedding. Two bedrooms are yellow with one red wall and the other 2 are a light green. I know I should repaint these rooms, but if for some reason the house didn’t sell and we needed to stay, I really don’t want to live with neutral walls.</p>
<p>While the carpet is old, it is in good condition; I have it professional cleaned twice a year, mainly due to the dogs! My carpet cleaner always comments on how well the carpet has held up. The main problem with the carpet is there is water damage from an old chimney leak that has since been fixed. The area is in a hallway where there is no easy way to replace just part of the carpet. When we next clean it, we can lift the carpet and avoid most of the staining, but it will still be noticeable. We also have a few areas where a mop bucket had a leak and bleached out the carpet; again in an area where we would have to replace several rooms. The more I look at the carpet, I know we need to replace it to sell; I was just hoping I would be able to enjoy the benefits of the new carpet!! The hardwood floor in the kitchen and foyer also need refinishing, another expense. </p>
<p>I know we need to paint, carpet, refinish the floor as well as fix some rotting stairs leading to an area in the yard, I just hate to put the cash out right now. As far as clutter, we would have to rent a storage place to get rid of all the stuff we have accumulate over the years we have been here. I really hate moving!!</p>
<p>Sounds like you would much more likely get top dollar for your home if you make the repairs you mention in your post. Talk with your realtor about prioritizing them and pros/cons of carpet allowance vs. recarpetting. It sounds like the house does NOT need repainting and that especially if you have the bedding which matches the walls, it will be a way for prospective buyers to remember your home.</p>
<p>Consider donating rather than moving your things to a storage place and paying monthly fees for the privilege. Most of us, especially this household, have way too much “stuff” that really just gets in the way. I had a friend who moved 3-4 times in one year and ended up getting lighter and lighter with possessions on each move. She said it was very freeing to donate more & more of her “stuff.”</p>
<p>There was an article in the Home section of our newspaper today that said given the glut of houses in the market today, you really need to get your house in good shape for it to sell. Believe me, I don’t really want to hear this, as I am an estate executor with several houses to sell :(</p>
<p>Homes here that need work are not selling unless they are deeply discounted. In this market, you have to make buyers feel like they could move in tomorrow.</p>
<p>The problem you run into is that (1) you’ll have to lowball the listing price; and (2) you’ll have to give an additional allowance. Any allowance you’ll need to give will generally be more than you would pay to do it. You can paint pretty cheaply; even I, all thumbs, can paint a room.</p>
<p>You’ll end up with more money in your pocket if you do these things yourself.</p>