Took the First Step to Sell the House!!

Parent Cafe
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<p>Real estate agents I’ve talked to price filling in a pool at around $10,000. I’m on the Peninsula.</p>

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<p>thumper – I think you’ve got it! (Let us know how it works.)</p>

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<p>Vballmom…I like your number better…</p>

<p>I think i will make a phone call…</p>

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<p>SO, I am curious.</p>

<p>Our house was built in the 20’s. We replaced all the mechanicals and windows, have added on, remodeled the kitchen and baths, and been reasonably good about maintenance. It is still a 90 year old house: well constructed, charming (I think), and a good layout, but 90 years old.</p>

<p>When it comes time to sell, how far should we go in prepping the house? I can make it look clean and fresh, but does it need to look “new?” You know: edges round after years and years of paint, so the wide baseboard moldings are not as crisp as brand new; we have architectural features (i.e., archways) that may be dated.</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

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<p>^Personally I think there are plenty of buyers out there who like the patina of an old house and are not looking for perfect floors and baseboards. And what in the world is wrong with archways?</p>

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<p>

nothing, as far as I am concerned!</p>

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<p>Just returned from helping my friend out with packing up her house, sorting stuff for Goodwill, throwing the junk out. Unfortunately she is absolutely overwhelmed – both emotionally and physically; she thinks she has pneumonia. Six of us were there to help her and over the course of two and a half hours, we did a ton of stuff.</p>

<p>The silver lining in this is that DH was there with me and I think he now understands about decluttering and how important it is!! </p>

<p>The woman we were packing up has two daughters – 24 and 21. She readily agreed it was time to throw out the Pocahontas sippy cup. :)</p>

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<p>VH, your husband is better than mine. Mine is great at decluttering OTHER folks homes and sees the need to do so. HIS stuff, however, is not viewed by him as “clutter”. My stuff IS viewed as clutter!!!</p>

<p>Glad you were able to help your friend. I’m sure she was very happy (ooops…sorry about that) for the company as well as the help.</p>

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<p>VH, you are a good friend!</p>

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<p>I love archways.</p>

<p>But are you sure those girls don’t want that sippy cup for their daughters??? That’s what my little hoarder would say.</p>

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<p>An original Pocahontas sippy cup? Why, it could be worth a fortune some day… yeah, right.</p>

<p>MaFool – It’s like anything else. Some people will drool for your 1920’s archways and not mind 1920’s closets. Others will say ‘oh, it’s a gut job’. You want to try to attract the former, not the latter. So you play up the ‘unique’ features in your adverts, hitting heavily on the ‘charming details’ cylinders so that you draw in the ones with the dream of living in your kind of house. </p>

<p>But in the end the first one with the money takes the house. After that, it’s theirs to do with as they will. </p>

<p>I’ve been told that the first time somebody ‘walks thru’ your house it’s on the internet. Have your realtors/stagers told you about how to make your house look good in pictures?</p>

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<p>These are plastered archways without wood moulding.
like this,but there is nothing Spanish about the house
[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior_files/spanish-dining-room-arch.jpg[/url]”>http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior_files/spanish-dining-room-arch.jpg](<a href=“http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior_files/spanish-dining-room-arch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior.html&usg=__HRbXcDi6nsWexm54gl0JpcFWYEI=&h=480&w=640&sz=65&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=a_cbIoXlCf39zM:&tbnh=151&tbnw=186&ei=v1FYTav_Cc2ztwfq8en6DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darches%2Binteriors%2Bhouse%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLL_enUS389US389%26biw%3D1331%26bih%3D610%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C229&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=850&vpy=183&dur=359&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=131&ty=117&oei=p1FYTfiPM8Oclgfon8SBBw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&biw=1331&bih=610]Google”>http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior_files/spanish-dining-room-arch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rivierarichbuilders.com/spanish-interior.html&usg=__HRbXcDi6nsWexm54gl0JpcFWYEI=&h=480&w=640&sz=65&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=a_cbIoXlCf39zM:&tbnh=151&tbnw=186&ei=v1FYTav_Cc2ztwfq8en6DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darches%2Binteriors%2Bhouse%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLL_enUS389US389%26biw%3D1331%26bih%3D610%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C229&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=850&vpy=183&dur=359&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=131&ty=117&oei=p1FYTfiPM8Oclgfon8SBBw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&biw=1331&bih=610)</a></p>

<p>or this, without all the wrought iron and chandelier “elegance” beyond
<a href=“http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/2431608-elagant-house-interior.php?id=2431608[/url]”>http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/2431608-elagant-house-interior.php?id=2431608&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Does that change any opinons?</p>

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<p>Novelisto, we actually lucked out with the closets. Not as large as present day, but much larger than expected!</p>

<p>Your Internet point is well taken. We haven’t even thought about when we will sell, so no, that discussion has not taken place. But, having read this thread and having done some thinking, I was doing some mental “paring,” “staging” and updating. I came here to ask how you all thought the age of the house would influence our efforts.</p>

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<p>I think archways, with or without molding, give a house character that you don’t always find in a house. I don’t think it is dated at all.</p>

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<p>Onward, I’m glad. We incorporated arches (and the same woodwork) into the addition for continuity.</p>

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<p>I like the arches. They would be a plus in my book.</p>

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<p>When we put the house on the market, we will let the arch lovers here know first!</p>

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<p>Not a big fan of arches. It reminds me of my grandparent’s house.</p>

<p>They had the 1950’s all-metal kitchen cabinets too. And the chrome table:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.designat639.com/Photos/Chrome-kitchen-set.jpg[/url]”>http://www.designat639.com/Photos/Chrome-kitchen-set.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>That place reeked of “old”.</p>

<p>Although those tables have gotten trendy again.</p>

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<p>^^^that was my concern!</p>

<p>My grannparents’ house had these arches.</p>

<p>(It also had an after-dinner-mint green living room and a pink kitchen–including pink appliances. We have neither!)</p>

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<p>I agree. We live in the downtown area of our city where the houses are 50 plus years old (and the most expensive per sq foot anywhere in our county - location, location, location). Houses here have no garages,often terrible closets, no yards and yet it’s one of the most desirable area around. Any way, it’s a long story but we owned two houses a few streets apart. One of them was newer (less than 20 years old) with a lot of new amenities and you would not believe the number of potential buyers who said they preferred an ‘older house’. For many people (not me but my husband is one of them), old is part of the ‘charm.’ It took us 18 months and a loss of many thousands of $$$ to sell that house.</p>

<p>If you live in an area where all the houses are old and they’re not just tearing them down, old (but not outdated) is often very sought after.</p>