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Post by shannoots on Mar 20, 2016 21:23:23 GMT
I agree with the peas who say you need a realtor. Our previous house had horrible, plum colored carpet. We are sure that we would need to re-carpet the house. Thankfully, the realtor told us to put it in the market like it was and see what happened. Our house sold the first day, with the ugly carpet. I'm not saying you didn't need to change the carpet but maybe you are overestimating what actually needs to be done.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Mar 20, 2016 21:30:09 GMT
Personally, I like some sort of contrast in a room. To me that's what jumps out from your photos, a lack of contrast. i see light flooring, light walls, light ceiling, light cabinets. I would rather, as a buyer, get you to come down a bit on your price, and make changes I wanted myself, than to have the sellers sink 20K into upgrades I may not like, therefore making them more firm on their asking price, kwim? At this point, I really think if you had those rooms staged with items that incorporate either some brighter or deeper colors, it might be a far less expensive way to bring about some of the contrast I was talking about. I just can't see dropping 20K on a house that you've already been trying to sell for so long. But whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the best selling this home and in your new home!  I agree with what Melanell said. As the pictures look it is all cold colors. Darker bamboo floors would not only add contrast but warmth. Which I think would help. I think I would find out who has sold the last two or three homes in your neighborhood and find out what they think you need to do. |
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fitzy
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Jun 28, 2014 2:50:04 GMT
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Post by fitzy on Mar 20, 2016 22:05:20 GMT
If the carpets are stained but otherwise in good shape you could look into having them dyed. We did it years ago for a rental we owned and it worked out well.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Mar 20, 2016 22:21:48 GMT
You have to be careful with credits. Lenders don't typically allow them for anything other than closing costs.
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Post by chaosisapony on Mar 20, 2016 23:43:33 GMT
I think it's a very nice looking house. I wouldn't let granite counter tops or the color of the cabinets sway me one way or another if I was interested in the house but maybe I'm in the minority there.
I prefer light colored laminate or wood flooring. Hate carpet. Don't want carpet in the house at all, anywhere. But again flooring is easy to switch out so it wouldn't make me not buy a house if I liked the house over all.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 20, 2016 23:56:50 GMT
I would not sink $20k into a house that you may not be able to sell. You'd be better just dropping the price $20k.
We are retired military so understand the types of neighborhoods you are living in. My question is, has ANY home in your neighborhood sold in the last 4 years? That may be your issue. Your prospective buyers may no longer be buyers, just renters.
If they have, what are the comps? That is the only thing you can go by. You don't want to be the best house in the neighborhood. You don't want to over improve, you'll just be throwing that money away.
ETA: you can paint your cabinets. The cost is minimal. Yes you can do it yourself and have it look good.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 0:04:10 GMT
I would not sink $20k into a house that you may not be able to sell. You'd be better just dropping the price $20k. We are retired military so understand the types of neighborhoods you are living in. My question is, has ANY home in your neighborhood sold in the last 4 years? That may be your issue. Your prospective buyers may no longer be buyers, just renters. If they have, what are the comps? That is the only thing you can go by. You don't want to be the best house in the neighborhood. You don't want to over improve, you'll just be throwing that money away. ETA: you can paint your cabinets. The cost is minimal. Yes you can do it yourself and have it look good. As far as homes selling in our neighborhood, it's been slow as molasses. There is just so much competition out there and usually the homes that sell have a pool (which we don't) or are new construction. Thank you for your advice everyone. We have an appointment with one realtor set up for Tuesday morning. I will try and update this post to let you know her thoughts. We'll set up more appointments this week to get other opinions too. |
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Post by AussieMeg on Mar 21, 2016 4:47:09 GMT
I agree with others who are saying to get some advice from your realtor before you spend any money.
But in answer to your question, I HATE dark floors. Light, bright and airy is my preference. I would also go for lighter benchtops but could be convinced to go for a dark benchtop if the flooring and cabinets were light.
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Post by flanz on Mar 21, 2016 5:46:47 GMT
Can you offer the buyers the $20k as an allowance so they can choose what they would like? love this idea, but I'm guessing that you are hoping the $20K you spend will result in getting more than $20K back when you do sell? re: carpets - I hate them!! So many people, like me, have allergies, and carpet is terrible for that. |
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Post by flanz on Mar 21, 2016 5:48:07 GMT
I chose light flooring and light granite. Unless your rooms are huge, the dark colors make them feel smaller, in my opinion. and dark floors look gorgeous when clean, but I'm afraid every tiny thing shows and that would drive me nuts.
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*Marjorie*
Full Member
Posts: 360
Location: Hawaii
Jun 26, 2014 16:43:45 GMT
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Post by *Marjorie* on Mar 21, 2016 6:54:58 GMT
Your rooms lack warmth. They look very sterile.
I would add window panels to the windows. You'd be surprised of how finished a room looks with some window treatments. Go to Ross or one of those type of stores and invest in some curtain rods and window panels. They are very inexpensive at Ross.
Also, some kind of art on the walls. Ross also has those for a reasonable price. If you don't have a Ross try Marshall's or TJ Maxx. I think Ross prices are better though.
As mentioned above, staging a room will make all the difference in the world. You want people to feel welcomed when they enter the home and imagine themselves living there.
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Post by 2peafaithful on Mar 21, 2016 14:05:30 GMT
I would do the allowance before I would ever go through all the work. Preference goes a million directions. You might spend that and not recoup it.
However your choice your decision. If you are going to do granite with those cabinets I would go with a black without much movement. A backsplash isn't pricey and adds a lot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 14:27:32 GMT
I think your house is very nice. It's clean and up to date. Nothing at all stands out as glaring or an immediate need to change. Rather than spend money on upgrading, I'd go with staging. I think a stager could bring in colors and move things around to make it look attractive to someone coming in and spending 20 minutes looking around. The realtors could give suggestions for a good stager. I think you'd get a better return on your money from staging.
Hang in there -- you can do this.
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Post by Skellinton on Mar 21, 2016 14:33:07 GMT
Get a stager before doing anything drastic. Half of the suggestions here would make me not choose your house. Everyone has different taste and the changes you are looking at making are expensive and not something I would be willing to pay to undo.
A stager and a good real estate agent should be able to help you.
Is this the first time actually listing it without the renters?
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Post by leslie132 on Mar 21, 2016 14:49:04 GMT
I agree with what a lot of fellow peas are saying. You home looks clean and well maintained.
FOR ME.....it isn't memorable. It is clean and uncluttered which is a major perk, but if I saw 10 houses all in the same price range, same school district etc I would need "something" to pop out. It wouldn't need to be new flooring( although if the carpet is bad I would consider a deep cleaning) or granite.....that is to much of a personal preference that I think you can't guarantee will make everyone happy. Instead I would do the staging option.....and 100% work on curb appeal. That is what makes the important first impression!
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Post by mikklynn on Mar 21, 2016 15:04:12 GMT
I wouldn't put in any improvements. It looks great. I would instead spend a fraction of that amount and have a staging company come in and stage it for you. It's light, bright and airy and may need nothing more than a coat of paint if that. This is what I was going to say. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 15:14:17 GMT
Get a stager before doing anything drastic. Half of the suggestions here would make me not choose your house. Everyone has different taste and the changes you are looking at making are expensive and not something I would be willing to pay to undo. A stager and a good real estate agent should be able to help you. Is this the first time actually listing it without the renters? Yes, it's the first time listing it without the renters. The only problem we have with staging is we sold most of our furniture when we moved back here and didn't plan on getting more furniture until we moved out west. I suppose we could look into renting furniture or looking at Craigslist. ETA: I am NOT shooting down the staging idea and we will definitely ask the realtor for suggestions to hire one. It will be a challenge, but I think it's a very good idea. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 15:32:28 GMT
Get a stager before doing anything drastic. Half of the suggestions here would make me not choose your house. Everyone has different taste and the changes you are looking at making are expensive and not something I would be willing to pay to undo. A stager and a good real estate agent should be able to help you. Is this the first time actually listing it without the renters? Yes, it's the first time listing it without the renters. The only problem we have with staging is we sold most of our furniture when we moved back here and didn't plan on getting more furniture until we moved out west. I suppose we could look into renting furniture or looking at Craigslist. ETA: I am NOT shooting down the staging idea and we will definitely ask the realtor for suggestions to hire one. It will be a challenge, but I think it's a very good idea. Many stagers have the ability to rent you furniture used in the staging. It will cost more, but certainly not as much as remodeling. And it wouldn't be as painful as buying and shipping your own furniture. They offer a number of different levels of service. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 15:36:36 GMT
CLEAN can cover a multitude of sins.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 21, 2016 15:46:29 GMT
I'm a little confused as you've posted some inconsistencies about the process (which may just be due to how long you've been on and off the market). JUST concentrating on your most recent period of time on the market. Were the renters in the home? Was the carpet stained and smelly? How long was the house on the market the last time? You've talked about being embarrassed about smelly carpet and said the house was "spic and span" clean. You've been through 5 realtors - I completely understand being stressed, but I think you need to take a giant step back and analyze where you're at, what's working, not working in your specific market before you throw $20,000 at this house. Showing a house with renters in it is hard - they're often not taking good care of the property and it simply won't show well. I wouldn't at all assume the problem is lack of granite if that was the circumstance you were previously showing it with (especially if the carpet was gross).
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Post by jamielynn on Mar 21, 2016 15:55:56 GMT
I think it looks great already, but I'm not a fan of the cabinet color. Could you stain/paint that? I like white or a much darker type of cabinets than what you currently have there.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 21, 2016 15:56:00 GMT
If the choice is between 10 unmemorable houses, All things being equal, I'll remember the lower price. Your house needs to be super clean and you need to be "motivated sellers" looking to relocate, not "what's wrong with this house" sellers.
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Post by MorellisCupcake on Mar 21, 2016 16:03:26 GMT
I feel your pain. I had my house on the market in Charlotte for nearly a year, had 3 failed offers and several low ball bids (like, crazy low). It was an awful process. One complained about the paint color in the living room, one wanted $10K in credits for new smoke alarms (? and walked when we offered to just replace them). It isn't the first house I've sold so I get completely that it's a business transaction, but we bent as far as we could and got nowhere. The main feedback was that it wasn't perfect, but it was built in 1994 - nothing I could do would make it brand new again.
It's rented now and I think we're going to just move back into it in July and live there for the next 20 years, fuck it. (It's been frustrating for sure.) I do like that house a lot and can't get why it didn't sell, so going back to it is fine with me - I just could have done without all the angst.
That house has a brand new kitchen, hardwood floors, full brick, in a very nice established neighborhood. 85' private lot, 4 beds plus bonus room, private study, formal living/dining, open concept kitchen/family area, screened porch and deck... I don't know what else I could have done, but sink another $30,000 in it to try to make it "new" only to sell way under market.
I'm so sorry for what you're dealing with. It's just beyond stressful. The day I get back to only owning one house will be wonderful.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 21, 2016 16:14:20 GMT
I wanted to add that when you're in a bad market, you're in a bad market. There may be a price point that will move the house, but it may be a huge financial mistake. I hope you can find a really good realtor, someone who actually knows the market and will be honest with you. It may be that deep cleaning your house and dropping the price $10,000 will move it - it may be that sinking $20,000 into improvements will still not be enough to sell the house in your current market.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 16:36:47 GMT
I'm a little confused as you've posted some inconsistencies about the process (which may just be due to how long you've been on and off the market). JUST concentrating on your most recent period of time on the market. Were the renters in the home? Was the carpet stained and smelly? How long was the house on the market the last time? You've talked about being embarrassed about smelly carpet and said the house was "spic and span" clean. You've been through 5 realtors - I completely understand being stressed, but I think you need to take a giant step back and analyze where you're at, what's working, not working in your specific market before you throw $20,000 at this house. Showing a house with renters in it is hard - they're often not taking good care of the property and it simply won't show well. I wouldn't at all assume the problem is lack of granite if that was the circumstance you were previously showing it with (especially if the carpet was gross). Trust me, no one is more confused with the inconsistencies than me! Anyway, we bought the house in 2006 (at the height of the market). Then my husband went to Officer Candidate School (Army) in 2008 and we got orders to move, so we listed it briefly. That fell through and we stayed in the area, so we took it off the market. A couple of years later, we anticipated another PCS (permanent change of duty station) we relisted the house to be preemptive. We got showings but no offer. My husband went to VA while we stayed behind in NC. Then he moved to KY while we remained in the house for a year or so. Then we got tired of living apart, so in 2014, we rented it out. The renters didn't want to renew their lease (probably due to terrible property management), so we lucked out and got orders back to NC. We moved back in a week ago. We had the house on market for about a month in January, after the renters left, but never had it listed with renters in it...they were quite messy as evidenced by pictures taken during inspections. When we got back, we noticed the carpets were stained (I've managed to get it up a bit), and a tad stinky. We'll be doing another carpet cleaning (although they claimed to have done one when they moved out...OR replace the flooring). Clear as mud? We would like to move out West when my DH retires from the Army, but may have to rethink this plan (again). |
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Post by ilikepink on Mar 21, 2016 16:39:15 GMT
Personally, no way I'd drop $20K or spend that amount in upgrades to something I was leaving. Staging may be a better investment, and may make it more like a nice, lived-in, happy home. I'm an oddball here, I guess, in that I prefer carpet (warmer and softer). The house I bought last year had carpet in the bedrooms and hardwood in the living room/kitchen area, which I have kept as is.
My XH and I bought a house with dark green carpet. Mostly in good condition, except for the Huge Black Stain in the LR area. Since I don't like green, we knew the carpet was going to be changed soon, but that stain..... Found out at the closing they had a pet pig at one time. Couldn't wait to get it out of there! But, we bought the house anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 16:45:15 GMT
Your pet pig story gave me a good laugh! Thanks for that. I needed it.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 21, 2016 16:50:04 GMT
With your added info - I would be very hesitant to drop significant money on improvements now. In the last 2 years, you've only listed it for a month (in January no less) in less than ideal condition (stained carpets etc). I would make sure the house is immaculate, find a good realtor who can inform you of the current market and what price will move the property. If the realtor tells you, well I can get X, but buyers at that price point want granite - you can make an informed decision. But I honestly think right now you're throwing money at the problem with very little good information, and it's highly unlikely it will result in a positive financial outcome.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Mar 23, 2016 12:55:21 GMT
So if I'm reading this right, you bought at the height of the bubble. I'm going to assume you're trying to at least break even? Because that probably isn't an option now, especially in your area. Military areas are notorious for going rental. When you add in new construction happening around you, your resale value is going to be low. You need a realistic sit down with a realtor and comps.
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