BabyUniversity.com › Forums › Home & Garden › Home Improvements & Decorating › What do you do to prepare to sale your house?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

What do you do to prepare to sale your house?

post #1 of 13
7/29/07 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 
We're starting to seriously consider upgrading our house to something a little larger. With me going back to work in a few weeks, this could definitely happen by next spring.

So ... that gives us 8 or 9 months to prepare. What are some things we could work on over the fall and winter to increase the value and hopefully help the house sell quickly???

A few things we know we need to do:

Repaint most rooms in the house
Fix the fence and stain it
Aerate and re-seed the lawn
Plant late spring flowers & mulch the flower beds (already have early spring bulbs planted)
Start packing up stuff we don't use often and/or get rid of it to help de-clutter
Pressure wash the exterior & patio/porch/sidewalks/driveway
Get rid of the old rusty swingset
Clean out the garage as much as possible


I would love to have those folks from that Lifetime show come in and tell me what I need to do to get it ready to sale.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone had any tips of things that attracts buyers!
Reply
post #2 of 13
7/29/07 at 3:15pm
I can't really help. Never sold a house and I don't think we will in the next 20 years. Kev Hates moving
Reply
post #3 of 13
7/29/07 at 7:01pm
paint is always a good way to brighten things.

new hardware in the kitchen and bathroom can be cheap but huge.

our realitor always told us that kitchens and bathrooms are where it is at.

flooring doesn't matter much as people will change tat soon anyhow

as little clutter as possible, we put most of our house in storage when we sold less makes the house look bigger

good luck!
Reply
post #4 of 13
7/29/07 at 7:08pm
When you repaint, use neutral colors
Declutter as much as you can (put what you can in storage)
Remove any religious type things (as some people--even though it would not be in the house if they were to buy it--may take great offense to it--some people have no life)


I am interested in seeing what other people come up with too. We may be doing the same thing in the next year or two
Reply
post #5 of 13
7/29/07 at 7:41pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks ya'll! Michelle - we're thinking about a nice, neutral taupe throughout the rest of the house. I'm not as worried about the bathrooms/bedrooms because I think those are the first things that people customize, and they really aren't bad anyway. But painting our great room and kitchen/dining room will be a huge undertaking, so I think we'll go neutral with it.

We went to a few open houses today and one of the realtors is supposed to send us a check list for preparing to sale. I'll either post it here or forward it to you when I get it!

Andrea - we're already basically decluttered because we just don't have a lot of "stuff". I put away all of our breakables when the kids were little and I've never brought them back out, so as long as we can keep toys and what not picked up, I think we'll be good. But you're right! I noticed that a few of the houses we looked at were so cluttered that it was a turn off ... hard to imagine your stuff in a house when it's SO full of somebody else's!
Reply
post #6 of 13
7/29/07 at 7:54pm
The ladies gave good advice. Take down your personal pictures so that people don't see YOUR family so much, a few are okay.

Just don't go stark white, taupe is a great color
Reply
post #7 of 13
7/29/07 at 9:11pm
Yeah we have been browsing properties back in BC.....some of the pics are so full of clutter that its impossible to try and see beyond that.....no matter how hard you try
Reply
post #8 of 13
7/30/07 at 12:20am
I would say definitely minimize the stuff in your house. Make sure your closets and cabinets are neat. People open those to see how much storage space your house has, and if those are full of stuff, it's as big of a turn off as clutter on the counters and around the house.
Other things to consider--make sure your light fixtures are not "dated" looking (I have no idea how old or new your house is). Repair any minor little things--the dripping faucet, the squeaky door, etc.
Declutter your garage.
Let me know when you put your house on the market. Kyle and I have house selling down to a science. We sold our first house in nine days, our second house sold in 5 weeks (the closest comparable home in the area was on the market 350+ days), and my mom's house sold in a month. We have a great realtor who has taught us well.
Reply
post #9 of 13
7/30/07 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Oh wow Tammy! I'll definitely pick your brain when the time comes!

Did you actually go through a realtor, or did you list it yourself? We don't have a ton of equity in our home, so I really hate to take 6% off the top!
Reply
post #10 of 13
7/30/07 at 1:43pm
I don't have much to offer that the other ladies haven't already suggested. Painting, shampooing the carpets, decluttering, and making sure that minor repairs are done if needed.

Also, while you are showing your house, I would remove as much evidence of pets living inside as possible.
Reply
post #11 of 13
7/30/07 at 10:34pm
We have always used a realtor, the same one every time. We bought a piece of land that he had listed (years ago) and he was so great to work with and took such good care of us, that we called him to list the land when we sold it, and he sold our first house, helped us with the purchase of our second house, sold our second house, and helped with the purchase of the third. He's also sold my mom and dad's house, helped my mom buy the house she lived in before she passed away, helped Kyle's brother buy his house, sold my mother-in-law's house, sold my best friend Stephanie's house (in ONE day!) and helped Steph and her DH buy their current home, and sold my sister's MIL's house, too. He's great, and worth EVERY penny we have ever paid him.
The one thing I don't recommend is using "Buy Owner" if you have those up there. PM me, and I'll tell you why. It's basically a rip off and you pay them UP FRONT--not when/if your house sells. I have never been brave enough to go the route of selling it ourselves (by owner). You could still get into the situation where the buyer has an agent who expects at least 3% commission.
Reply
post #12 of 13
8/7/07 at 2:06pm
When it comes time to sell it and when you know people are coming through, a nice touch is to fix up the kitchen table with placemats and place settings..making it look homey and maybe put a vase with flowers in the middle (I used fake flowers so I wouldn't have to buy real flowers all the time). Also baking chocolate chip cookies before an open house is nice too so when potential buyers come through they will smell that and see the kitchen table made up and think they are "home". It's a psychological thing I guess.
Reply
post #13 of 13
8/8/07 at 7:34pm
Wanna move to Florida???? There's a great house just waiting for you!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Home Improvements & Decorating
BabyUniversity.com › Forums › Home & Garden › Home Improvements & Decorating › What do you do to prepare to sale your house?