Selling my home

OK,
So the wife and I found some land that we want to move to. 15 acres of land with a barn, shed and mobile home on it. We fell in love with this property. Almost 14 acres is wooded with lots of deer and turkey in the area.

Now for the downside. We have to sell our home in the city before we can get the new one. We are meeting with a real estate agent tonight to talk about selling our home and buying the new one.

I have never "sold" a home. Our current home needs LOTS of little and a few big things done to really make it marketable. Unfortunatly, looking at the county assessors website at recent sales in the neighborhood does not look promising. We may end up paying to sell the house!

My question is this, what little things can be done to help us sell this house fast in this dead market.

I had thought about renting the house, but I don't want the hassel with that.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

Melbo is our real estate guru, but I will chime in.

Fix these little things you speak of. Unless the house is a steal, buyers want a turn key job.

Fresh paint, steam cleaned carpets, etc. add up.

Maximize your curb appeal. You want people to drive by and want to stop when they see your house. Do a little landscaping in the front, add a few flowers, trees, etc. if possible. This can be done without spending much money.

Lots of luck.

 

I had a house in Wis. before I moved here to Mo. I only owned it for 6 mo. and managed to make $30,000 on it. All I did was plant flowers, cleaned up the yard, trim the bushes, put in a garden, and what not. There were crackes in the ceiling on the second floor so I stuccoed it and it looked great. Over all I might have spent $150 to spruce up the place. Make sure when a buyer shows up to look at your place it really looks good from the crub, it will make or break the deal right there. Good luck.

OGM

 

What Melbo said......move stuff out down to the bare minimum you need to live in it....key word is "UN-clutter".....even if you have to rent a storage unit for a few months, move the stuff OUT.

Then spruce up.....clean, paint, clean some more...you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

 

What everyone said! Sounds like you can't spend much on it so its your labor and minor material purchases like paint. You get used to your own home and get so that you don't see a lot of things other people might. Look at your house with new eyes and fix and clean as much as you can. And as melbo said put stuff away, pack it up and if you can move it to the new place.

 

I agree throw some paint on the place, but don't make it a wild color. A cream or off white if your painting an inside room. The more nuteral color the better. Plants work wonders get some bright yellows and blues stuff that stands out and makes the place look bright. Steam clean the carpets, and while I hate to say it but as a last resort replace them. If you have to replace them get a light brown or cream.
If you have a power washer and a concrete front porch and back patio then power wash them. It brightens up the two places that prospective homeowners look at as entertainment areas. That one worked on me.
I hope you sell at your asking price and sell quick.
Take care Be safe Poacher.

 

Everyone, Thanks for the advice so far.

Had the meeting with the realtor last night, it went better than anticipated, guess that's a good thing. Most of what she pointed out that "needed" to be done was already on my check list. She did point out about a half dozen or so "little" things (replacing vent covers in bathrooms for one) that we didn't even think about.

So the house will officially be on the market on Sunday, but will not be available for showings until June 1st. Just a couple of weeks to finish the kitchen, replace both bathroom vanities, mirrors, lights and exhaust fans.

With me working 2 jobs I think I'm gonna need to invest in some "no-doze" LOL.

On the bright side, since my wife is at home for medical reasons until May 23rd, at least she is able to work on a lot of the really little things and is doing some of the interior painting.

Oh, and about de-cluttering, y'all haven't seen my garage have you I have a woodwork shop in there, someplace guess it's time for a garage sale.

Thanks again and keep the advice coming.

 

If you do paint, replace the light switch covers and outlet covers with new ones. The large new ones too. Something else we did when we went through our house was to buy a bunch of new ceiling fans from Wal-Mart. The looked really nice and I bought them cheap, cheap, cheap. Along with Poacher, a pressure washer makes a ton of difference.

 

Thanks all for the advise.

I did manage to get about 1/2 of my garage cleaned up yesterday, only to have the space filled with 7 kitchen cabinets and 2 bathroom vanities. Oh boy, let the fun begin. Sanding, staining and varnishing the kitchen cabinets. Fortunatly we bought "already finished" bathroom vanities complete with sink.

I may end up replacing all light switches and outlets for 2 reasons. Yesterday I had 2 light switches and one outlet quit working, and they are all that yucky beige color. I may switch them out with white switches and cover plates.

Thanks again for all the advise.

 

If you go with new covers/plates (which I recommend) get the bigger size.