Selling a house that is dated and "worn."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Houses should be renovated every 10-12 years and buyers expect that. No one under 45 wants to have a project they want HGTV move in ready.

that’s mentally deranged. I guess this is why millennials complain about being unable to afford homes.

That is deranged. Who can afford to “renovate” an entire house every 10 years? Two bathrooms and a kitchen cost me over 100k.

apparently you expect the younger buyers to take on the burden of your lack of maintenance and responsibilities, sad

What? Who says the buyers are “younger”? And do you not understand that the market accounts for any lack of maintenance?

+1 That was a weird post you're responding to.

[Anonymous]

We bought our house with no improvements, did not care. It's spacious and in a great area. We did make some small improvements but not planning to touch the cherry wood kitchen, the 90s bathrooms. Whoever buys it can upgrade if they want. It's fine if we get less for it. It's a very nice house otherwise: everything is well maintained, walls repainted, appliances were replaced, beautiful yard and we planted a lot of trees.

[Anonymous]

I did $30k in cosmetic renovations to a 25 year old condo before selling and I think it was well worth it. But it was a condo, so there were no surprises and it was all fast. Our realtor arranged everything and acted as a GC basically.

A SFH I think is more complicated and the answer might be different. I think very clean and with nothing broken (unless truly unrepairable) is almost always a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, there are little things you can do too. Get a new wall thermostat, for example, with a modern look. It gives a better impression re: the condition of the heating/AC system.

Make sure the front door and front entryway are in great shape.

What makes a shockingly positive difference for minimal cost, especially if you are going to paint, is to have new outlets and outlet covers.

And change the floor vents too. Update the knobs in cabinets if they are old outdated cabinets. Get rid of granny furniture, granny curtains, photo frames, anything personal and stage it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, there are little things you can do too. Get a new wall thermostat, for example, with a modern look. It gives a better impression re: the condition of the heating/AC system.

Make sure the front door and front entryway are in great shape.

What makes a shockingly positive difference for minimal cost, especially if you are going to paint, is to have new outlets and outlet covers.

And change the floor vents too. Update the knobs in cabinets if they are old outdated cabinets. Get rid of granny furniture, granny curtains, photo frames, anything personal and stage it

I think happy family photos are actually a plus. We saw a lot of houses before buying. I can actually still remember some of the photos: fun Grand Canyon trip pics, adorable baby, nice graduation pics...It makes you feel positive vibes about the home (or at least for me)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It often is smarter just to price accordingly, rather than than mess about with allowances or to renovate yourself. Be clear in the MLS listing that the house is being sold as-is.

We renovated right after buying our current house. We were glad that the previous owner had not renovated, because it let us choose the cabinets, finishes, and such like.

I would never buy an "as-is" home unless it was offered at a substantial discount. We purchased a vacation home "as-is," but it was an estate sale following someone's passing, and it was heavily discounted because the sellers wanted to unload it quickly. We ended up investing about $80,000 in renovations, and while we may have saved $50,000 overall, it didn’t feel worth it to us. I’d rather buy a fully renovated property and roll the $50,000 difference into a 30-year mortgage.

In our case, the vacation market we were in was at the beach, where inventory was extremely limited, so we opted for the "as-is" property because there were no other options available at the time. For the original poster (OP), how is the market in your area? If there are other renovated homes available, a discount on an "as-is" property may not be as appealing because you're competing with move-in-ready options. Most buyers aren’t looking for a project—they just want something they can move into right away.

Selling a house “as-is” is different than selling it un-renovated. An “As-is” sale has legal implications that an unrenovated home sale doesn’t.

actually both of those are just marketing terms. you still have a legal obligation to make disclosures even if you call it “as is” and nothing obligates a seller to negotiate over any repairs or renovations.

“as-is” just means that the seller isn’t giving any concessions for the old stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, there are little things you can do too. Get a new wall thermostat, for example, with a modern look. It gives a better impression re: the condition of the heating/AC system.

Make sure the front door and front entryway are in great shape.

What makes a shockingly positive difference for minimal cost, especially if you are going to paint, is to have new outlets and outlet covers.

And change the floor vents too. Update the knobs in cabinets if they are old outdated cabinets. Get rid of granny furniture, granny curtains, photo frames, anything personal and stage it

No, all of that is unnecessary. You don’t need to get rid of all your furnishings. Many buyers have a bit of imagination and know that the granny furniture doesn’t come with the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would price it to sell rather than offer allowances. That sounds fussy.

But we (not my doing) went the other route and updated a lot of things and I think we lost a lot of money on things the new owners were going to change anyway.

I agree - price it to sell. You will miss all the buyers who would have bought at the lower price because the house was priced above their range.

[Anonymous]

Clean it and paint all the walls white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It often is smarter just to price accordingly, rather than than mess about with allowances or to renovate yourself. Be clear in the MLS listing that the house is being sold as-is.

We renovated right after buying our current house. We were glad that the previous owner had not renovated, because it let us choose the cabinets, finishes, and such like.

I would never buy an "as-is" home unless it was offered at a substantial discount. We purchased a vacation home "as-is," but it was an estate sale following someone's passing, and it was heavily discounted because the sellers wanted to unload it quickly. We ended up investing about $80,000 in renovations, and while we may have saved $50,000 overall, it didn’t feel worth it to us. I’d rather buy a fully renovated property and roll the $50,000 difference into a 30-year mortgage.

In our case, the vacation market we were in was at the beach, where inventory was extremely limited, so we opted for the "as-is" property because there were no other options available at the time. For the original poster (OP), how is the market in your area? If there are other renovated homes available, a discount on an "as-is" property may not be as appealing because you're competing with move-in-ready options. Most buyers aren’t looking for a project—they just want something they can move into right away.

Selling a house “as-is” is different than selling it un-renovated. An “As-is” sale has legal implications that an unrenovated home sale doesn’t.

actually both of those are just marketing terms. you still have a legal obligation to make disclosures even if you call it “as is” and nothing obligates a seller to negotiate over any repairs or renovations.

“as-is” just means that the seller isn’t giving any concessions for the old stuff.

This.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never cared if a house is staged. We bought our current home with its 25 year old builder grade fixtures and all the old people furniture in it.

Then we did a gut reno and made it our own.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting to hear about the under 45 guy or girl who has bought 4 separate primary residences to live in since 2005. I'm 45 and just bought my first condo last year (in Arlington for all cash). I rented apartments for all my adult life.

My condo was built in 1987. Some things are original like the tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, and the bathtub. The kitchen looks renovated around 2005 to 2010, so it's new enough for me. I have never vanities and light fixtures in the bathroom, so that freshens things up a bit. Before I moved in, I painted the interior, updated the carpets in the bedrooms, and ordered custom window treatments. I might upgrade the master bath to a walk in shower In a few years, but my cash reserves are low now.

I was willing to buy a condo that was as old as the late 80's as far as kitchens and bathrooms go. Anything older just seemed too dated.

[Anonymous]

What did your realtor say? It's house and location specific

[Anonymous]

We bought an outdated house. It was fine for a long time. It was clean and freshly painted and that was enough.

Do minor repairs like broken windows or cabinet doors that are off hinges.

It can be dated and move in ready.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the price …
More than 2 million needs to be updated.