Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buyers are stupid if they think that toilet seats, landscaping and paint are problems

True, but not all buyers have "vision" and unfortunately you can't predict whether you will get one who can see past a paint, landscaping or toilet seat situation.

+1

When I sold my home last year, I ended up putting about $5K in minor repairs, painting some rough spots, and paying for storage to move out a lot of clutter. My house sold in 2 days with multiple offers while homes of identical size within one or two streets sat on the market for months. When buyers see minor things that are in bad shape, and it makes them think that the the owner is cheap/lazy and that there are major repairs items hiding in the house.

Anonymous wrote:

However, my 70-something parents would be all excited about new PLUSH carpeting.

True. Mine would too. But not in a 5 BR house! I guess know your potential buyers, right?

Anonymous wrote:Buyers are stupid if they think that toilet seats, landscaping and paint are problems

True, but not all buyers have "vision" and unfortunately you can't predict whether you will get one who can see past a paint, landscaping or toilet seat situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I echo the suggestions that you make things look clean and fresh. Most upgrades do not pay off at resale so just make it look as nice as possible but don't invest money in upgrades.

I find it pretty annoying when I look at a house where someone has gone through right before sale and changed all the light fixtures. They invariably buy something brand new but mediocre which I'll now need to reimburse them for even though I think they look cheap and not to my taste. Even worse is when someone sticks a new pedestal sink in a tiny bathroom with no storage to make the room look bigger at sale. I have to live there; I need somewhere to put the extra rolls of toilet paper. I just want the house to look clean and uncluttered so I can imagine how I would make it look if I lived there.

So true! We looked at an overpriced house and they were so proud about the new PLUSH carpet they had installed. And probably jacked up the price because of it. I have two dogs and three kids and just wondered what was under it and how fast I could get it ripped out. If you do replace carpets (to keep things clean and tidy as other posters have stressed) just put in the minimum and don't count on getting "reimbursed" for it. Clean and uncluttered is great advice.

We also have kids/dogs and have no use for new carpet at houses we are looking at, because we plan to rip it up as soon as we can and put down hardwood. We actually mentally consider this to be part of the sales price...our "upper limit" is different for each house based on how much carpet needs to be replaced.

However, my 70-something parents would be all excited about new PLUSH carpeting.

We are putting our house on the market this weekend. We did the same as what others said: had our realtor walk through and tell us what needed to be a) fixed and b) decluttered. In one room for instance, they told us to remove 25% of the stuff in there.

I was surprised a few times at what the realtors told us to do: we thought we needed new carpets in the bedrooms. They told us to save our money and just get them cleaned but instead take up the linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms and put down tile. I honestly had been living w/the linoleum for so long that I forgot it was there. We spent about $2k to do so, and it looks absolutely awesome. The realtors also told us to remove an old nasty florescent light in the kitchen and replace with something non-florescent. Much like the linoleum this is something that I didn't even notice anymore, but it looks MUCH better with the new light fixture.

Just make sure it SMELLS very clean.

When selling our condo, I avoided cooking and EVERY DAY I used my swiffer sweeper (wet wipes), dusted with pledge, used lemon counter cleaner, etc. Granted we got a contract in 2 days so I didn't have to do it for long.

Also make sure baseboards are sparkling white. Even if the walls have scuffs the baseboards can really bring a place down!

Anonymous wrote:I echo the suggestions that you make things look clean and fresh. Most upgrades do not pay off at resale so just make it look as nice as possible but don't invest money in upgrades.

I find it pretty annoying when I look at a house where someone has gone through right before sale and changed all the light fixtures. They invariably buy something brand new but mediocre which I'll now need to reimburse them for even though I think they look cheap and not to my taste. Even worse is when someone sticks a new pedestal sink in a tiny bathroom with no storage to make the room look bigger at sale. I have to live there; I need somewhere to put the extra rolls of toilet paper. I just want the house to look clean and uncluttered so I can imagine how I would make it look if I lived there.

So true! We looked at an overpriced house and they were so proud about the new PLUSH carpet they had installed. And probably jacked up the price because of it. I have two dogs and three kids and just wondered what was under it and how fast I could get it ripped out. If you do replace carpets (to keep things clean and tidy as other posters have stressed) just put in the minimum and don't count on getting "reimbursed" for it. Clean and uncluttered is great advice.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the majority of the opinions for attracting MOST buyers.

But as a buyer, I'm actually the opposite. The crappier it looks, the better the bargain will be. Since I'm a value conscious shopper, I look for bargains and I'm more than willing to fix everything myself.

Yes, this exactly. I have passed on houses that are updated right before selling because a) good chance that they have gone with the cheapest contractor, materials and fixtures b) since the fixes are cosmetic and so hodge-podge, I will have to shell out money twice for the same item c) no accountability if contractor goofed up something. I'll have to pay someone new to make the repairs.

I agree with the majority of the opinions for attracting MOST buyers.

But as a buyer, I'm actually the opposite. The crappier it looks, the better the bargain will be. Since I'm a value conscious shopper, I look for bargains and I'm more than willing to fix everything myself.

If the home is clean and fresh looking (like new paint, declutter) that should be sufficent. Maybe power wash the deck. If there's any glaring problems, maybe fix that. But don't worry about updating too much. If your home is priced appropriately for the out dated fixtures/kitchen, you'll be fine. The house we bought was all original to 1960 - but was in great shape and clean. I prefer to renovate rather than pay for someone else's upgrades that are cheaply done or not my taste. Since our house was in good shape, we could deal with the old bathrooms and kitchen until we got to them.

I echo the suggestions that you make things look clean and fresh. Most upgrades do not pay off at resale so just make it look as nice as possible but don't invest money in upgrades.

I find it pretty annoying when I look at a house where someone has gone through right before sale and changed all the light fixtures. They invariably buy something brand new but mediocre which I'll now need to reimburse them for even though I think they look cheap and not to my taste. Even worse is when someone sticks a new pedestal sink in a tiny bathroom with no storage to make the room look bigger at sale. I have to live there; I need somewhere to put the extra rolls of toilet paper. I just want the house to look clean and uncluttered so I can imagine how I would make it look if I lived there.

Buyers are stupid if they think that toilet seats, landscaping and paint are problems

I think the biggest impact (besides basic cleaning) is decluttering and removing some pieces of furniture to make it seem roomier.

I had a case where two agents came through and gave advice on what to fix. One said to buy some new appliances for kitchen, change door knobs, paint, re-carpet, and do many other tiny things. Second said to paint, re-carpet and basically make the place look fresh and fix glaring problems. We went with the second agent (for several reasons). We still spent a lot of money with the second agent to do repairs, but I probably saved several thousand dollars. The house was in a desirable neighborhood where homes sell quickly.

We got multiple offers within three days.