https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 09 Nov 2026 22:02:35 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll/page/2#post-2172954 Sat, 09 May 2015 16:10:02 +0000 MaryM 2172954@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: We did! And after we saw some really crappily painted kitchens, our realtor said it was a smart decision to not try to paint our cabinets. And when we got the appraisal back, the houses with newer kitchens were only rated $3K more than ours, so we're glad we didn't attempt to redo it (our cheapest quote was $8K!)</p> <p>The buyer has a little girl and said that the girl LOVED the new backyard, so we're glad we put the money there instead. </p> <p>And even though we didn't tackle all 7 pages of the suggested staging, the sellers agent said it was the best staged house they saw. I think the biggest impact was really just clearing out 60-70% of our stuff. </p> <p>And now we're more than halfway done with packing for the move too. We'll be closing on both houses (old and new) the last week of May.</p> <p>ETA: Oh! And our house sold in 12 days. We're pretty sure that was mostly due to staging (because there were very similar houses on the market, some of them were even listed cheaper, but we got a full price offer) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2172929 Sat, 09 May 2015 14:44:50 +0000 chopsuey 2172929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're putting our condo on the market soon. Our renters moved out last week and we're spending about 2k to touch up the paint, fix appliances, replace carpet in one room, pressure wash and stain the deck. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2172915 Sat, 09 May 2015 14:11:52 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2172915@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: any update? Did you sell? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2064836 Wed, 11 Feb 2015 15:15:58 +0000 MaryM 2064836@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I thought I'd update y'all since you were so helpful!</p> <p>DH started moving stuff into our storage unit today so that interior staging would be easier (and I think he was just sick of our rooms shrinking because of walls of boxes). </p> <p>He's going to try to paint smaller areas (bathrooms/kitchen) himself, and we'll hire a painter to do our basement which is larger and needs more surface work (it's paneled and some of them are bowed or gapping). </p> <p>We ended up removing the back patio because it was only about $500 to remove the concrete and sod it, and wow! the sod isn't even green and it's made a huge difference!</p> <p>I think because we ended up spending money there, DH is pretty set now on not touching the kitchen other than a really good scrub and updated drawer pulls (they're currently black, I'll replace with chrome or brushed nickel). I feared that trying to do something without doing everything would end up looking worse, and I think I finally got him on board with that. </p> <p>I think I'm feeling a lot less freaked out than I was last week thank god!</p> <p>Our realtor also suggested some of the stager's recommendations weren't necessary (like replacing roman shades with mini blinds) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2052155 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 12:33:43 +0000 mrs. wagon 2052155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I were you I would rent a storage space, majorly declutter INCLUDING storing non-essential furniture, paint, hire cleaners to deep clean. I wouldn't try to change the cabinets, buy new appliances or do any outdoor work. That's all "simple fixes" that might even be a selling point for buyers-- easy ways they can customize the house to their liking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2052012 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 11:40:49 +0000 coopsmama 2052012@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just sold our home this month. Our home needed some major work - cracked tiles in entry way and bathroom, blotchy paint in kitchen and dining room, unfinished basement, it desperately needed new carpeting, leaky garage, the backyard was not landscaped, broken baseboards, cracked stovetop in kitchen, etc. I think I've made my point -- it was an ongoing fixer upper (we did NOT do all that damage -- was there when we foolishly bought it). :) That said our realtor said not to fix a dime on any upgrades and to just clean and stage it well and see how it did on the market before worrying about repairs.</p> <p>We spent a Saturday staging it -- rearranging furniture, going to Target and spending $300 on organizational bins/pictures/decorative items to make it look a little more polished, and made each room make "sense." We deep cleaned the heck out of it ourselves in one day too, including cleaning the tile grout, baseboards, cabinets and closets. Just made it shine even with all of the existing damage. I really spent a lot of time in preparation for showings -- a couple hours. We just did the best with what we had.</p> <p>We had two offers within 11 days -- and one was 5k over list price. I doubted our realtor's advice not to make any repairs but she was absolutely right and saved us a lot of $. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051877 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:43:23 +0000 rattles 2051877@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sold our urban, 1bed/1bath condo in 2013. We stored clutter and baby gear and did a basic bathroom reno - replaced our bathroom vanity, shelves, painted, new light fixture and shower curtain. With our market timing, I don't know that we got the money back in full, but I don't think it would have sold as high as it did otherwise, and we had to go as we'd outgrown the space. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051828 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:03:08 +0000 MaryM 2051828@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@GoGoSnoGirl: Great advice! It's so good to hear from someone who's both done a lot and a little!</p> <p>I'm working with the realtor who helped me find the home to begin with, and I trust him WAY more than the others I tried at first (one demanded I sign the exclusivity clause before she showed me anything and told me to ask my parents for $30K because I couldn't afford anything without that...the other was a friend of DH and well...just not very professional). My current realtor has six children so I know he works super hard to support that big family! lol</p> <p>@2babygirls: that's similar to what our realtor told us at first when he talked us out of redoing the kitchen. He said that if a buyer came back and said "but we want $X to fix this or that"...then we could consider the money we would have spent on the kitchen and it wouldn't hurt so much to drop the price a little. </p> <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: We technically started packing/decluttering last summer when we first started talking about redoing the kitchen (I packed up stuff in there that wasn't essential). So in a bunch of rooms we have a wall of boxes. I think DH is going to look at storage units this week, so hopefully we'll only have to pay that fee for up to two months before we have a house to move into. I actually enjoy packing, so whenever I have an empty box I'll work on things like book shelves and nick nacks and frames that we won't have out while selling. </p> <p>Our cabinets are maple colored, so not dark. And our house is not on the high end of the market. It's a starter home (but in this area, that's still $2-300K) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051724 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 08:35:57 +0000 autumnleaves 2051724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My friends who staged their homes, sold them super quick (like in a week). Our realtor told us we didn't need to do anything to our home except move some stuff out of the closets into storage - our house was on the market 90 days with him. At that point, we had already moved out and cleaned the carpet. I started with another realtor a couple days later - left paint colors on the walls, walls had a few scratches and the new realtor sold our home to another one of her customers in a week. The buyers loved the paint colors we had too. So in the end we did not put a lot of money into staging or fixing it up but it was on the market for over 90 days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051719 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 08:31:00 +0000 Mrs. Tricycle 2051719@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: Before listing! We didn't have a new house lined up before we listed ours, so we needed to be able to store a ton of stuff in case we had to stay somewhere temporarily before we closed on a new house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051718 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 08:29:52 +0000 Mrs. Tricycle 2051718@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our house was in pretty good condition, but before we listed it we put hardwoods in the kitchen (got rid of old laminate), which we laid ourselves, painted the inside of all our closets, painted our ceilings, and stored a lot of stuff. </p> <p>If your cabinets are dark laminate, I'd totally paint them white - probably worth it to make it look fresh and new. </p> <p>Our realtor had us leave the nursery orange, as she said perspective buyers would probably have young children. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051679 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:51:54 +0000 Modern Daisy 2051679@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$0. We spent a sunday reporganizing closets, etc but the place was already furnished and we were good about clutter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051666 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:42:50 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2051666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It depends on the value of the house overall. If you're trying to sell a $1-5 million dollar home, you may have to spend several thousand to get it to the level where potential buyers are willing to pay what it's really worth. I've been with potential buyers who were able to spend a few million on a house who were turned off by little things like broken tiles and chipped cabinet paint, because at that level you expect everything to be in good shape or it indicates an overall pattern of neglect. If your home is worth less than $100k, it doesn't make sense to spend much time or money on minor upgrades that won't get you a good return on your investment.</p> <p>I say you should consider the overall value of your house and how much each change will affect a potential buyer. Simple cosmetic changes with a big impact are worth doing, but expensive details that may go unnoticed probably won't matter unless it's a super high-end home or you're in a very buyer-friendly market. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051655 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:29:05 +0000 catomd00 2051655@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: just wanted to add that a stainkess fridge actually could be the best investment. My husband had a new stainless fridge but older white appliances in his 1980s kitchen and it was a selling point. It's cheap to upgrade the rest of the appliances if the fridge is already there! </p> <p>I wouldn't paint your cabinets, I'd paint walls first! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051620 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 06:22:46 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 2051620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When did you guys declutter/move furniture/get a storage unit vs listing?</p> <p>I'm so overwhelmed with this that I don't even know where to begin - and if everything falls into place, it's quite possible that we could be putting the house up for sale in the spring... Which is a few weeks away! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051617 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 06:19:07 +0000 hellobeeboston 2051617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All we did was super de-clutter. Threw out a lot and moved some furniture and baby toys to make the space seem larger. When I took the photos for the listing we moved stuff around and took photos when sun was streaming in... It was a condo though and pretty new and it sold in a day! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051590 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 01:44:33 +0000 2babygirls 2051590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: I personally wouldn't do it. We sold our house exactly one year ago &amp; even in the dead of winter we got an offer within 6 days that ended up going through. Keep in mind there will ALWAYS be so many other unexpected expenses arising when selling a home. I would consider the staging if your home sat stagnant for a long period or you were desperate, but not before you even list it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051585 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 00:50:25 +0000 jedeve 2051585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LBee: we lived in an apartment for six months before DH realized the kitchen floor wasn't tile. J think vinyl has improved since the 80s!</p> <p>No experience selling a home, but as a recent buyer I would say clean out your closets and get someone to deep clean. And then maybe add a few plants. The place we bought wasn't professionally stages but they had definitely cleaned out a lot. (I realize now the coat closet shelf didn't just store baseball hats, seeing as how mine is overflowing since it's the only storage in that area!) but it made me thing the house had lots of storage. It was also just immaculately clean, which made us feel like it was well taken cafe of. </p> <p>On the other hand, the furniture was terribly arranged, the house was painted pink, and the carpets sucked. But it was still such a great house we bought it!</p> <p>I just heard something on npr about how kitchen remodels are some of the worst ROI you can get in a house since people have such specific tastes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2051540 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 22:34:27 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2051540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've sold 2 condos built in the 80s &amp; for one I just had it clean &amp; things "finished" looking, but staged since I'd already moved out, &amp; the 2nd we took a long time to renovate the entire place &amp; also staged after I moved out. In the end, with good Realtors each time, each sold within a month just under/at list. So I think it is most important to find a good Realtor you can trust &amp; then price according to how quickly you want to sell. The dark &amp; blue paints probably would benefit from going lighter (use a good primer for going lighter!), but I'd leave the cabinets &amp; patio alone--other than leaving them both clean, tidy &amp; dressed up a little. We had our oak cabinets painted by a painter &amp; even with a professional doing it, there were lots of places we had to touch up within 1 month of him finishing the job. I also looked into refacing the cabinets before we decided to paint &amp; that was too pricey just for resale. Good luck to you!! :happy: :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050982 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:48:01 +0000 LBee 2050982@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: I completely agree with what ShootingStar said. </p> <p>As an aside, when I toured my first house, I thought the kitchen had beautiful tile. I made an offer and it was accepted (yay!) and then I was reviewing the pictures and noticed the tile looked weird. I started studying the pictures and realized it was vinyl that looked like tile. People are sometimes more oblivious than you think! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050966 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:37:07 +0000 MaryM 2050966@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: I agree</p> <p>Also, when I looked at the house, I didn't realize the cabinets were plastic (maybe I was naive as a first time home buyer though) and figured that I could paint them down the road. </p> <p>But I think it would become more obvious that they're plastic if I attempted to cover them up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050961 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:34:40 +0000 PurplePeony 2050961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: I have the same kind of kitchen cabinets in my house and that's why I said painting them would have irritated me as a buyer -- the paint just isn't going to stay on long-term. I'd rather know going into it that the cabinets are cheap and kinda ugly (which we felt was reflected in the overall price of the home) than think they looked nice and fresh but have them start chipping and peeling in a year and then HAVE to replace them right then. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050874 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 14:47:24 +0000 sunny 2050874@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wouldn't do those big items. Instead, I would look at simple ways to make your home more attractive/updated. We noticed that a big difference in our home vs. others in the neighborhood (same age, floorplan, finishes) was that the trim was painted white and the doors were replaced. Both are relatively easy to do and fairly inexpensive upgrades and they make such a big difference. If you don't want to replace the doors, then try painting. </p> <p>As far as staging, I think decluttering really helps. When we were house hunting, we were much more attracted to homes that had sparse furniture rather than no furniture or too much furniture. I honestly didn't mind that the homeowner's extra things were stuffed in the garage or closets. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050838 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 14:10:34 +0000 MaryM 2050838@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LaughLines: The concern we have with the kitchen is the material. It's not wood laminate (like not veneer). It's basically the came stuff as laminate counter tops...completely smooth. If it was paintable, I would have done it a long time ago!</p> <p>I've looked into how to paint them, and some sources say it "can" be done, but then warn that you pretty much can't touch them because the paint will easily flake off. I'd prefer not to make the kitchen look even worse with a horrible paint job. </p> <p>I think that's what we're planning to do with the patio though. We have a rug and outdoor loveseat/coffee table/chair set. I think we'd rather pay $1-200 for some nice potted plants to brighten it up than however much it would be to rip up a patio and lay sod. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050824 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 14:00:43 +0000 LaughLines 2050824@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>There are definitely areas that putting in some money means you get MORE money out than you put in, and there are some areas where you will put in money and you won't get any of it back. </p> <p>focus on things that are "deal breakers" for buyers.... I think kitchen cabinets can be a deal breaker.... they could like the house but not like the kitchen adn would walk away because of it. Maybe painting them is worth it. I've painted cabinets before - it's not that expensive but it does take some time. Or, if you're hiring painters anyway see if they can give you a deal on them.</p> <p>I don't think back patios are deal breakers... maybe add stuff to the patio to pretty it up? Potted plants that you could take with you to the next place, a outdoor area rug, some chairs, grill, etc, to cover up cracks in the patio? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050743 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 13:07:55 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 2050743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: we are in the process of listing, and my realtors theory is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". That means we will touch up paint where necessary, but we won't be replacing appliances or putting in new cabinets. </p> <p>FWIW, our house was built in the 80s and had an ugly dark brown kitchen. We painted our cabinets for maybe $300? $500? And it took two days. It took two gallons of paint plus the primer (our cabinets were laminate) which was expensive but made a huuuuuge different. We added hardware too. So, quick easy update that didn't cost a fortune. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050714 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:51:49 +0000 looch 2050714@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, if you do all of those things, maybe you wouldn't want to move, :wink: . </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050709 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:50:09 +0000 BandDmommy 2050709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've only sold one place, my condo. It was only 3 years old when I sold, so the only staging I did was de-clutter and taking out personal items. It sold in 3 days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050699 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:45:14 +0000 MaryM 2050699@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Great advice!</p> <p>DH and I have way too much stuff for the size house we have, so we do plan to get a storage unit. I've been boxing stuff up slowly but surely and we're hoping to do that soon, and do the simple "staging" stuff like clearing off counters, having closets not totally full, etc.</p> <p>Our bedroom is a dark color and my basement is williamsburg blue (which all might not like) so we're fine with going greige in those rooms and the bathrooms (which I didn't paint when I moved in). And DH is planning to mud any places that need touch ups through out the rest of the house so the painters can hit those with the neutral paint we still have. </p> <p>The realtor shows us comps the week before the stager came, and DH has been to a ton of open houses in our neighborhood. Our outdoor space does suck, but I think we've made the most of it, and I don't know if that would kill a sale (it's not a huge area anyway...but only end units have more space). There isn't a *ton* of competition, and the only places that have sat have been overpriced (whether they had updates or not). I think we're being a bit more realistic in our estimates. </p> <p>DH and I had considered replacing the cabinets, but our realtor said what you did...that we probably wouldn't make the money back. They don't look horrible...they're just cheap. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/house-selling-poll#post-2050688 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:40:10 +0000 JMOM 2050688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We spent somewhere between $5,000- $10,000 before we sold our house. Our realtor provided a home stager. It was overwhelming when she came. We didn't take all of her advice, but probably did about 3/4. You have to remember, a home stager is there to provide advice, you don't have to do what they say.<br /> I think the best thing about a stager is the fresh set of eyes. My husband would have never wanted to declutter as much as we did if she didn't come. I also liked that she told us what colors to paint and what color of carpet to get that would be most appealing to a buyer. Our house had blue carpet and we had a lot of wallpaper to get rid of. She had a lot of contacts in lighting and carpet so we found some really good deals on lights that we never would have found otherwise. Use the stager as a resource.<br /> We sold our house in 2 days for almost full price so I would absolutely use a stager again. I wish we didn't have to spend that much, but our house did look dated so we wanted it to sell as quickly as possible. </p>