bronze Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Please help me out here Would you prefer a slightly cheaper house with a bit of work to do, new carpets mainly and looks bit scruffy because of small things (has been freshly painted) or would you prefer to pay more to have it all done I ask because I started getting our house ready for the market before christmas. I've painted most of it but feel like its 2 steps forward and one back because of the wear and tear of having us living in it. Do you think I should just stick it on the market now before autumn and lose a little on the price spend the money ourselves and try and get it done? I don't think we could knock huge amounts off the price more the value of new carpets and a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I would save your monyt tbh, because the chances are that the carpets and any colour scheme you put in aren't going to be to the taste of your purchaser anyway......and there is all the extra upheaval involved too. Not easy when you have a young family. Go for the soft lighting a and a dew drops of vanilla essence on a baking tray in a warm oven just before your viewers arrive instead. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 It's a difficult one... On the one hand, I find it really strange that people will sometimes turn a house down because of the decorating. They don't seem to look at the actual house! You would probably find that the house will sell quicker if you do the bits and bobs although I doubt you would get the cost back. On the other hand, some people will want to stamp their own mark on a new house and it will be a wasted effort. I think that that is the line that I would take but that is probably because I am lazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm with Egluntine. Make it warm and welcoming and clean ( as far as you can with a family!) and have lots of spiel ready about what a wonderful area it is, etc etc. Houses around us are going really fast a the moment - not enough sellers in the market. And they are making the asking price. In fact one sold in an hour of being on the market. Maybe a blip but an encouraging one. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I would say put it on the market sooner rather than later and just be sure it is tidy when vewings happen. We rented a 'big yellow' lock uo and took loads of stuff there before we put the house on the market to make the house look uncluttered and tidy. I would say that clean carpets are a must so its worth hiring a steam cleaner or paying someone to do them for you, rooms look a million times better for clean carpets Washing down the woodwork is a good idea and paint over any crayon marks but I wouldnt go full on decorating unless its truly terrible Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted August 9, 2009 Author Share Posted August 9, 2009 I would say that clean carpets are a must so its worth hiring a steam cleaner or paying someone to do them for you, rooms look a million times better for clean carpets Washing down the woodwork is a good idea and paint over any crayon marks but I wouldnt go full on decorating unless its truly terrible Good luck! Good this is the level I think I'm going to go for which means I'm almost there as mil said she would pay for a top to bottom clean and we're getting a carpet cleaner man in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I agree with Tasha - with kids the biggest problem is clutter so get rid of that and a general spruce up/clean. Good luck Bron! Hope it goes quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted August 9, 2009 Author Share Posted August 9, 2009 I agree with Tasha - with kids the biggest problem is clutter so get rid of that and a general spruce up/clean. Good luck Bron! Hope it goes quickly! Thing is I've seen your houses and though mines not quite how clean is your house even tidy it looks scummy compared to yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reikiranf Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Being awkward I would say that it depends on the buyer! But if your house is clean and not cluttered so it looks as spacious as possible then you shouldn't have a problem, as has been pointed out previously the chances of a buyer having the same taste as you is quite slim. Personally speaking I would buy a house that wasn't to my taste decor wise and needed work doing to it, but only if the house was clean and I could move into it and get the work done in my own time. So strike while the iron's hot! Good luck selling and happy hunting Amanda ps if you want to get cleaning & decluttering & don't know where to start check out www.flylady.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Bron I'm sure your house is lovely When we sold our old house I went around it trying to imagine what a buyer would see, kind of with a 'fresh pair of eyes". Have you anyone who could do that for you, to perhaps point out things which need slight attention to make them look the best they can do? My house always looks much better in photos than in real life- on the photos you can't see the chipped paintwork & the off-cream/scratched couch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfrock Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 the best advice I can offer is to ask the estate agent what they think - they are the experts. That is what I did when I was selling mine 3 years ago - I was all set to have the bathroom regrouted etc but he said to leave it. There is only so much a person can take in when they are looking at a house and the little bits that we notice on your own home don't even register on the viewer. They will be more interested in the size of the rooms / bathroom / kitchen / garden than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I think many people do not notice a lot when they walk around the house as you are usually just looking at size of room, aspect etc rather than how it is decorated. I always look past the decoration as I know it is probably not going to be how I want it done. We've bought two new places, one old house that had been done up and then this one that hadn't been touched since the 70's. As long as its fairly clean and tidy I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck. ps I would add as you have very young children you probably have lots of toys and sometimes they can overwhelm a house so perhaps a few less (thinking back to my house when my kids were young there was bright plastic things everywhere ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy chickens! Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 If you're going to concentrate on anything, my advice is to look at the front of the house as a priority - I know when we were house hunting, we would do a 'drive by' before the final shortlisting. Are you pricing to sell as a house to do up, or as a house to live in? If the second, then spruce up the front door and entrance hall, make sure the front garden/drive if any are extra clean and tidy - most garden centres do ready made tubs to put out if you don't like gardening, and a tonne of gravel can hide a multitude of sins - and then follow the rest of the excellent advice already given!! Many people make up there minds within 30 seconds, or so I've read, so really go for that first impression! You could also ask a trusted friend to get in character as the house doctor and be very honest.... Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirl Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm not the person to ask. OH moaned I wanted the house to look like a new build before I put it on the market. I think he just didn't want to do all those little jobs. As has already been mentioned get rid of any clutter, dirt and scribble and you should be fine. OH agreed that we would do a little job every week until we sold. Luckily for him we sold straight away so he got out of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Like Redwing we used storage for some of our stuff while our house was on the market - there are a lot of people offering it now and it isn't expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Lots of good advice here, it worked for us too. We stored all the junk in my parent's garage (poor them!), finished a few jobs that really should have been done in the first place, cleaned thoroughly and painted a couple of really grotty walls. I also jetwashed the block paving outside, it needed doing anyway, and we brightened up the front with a few flowers etc. We parked our car around the corner at mum's as we knew the prospective buyers wanted lots of parking space and we wanted it to look huge. We made sure the downstairs rooms looked bright and clean and had a fire going in the woodburner (HUGE selling point and something else we knew they were keen on!). The kids were playing outside during the viewing which showed how safe the garden was for children. We sold it in under a week. By the time the buyers went from hall to living room they had decided they liked it, the kitchen sealed it for them. By that time, the bathroom (which was clean but needed replacing) didn't matter and we took a slightly reduced price to account for that - which we had accounted for in the asking price. Also find out as much as you can about who is viewing and what they are looking for - your estate agent can tell you this, make them work for their fees! Then present your house to show off those features. Good luck. Things are selling here too, the market is definitely picking up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I'd guess it depends on who is looking at it: most people spend on decorating when they move in anyway, but some people wont want the hassle. definitely de-clutter, and replace/repair/put away anything which is damaged. Sort out the front of the house. As you say yourself, with familly life ongoing you can't live in a characterless showhome waiting to sell. And generally people like houses that feel like happy family homes rather than souless "spaces" - you just need to make it feel as spacious, bright, looked-after and clutter-free as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
