Sell This House

[Bruce King]

I’ve seen too many crappy paint jobs too. Drywall touch ups include much more than picture hanging nails and nail pops. A proper prep will take a few days of filling and sanding. Sounds like woodworking huh, it’s actually harder if done right. We had those paint runs that come out the edges of rollers on a 17ft ceiling. Had to hide them by mudding over. Bought a scaffold on wheels for 500 that was well worth it.

[Mel Fulks]

All interesting comments! But bright colors predominated for a long time. Electric lights made it possible to to use dark
colors on walls. A good yellow was particularly admired ,but expensive; now ,a lot of people make a big show of
putting on sun glasses when they enter a yellow room.

[Jim Koepke]

But bright colors predominated for a long time. Electric lights made it possible to to use dark
colors on walls.

Taste in what is predominate changes over time. Maybe some day people will be looking for bright or darker colors in a home.

A note on electric lights, once heard a real estate professional mention having all the lights turned on when showing a house and having the window shades open.

Of course, for every rule there is an exception. Maybe in some areas having bright paisley wallpaper would be a selling point.

jtk

[Lisa Starr]

I have to say, hire a great realtor! Prior to selling our home we interviewed 3 realtors that all had a really high sales volume. After interviewing, one realtor clearly stood out, because she was much better at giving a dollar value to items that made our property better or worse than the comps and square footage price. With her help, we arrived at an asking price with a minimum acceptable bid in our minds. We also had a schedule in place of when and how much we'd drop the asking price, based on feedback. We went on the market with potential buyers fighting over showings. Showings started on Friday and by Sunday night we had a contract with a price higher than what the other realtors were wanting to list for!

When it was time to sell DH's mom's home, we used the same realtor. It was a somewhat unique property, as it had a tiny in-law apartment, but had to be occupied by a relative. It could not be rented to just anyone. It was connected via an unheated breezeway. She indicated that if could "heat" the breezeway, it would make the home appraise about $10,000 higher. DH and I did the work ourselves for the cost of a bit of duct work. The home sold to a couple with a parent with serious medical conditions. It was exactly what they were looking for and they offered over asking price.

Finally, when our son was looking for a fixer-upper home to purchase, she again offered great advise. With her help we were able to purchase a foreclosure that left plenty of budget for the updating and repairs.

Take time to find a full-time realtor that is good at their job.

[Jim Becker]

All interesting comments! But bright colors predominated for a long time. Electric lights made it possible to to use dark
colors on walls. A good yellow was particularly admired ,but expensive; now ,a lot of people make a big show of
putting on sun glasses when they enter a yellow room.

Here's the thing....aside from brightening and enlarging things visually, neutral colors permit the prospective buyer to more easily envision the space as their own because there is less distraction. It's the same reason that staging takes things to minimal furnishings and other clutter. In the sales world, this is part of the concept of "transfer of ownership" where the sales professional creates a situation where the prospective buyer takes "in hand" the goods being sold and is made to feel like they own them already. For a pencil, that might mean actually holding it. For a home, it means standing there and feeling it as one's own home. You may not personally be feeling the love about this kind of thing, but it's real and it works.

[Brian Elfert]

I’ve seen too many crappy paint jobs too. Drywall touch ups include much more than picture hanging nails and nail pops. A proper prep will take a few days of filling and sanding. Sounds like woodworking huh, it’s actually harder if done right. We had those paint runs that come out the edges of rollers on a 17ft ceiling. Had to hide them by mudding over. Bought a scaffold on wheels for 500 that was well worth it.

I bought a foreclosure house that had been badly taken care of. There were small dents and dings everywhere. (It was not intentional from what I can tell.) There was a good week of time put into just filling and sanding the walls. Even with all the time put in I keep seeing spots that should have been filled and sanded.

The walls would look a little nicer if more filling/sanding was done and the walls were painted again. I hate painting around trim so much it probably won't be repainted until I sell, or I finally decide to hire a painter. The doors and all trim had been torn out for replacement when I painted the walls initially.

[Bruce King]

Shine an LED flashlight across the walls, it will scare the crap out of you but most of that is not noticeable unless the sun shines across it a certain time of day. Just fix the biggies. When looking at a new house or any house to buy turn off the ceiling lights and look with a good LED flashlight. The ceiling light blinds you. A common statement by home inspectors is “turn out that light so I can see!”