Getting a house ready to sell is a LOT more work than I'd anticipated.

[OnTheBrink]

Today, we took two pick-up truck loads to storage. I still have so much more decluttering to do. I am hoping to get the house spotlessly clean this weekend and have the realtor out next week.  So many details! So much stress! Augh!

[Pawz4me]

:grouphug: :grouphug:

 

We're probably going to be doing the same thing in a few months.  I'm not looking forward to it!

[goldberry]

  :grouphug:  Just went through that last summer.  It's worse if you have a lot of repairs to make also.  We had to replace flooring. :(  

 

And, you never truly SEE cobwebs until you are trying to get ready for someone to look at your house... ugh.

 

[Guest]

I wish we would have done a lot of that work while we were there and could enjoy it.  :0(

All the sympathy in the world.  

 

We are still recovering from our last move.  Every time my dh gets happy feet and starts talking about "moving on" I get hives.  

 

Good luck with getting it all done, and afterward give yourself a treat!  

[Guest]

Oh, I forgot to mention one of my pet peeves.  I know people want to have a move-in-ready house, but for heaven's sake, it is OBVIOUS that it is not NEW.  Let's not pretend.  I wish people *could* just leave that old paint on the wall and take $1000 off the price.  I just spent weeks of my life painting over the yucky color the flippers chose.  It's especially exasperating to find that I have been painting using the color they painted OVER when they flipped the house.  

 

I know it can't happen this way anymore--people have no imagination and have to have everything all tarted up.  Even so, it is still my pet peeve.  

[OnTheBrink]

  :grouphug:  Just went through that last summer.  It's worse if you have a lot of repairs to make also.  We had to replace flooring. :(

 

And, you never truly SEE cobwebs until you are trying to get ready for someone to look at your house... ugh.

 

I had to replace the roof a few weeks ago (which is something I said I would not do!) because it started leaking into the house! So, new roof and new ceiling in the bathroom.  I've also replaced the front steps because the wood had warped and I felt it was a safety hazard. Those repairs have cost me $4500. But, I can advertise that it has a new roof! Bah.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention one of my pet peeves.  I know people want to have a move-in-ready house, but for heaven's sake, it is OBVIOUS that it is not NEW.  Let's not pretend.  I wish people *could* just leave that old paint on the wall and take $1000 off the price.  I just spent weeks of my life painting over the yucky color the flippers chose.  It's especially exasperating to find that I have been painting using the color they painted OVER when they flipped the house.  

 

I know it can't happen this way anymore--people have no imagination and have to have everything all tarted up.  Even so, it is still my pet peeve.  

 

I hear that. And I'm waiting for the realtor to give me a market analysis before I dive into painting. My daughter's room is lilac and neon yellow (her choice) so they may want that covered, but if I have to do that to get this place to sell, I'm doing it with the cheapest paint I can find. I'm done putting money into this place.  It's an 85 year old house. It has a new roof, 5 year old furnace, 6 year old major appliances, new washer and dryer, laminate in the living room, ceramic in the kitchen, bath and hallway, and hardwood in the bedrooms. Wiring and plumbing are up-to-date and the kitchen and bathroom have been modernized. I think the yellow and lilac walls can be tolerated! LOL

[teachermom2834]

I have sold 2 houses with bright kid colored rooms. One sold in 5 days and the other in 2 weeks and market was not hot either time. I think it depends on the price range. Ours were on the low end price wise and I think buyers in that range were happy just to have safe and functional and could overlook decor. Definitely get your realtor's advice. You might not need to paint.

[AmandaVT]

We're in the thick of it now - just had our 12th showing. One from earlier this week got their times mixed up and my realtor frantically texted me to tell me that the other realtor and buyers would be at my house in 25 min. I had just finished putting two loads of clean laundry on the bed and had a sink full of dishes. ugh. Quickest 20 min of my life before we got out w/ 5 min to spare!! 

 

And yes to a PP - my house never looks as dirty as I'm inspecting it before a showing! Dust seems to show up out of nowhere!

 

Good luck OP!

[elegantlion]

The new roof will be a major selling point. I love old houses, but so many we looked at had old bad roofs. Best of luck on your sale. 

[bodiesmom]

We just went through this at the beginning of May.

I hear ya sista- oh my goodness it was sooooooo much work! Cleaning, purging, staging, cleaning, cleaning....

It was funny though because once our house sold I had lots of offers to help pack up the house for the big move. I haven't needed to take anyone up on their offer because just about everything was packed and clean before it went on the market. :-)

 

Persevere my friend! It will allllllll be worth it once you move into your new home...which we will be doing a week from today!!!!

SO EXCITED!!!

[gingersmom]

We still talk about a house we saw with a purple and fluorescent green room :)

[hmvaughan4]

We just put ours on the market, I understand the pain! Good luck!

[hjffkj]

And this is exactly the reason I was thinking about just making this house work for the long haul. It's a mile from dh's work and less from the library. There are 3 bedrooms so one for us, one for the boys and one for the girls. The yard is a good size and their is a pool across the street from our house. I was using Pinterest today to pin storage ideas for how we'd make the most of the space so it's tolerable for another 5 or so years.

[RKWAcademy]

We are right there with you. We've moved some stuff to storage but are busy finishing up the little details we never got around to when we remodeled the kitchen TWO years ago! It feels like it will never be ready to list! Our to-do list gets longer and longer. I'm almost certain with all our hard work, it is supposed to be getting shorter and shorter.

 

Also, from what I've read, if you grab them with the main living areas, buyers will overlook odd colors in the non-master bedrooms. At least that's what I'm hoping for my daughter's entirely pink - down to the ceiling fan - room.

[momacacia]

Yep. I never want to move.

[Harriet Vane]

:grouphug:

[lynn]

Dh wants to build a new house. I really don't want to go through all it takes to sell. We have to neutralize the paint colors if we do. I love my New England yellow walls, Cleary sage kitchen and eucalyptus master bedroom but it's not for everyone. I overheard some ladies talking about how they hated rooms being different colors and from I understand it will be $$ to pay someone to do it.

[twoxcell]

Oh boy can I relate. We just sold our house last fall. Our entire spring and summer was spent working on and prepping the house. We have no intention of selling our new house anytime soon.😉 This summer we are excited to be able to actually have some fun.

[staceyobu]

We are right in the middle of selling this house and closing on a new one.  We are in an older house that had tons of last minute repairs and an exterior that needed repainting (worse job EVER).  And, despite us swearing up and down that we were going to buy a BRAND new house in our new city, we fell in love with an older neighborhood and are buying a home in need of lots of work.

 

So, now we are killing ourselves on both sides.  

 

I have exactly 10 days to be out of this house.  I have packed like 3 boxes.  I am starting to feel like I just can't do anything else.  But, I have to...

[Donna A.]

  :grouphug:  Just went through that last summer.  It's worse if you have a lot of repairs to make also.  We had to replace flooring. :(

 

And, you never truly SEE cobwebs until you are trying to get ready for someone to look at your house... ugh.

 

Or have just moved out and have to go back to clean the house you just vacated.  I said to my dear, sweet, patient, kind friend who was helping me the other day, "How come I never know how dirty I am until I move out of a house?" :ohmy:

 

Thankfully we didn't have to get a house ready to sell, as we were renting.  But we did a few years ago, so I empathize with the OP.  Heck, even getting a rental clean enough, and touching up anything we *might* have done and could get blamed for (or can't prove that we didn't do it) in order to get our full deposit back is exhausting! :001_unsure:  

 

Lord willing, this was our LAST move... and we did buy a house that was "move in ready". ;)   But that's because we've moved SO many times, and I am SO tired of cleaning up other people's messes (esp in rentals)... it's gotten to the point where I'm suffering for it physically.  They're gonna' have to drag my dead body out of this house someday!  :P 

[Catwoman]

I had to replace the roof a few weeks ago (which is something I said I would not do!) because it started leaking into the house! So, new roof and new ceiling in the bathroom. I've also replaced the front steps because the wood had warped and I felt it was a safety hazard. Those repairs have cost me $4500. But, I can advertise that it has a new roof! Bah.

 

 

I hear that. And I'm waiting for the realtor to give me a market analysis before I dive into painting. My daughter's room is lilac and neon yellow (her choice) so they may want that covered, but if I have to do that to get this place to sell, I'm doing it with the cheapest paint I can find. I'm done putting money into this place. It's an 85 year old house. It has a new roof, 5 year old furnace, 6 year old major appliances, new washer and dryer, laminate in the living room, ceramic in the kitchen, bath and hallway, and hardwood in the bedrooms. Wiring and plumbing are up-to-date and the kitchen and bathroom have been modernized. I think the yellow and lilac walls can be tolerated! LOL

Please don't buy cheap paint!

 

It won't cover and you'll end up needing three or four coats of paint. Buy a really good paint that will cover in one or two coats, or if you get a good tinted primer to match the paint color, you might even get away with one coat of primer and one coat of paint. It's not worth skimping on paint. You don't save that much money by buying the cheap stuff and the amount of extra time you will spend putting more coats of paint on the walls can be significant.

[Catwoman]

We still talk about a house we saw with a purple and fluorescent green room :)

We still talk about a house we saw that had lilac tile, toilet, sink, and bathtub in one bathroom (with pink accent tile,) and bright green and yellow tile in another bathroom, with bright green toilet, sink, and shower... and a yellow countertop on the vanity. :svengo:

 

It was like the Easter bunny threw up in those bathrooms. They were hideous. And the worst thing was, the owner was this sweet old lady and she was right there when we were looking at the house so we couldn't laugh. We kept telling her how everything was so well-maintained and looked like it was practically brand new -- which it actually did. But it was still hideous. It was too scary to be retro!

[AmandaVT]

Please don't buy cheap paint!

 

It won't cover and you'll end up needing three or four coats of paint. Buy a really good paint that will cover in one or two coats, or if you get a good tinted primer to match the paint color, you might even get away with one coat of primer and one coat of paint. It's not worth skimping on paint. You don't save that much money by buying the cheap stuff and the amount of extra time you will spend putting more coats of paint on the walls can be significant.

 

Yeah, don't skimp on paint. I tried that with walmart paint and it was the most agonizing thing dealing with that paint. We ended up using 2 coats of good quality primer on the room that really needed repainting. See what the realtor says though, mine actually advised against going crazy painting. She said she's seen plenty of clients go out of their way to re-paint with a nice light neutral color, only to have the buyers immediately repaint. She said most people plan to repaint anyway, so don't go nuts about it. I painted the room that was in need - I had given up with the walmart paint and ended up painting a giant smiley face in the middle of the wall, so it really needed it! And I did touch ups in a few spots - like where a chair had rubbed against the wall a ton and left dark streaks on it. 

[Tammyla]

Sherwin Williams has paint sales...I think in July or you can find a coupon.  Recommended here by a fellow boardie was their Harmony paint.  I was amazed to be able to paint a room and sleep in that night; oh, and we covered a reddish brown (previous owners choice) paint in two coats.  

 

 

Good paint is worth the price, but I'm all for saving money with sales, and coupons.

 

 

:grouphug:

 

 

There are lots of good quality paints out there, I just liked the very low odor of the SW-Harmony.

[Pink and Green Mom]

I still have nightmares of preparing our house to sell almost 3 years ago.  The dumpsters, all the little projects that suddenly had to be completed and added up so fast, the horrible lady staging my house ("I cannot believe you don't have x, y and z just laying around"), the realtors calling from the driveway at 6 pm ("I have a client who would like to see your house right this very second").  And to boot, I gained 10 lbs. that I have yet to lose just by eating out all the time because I was just too darned tired to cook after doing all the work or was afraid to mess up the kitchen.

 

Ugh.  And my husband's company was just bought and the new HQ is thousands of miles away.  I told him no way am I moving again and I don't even like where we live. 

[Nicholas_mom]

Oh I can relate!  We spent 4 months preparing to put our house on the market.  Last month, we had 3 realtors tells to take down the wallpaper and repaint the living/dining rm.  And if you had new carpets and flooring, it can sale at "move in ready."  We re-painted the whole house except kitchen and sunroom.  We put new carpets and had to put new flooring because I had alittle kitchen fire and put it out by throwing the towel on the vinyl floor and stomp it out.  All a week before picture day of the house.

 

We had 2 realtors tell us "how can you sell the house-- it has no granite counters and no wooden floors AND NO deck!  I used to love my house :(

 

It's on the market now 3 weeks and NO ONE HAS COME BY!!!!  Soooooooooo, frustrating!

 

 

[lllll]

nm

[PeachyDoodle]

Dh wants to build a new house. I really don't want to go through all it takes to sell. We have to neutralize the paint colors if we do. I love my New England yellow walls, Cleary sage kitchen and eucalyptus master bedroom but it's not for everyone. I overheard some ladies talking about how they hated rooms being different colors and from I understand it will be $$ to pay someone to do it.

 

I think your colors sound lovely (she says from her sunshine yellow living room).

 

We looked at a house last weekend where the owner was allowing his granddaughter and her young child to stay temporarily. The closets were FULL of piles of unfolded clothes. I mean, floor to ceiling. Worse, when we walked outside we all realized we were covered in fleas. It was a nice home (although dated) that the poor man built with his own hands. He was mortified. I felt so sorry for for him.

 

That said, I MUCH prefer looking at a home without the owner present. That was a really awkward situation.

[OnTheBrink]

Well, I don't have granite counters and I'm not buying them! *stomping foot*. My goal for before the realtor comes is unclutter and clean. If she thinks I need to paint, fine. I have a hunch she may want me to paint the porch rails and floor, as the paint is peeling. Problem is, we've had so much rain and humidity, there's been no day to get anything painted. The bedrooms have hardwood, but they're in very bad shape. I'd be willing to put flooring over them or offer an allowance for it. One bedroom is 7 x 9 and the other is 11 x 11, so it won't cost much to either put in flooring or give an allowance for it. All other flooring is in good shape. 

[Harriet Vane]

I'd go with the flooring allowance, personally. Or get them refinished. I hate to think of wood floors being covered. As a buyer, I would see that as something that would be nice to do while the house is empty, before moving in.

[lllll]

nm

[OnTheBrink]

I can't refinish the floors because when the previous owner cut out a square of it in each doorway and put down MDF. I think he did that when he was putting the ceramic tile in the hall, but he's ruined the hardwood, so it's going to have to be covered. 

[Guest]

Could you inset a contrast into the part the previous owner removed--stone or hardwood--and make it a feature?

 

We did something like that and it was a hit.

[OnTheBrink]

Not sure. I think it would be easier to just cover it with a laminate or vinyl plank (or offer an allowance) and call it good. 

[Sun]

Not sure. I think it would be easier to just cover it with a laminate or vinyl plank (or offer an allowance) and call it good. 

 

Ask a hardwood floor guy to take a look. It sounds like the kind of thing where they could patch new wood in there and stain it to match. It's a pretty easy repair for someone who does floors.

[RKWAcademy]

hardwoods are so expensive.  we just paid an arm and a leg for one room and a piece of the kitchen from where we remodeled and moved cabinets.  We had no choice but I'd offer the allowance if we could have gotten away with it.