Ottakee Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 We are trying to decide to sell or not right now. House prices are VERY low right now where we are and there is a highway supposed to be coming through our home (was supposed to be here last year but it could be 1-5+ years yet). Anyway, a friend and I were talking this morning about the Designed to Sell show on HGTV where they spend about $1500-2000 and really spruce up the house. I told her that we could do that and even if we lived her only 1-2 more months it could make our home much more enjoyable for US and if we would sell, make it easier to sell. So, has anyone gone through their home and been RUTHLESS with getting ride of stuff (we have way too much STUFF) and then fixed it up some like they were putting it on the market to sell but then didn't sell? Basically, we are at the point where we could buy another home and not have to sell this one but we don't HAVE to buy another home for years. If the RIGHT home (3+ bedrooms, barn for horses, 5+ acres, etc) comes up in our target area, we would buy. If not, we would just stay here longer. Any hints for me? One of the big appeals to me honestly, is moving so that we would be FORCED to dejunk. I told dh, it might be worth $200 to pay someone to help me once I do the major stuff to get this house totally cleaned up, maybe help with decore ideas, etc. This would still be way cheaper than even 1 month of a house payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim973 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 For my first house, I didn’t do anything at first. After it didn’t sell, I totally decluttered, rearranged things, bought new towels, painted, etc. It sold within two weeks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieMonster Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I haven't done the $2000 redesign to make my house more liveable/updated/enjoyable, but I've thought of doing it many times over. If I had the $2000 to spend in one big bunch, I think I would spend a year trying to decide which projects would actually be of import: most bang for your buck. But, that's cuz decorating and renovating and updating are not areas of particular knowledge. I have thought about hiring a designer to come to my house for an hour, look it over, and give me a list of her ideas. You can have them do that for a couple hundred or less. That might be the way to go. And I have started the major declutter thing. I just don't have one chunk of time to devote to it. It happens as I go through life. But, with every trip to Goodwill I like my home better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 We did something similar to DTS - we TOTALLY decluttered (rented a unit and prepacked everything to ship), painted, scoured, emptied, new towels, etc. We sold for a cash offer, no inspection, FSBO in a week. The market was better then - but I believe it was all God and a blessing to our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 My title wasn't very clear. I didn't mean that if you did it, did your home not sell but rather if you did something like that and then decided to STAY in your home. We are in the spot where we can move if the right place comes around. If not, we can easily stay here for a few years--at least until the highway dozes this place. Since the highway is most likely coming through, we really don't know if we want to spend $30,000+ to put up a barn, etc. here as we likely would not recoup that cost when the highway came through. It is the not knowing that is hard. If they move the highway over just 100 feet we will be looking at it instead of moving. I would just like to DEJUNK this home majorly and maybe do some updating--but not spend too much money. I just know the design to sell shows make a huge difference in a home with only $1-2 thousand dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 We did something similar to DTS - we TOTALLY decluttered (rented a unit and prepacked everything to ship), painted, scoured, emptied, new towels, etc. We did ALL of this too. We had it on the market for 9 months with many, many showings. Dropped the price really low, etc. Nada! Nothing! One guy spent an hour and a half looking at our house. I thought he had turned the football game on our 60 inch tv or something. It was/is just the horrible Florida market. We finally rented it out. I cringe when I think we may have to go back and repaint, etc. I just don't want to think about it. Our renters want to buy it, but they don't have a downpayment or stellar credit. It is looking like we will have to put it on the market again eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejily Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I desperately, desperately, DESPERATELY need to declutter, but am completely overwhelmed by it. After 20+ years in the military moving all over the world, we've accumulated quite a bit of ... stuff. Some of it quite good stuff, but altogether it's just too much stuff. (And this, in spite of the fact that I "purge" quite a bit before every move!) I've seriously considered getting an estimate on what it would cost to have a "living estate sale" because I think it would net us more cash than a garage sale, cash I'd try very hard not to spend on more ... stuff. :tongue_smilie: I could probably put much of this on Craig's list, but really hate dealing with that. With my DH gone several days out of every month, I would not be comfortable having strangers come by to look at things or to buy things. If I could get rid of a lot of this stuff and earn some money doing it, then I'd be able to do some of the things I really want to this house -- like replacing some worn-out carpet with laminate flooring, and creating a nicer outdoor living space for the warmer months. I'm afraid that if I simply rented a storage unit to hold the clutter until I could have a garage sale, I'd just be spending more money every month on my stuff, and never really get around to selling the stuff! You know... having a lot of stuff really creates more stress than it's worth. I wish I'd learned that bit of wisdom much earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 It really works. The in first house we sold, we used the dining room as a junky office. Our house was on the market for 3 month. We then decided to move the dining table (that was in the kitchen) into the dining room and decorate the table with the dishes laid out prettily. Our house sold 2 weeks after we did that. The next house we sold, we de-junked everything and got rid of any personal picture on the shelves and walls. Our house sold for full price in a neighborhood that had equivalent priced homes where the other home had been on the market much longer. People are really looking for a "model" home. I am shocked at how people look at your stuff more that the house it's self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Oh, I know what you mean. If we were to put our house on the market, we would have to declutter, replace carpet, and maybe repaint. Sigh...I'd love to have new carpet to enjoy myself. ;) I really hate the idea of fixing up the place for someone else. KWIM? I do think a serious declutter and freshening should happen...oh, say every five years or so...we deserve to live in nice places, don't we? I know I cringe from the work involved...discipline is an important part of the serious declutter process. The fun part is redecorating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain View Academy Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 We thought we might move in the near future and I got rid of lots and lots of stuff. I then accessorized the house; pictures, silk plants, etc. And, we painted the rooms all the same really nice neutral (a medium khaki)I also got my kids in the habit of keeping their rooms and playspace tidy. I put an under the bed container under each bed and before they did school, left house, went to bed they needed to put all toys, books, etc in their room in the box (considered it a toy box). Our new way of life was so much nicer! I really enjoyed my new house! Anyway, 8 months later we were transferred and my house sold in a week in an Ohio town where the average at the time was 6 - 9 months. We only spent $500 and it was well worth it. I sold my last house 3 months ago in 20 days which is considered good in this market. It was always decluttered and showed like a model home. We had 6 offers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Guess I just need to get MOTIVATED for this. Dh and I have decided that unless/until the PERFECT home comes up, we will stay put. Our biggest thing we are looking at is more acreage so we can bring our horses home and have them in our yard. Those of you that have done this.......how do you keep the kids from wanting to keep EVERYTHING and pitching fits as stuff is leaving? Honestly, I can say that my girls play with EACH AND EVERY toy they own. They have way too many but they do play with ALL of it. How do you justify selling/giving away stuff that they do love and use just because they have TOO MUCH? We moved into this house before kids and have since adopted 3 and fostered over 100 others so we have lots of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain View Academy Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 There were many toys I just couldn't part with and ended up putting 4 rubbermaids (large totes) in the back of my garage. After just a couple weeks the kids never asked about them. I did pull them out as soon as we moved and such excitement. You would have thought they had all new toys. We had so many building toys (legos, duplos, lincoln logs, etc.) I decided you can only have so many of this type and kept 3 of the 7. Each could keep one matchbox case full of cars, etc. (I have boys and we were drowning in matchbox cars, dump trucks, etc. Many toys found new homes with friends and family just starting to have children) My children did play with everything, but my dh and I felt they just had too many. It's hard to want something when you have everything. Life has been great since slimming down the toy area of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kacifl Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I'd rent a big storage unit, you could add the cost of it to the sale price. Then every weekend take things there, extra chairs, extra toys, dishes. I'd keep our house like a vacation home. 10 dishes, 10 glasses, one set of silverware, a few very nice towels, etc. Empty the garage and after de-cluttering, work on painting one room each weekend. Soon, I'd put the place on the market. Sounds good in theory, but I haven't done it! K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julpost Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 These are some great ideas! I have a "maybe" showing tomorrow...and my house is a disaster. So I'm going to go through each room, put all clutter into boxes or bags and put it all in my van or our outdoor workshop. It's really a win-win situation....either the showing happens and the house looks better or the showing doesn't happen....and the house still looks better. I can figure out where things should go and maybe unpack a box a day or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 How do you justify selling/giving away stuff that they do love and use just because they have TOO MUCH? We moved into this house before kids and have since adopted 3 and fostered over 100 others so we have lots of stuff. Firstly, I admire you for opening your home to so many children in need. Thank you on behalf of all of our society! I can certainly see how that would make for a lot of stuff that you need for different children at different stages and with different needs and wants. Secondly, I would challenge that first statement. You have it backwards, imo. Just as you are the mom, and you make lots of decisions about what is best for your children, so you have the obligation to the family as a whole to make the hard choices about Stuff when it becomes a problem. Whether they play with it or not. My brother and his wife have five kids. They used to spend a heckofa large amount of time on their hands and knees picking up and sorting tons of toys and games with many tiny parts. "Because the kids really like these!" After a few years of living in tiny-toy chaos, they wised up and got rid of 9/10ths of those. Liking a toy is not enough reason for a tightly-packed family to keep it. If they can't store and pick up their own toys in a reasonable manner, then by golly, they have too many. Larger houses can store more toys. But smaller homes or those that need to be spick-and-span for potential buyers *must* be tidy, and you as homeschool mom cannot be forever doing all that yourself. Hard choices can be made. You won't scar your kids. Really. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Just make sure they know I won't scar them for life. My girls remember EVERYTHING (in addition to having special needs) and once I threw out one thing and my dd remembered it and cried for it off and on for a YEAR. We are going to keep downsizing though. I gave away all of the LEGOS---horrors I know and the wooden blocks. They are great toys, foster creativity but we don't NEED them. I am also downsizing coat, snowpants, etc. We have good coats and play coats and living in Michigan you need spring/fall coats, rain coats, winter coats, artic blast coats and snowpants. Then they have barn boots, winter boots, rain boots and riding boots. I am just trying to cut back some of that but still have enough stuff. They are outside 2-4 hour every day in the winter so they need that stuff. I do have plans for dh to make a few more shelves and then modify one area so that we can handle this stuff better. We don't have a mud room and the garage opens right up to the dining area with open living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I am learning why my mom kept everything to a minimum, partly was we did not have a lot of money for stuff and partly with 5 kids that could add up to a lot of clutter. There are somethings I wish she hadn't decluttered but when you are 12 you just don't think to ask mother to keep a ballet costume or dolls for your future children. Once we no longer played with something or outgrew something it was gone. I should take a lesson from her however, I always think what if they want to play with this again or read that book again or if the next son wants it. I have a lot to learn still. You are off to a great start and have me thinking what I need to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I'd rent a big storage unit, you could add the cost of it to the sale price. Then every weekend take things there, extra chairs, extra toys, dishes. I'd keep our house like a vacation home. 10 dishes, 10 glasses, one set of silverware, a few very nice towels, etc. Empty the garage and after de-cluttering, work on painting one room each weekend. Soon, I'd put the place on the market. Sounds good in theory, but I haven't done it! K We're about too. :D We thought we had a private sale lined up for our house and were willing to take less if we didn't have to fix it up but he's not interested in the whole property now. Now we've got to whip the house into shape so we're renting a storage unit and storing about 80% of our stuff. I'm researching staging and have an excellent agent and between us we'll set the place up o make the best use of our small space. Despite the amount of work and all the stuff we'll have to store (All the books! Most of my homeschooling stuff! *sob*) I think it will be fun to finally dress this little house up the way it deserves to be and find the right owner for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim973 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Quote: I just know the design to sell shows make a huge difference in a home with only $1-2 thousand dollars. You don’t need to spend nearly that much money. Decluttering your home is one of the best things you can do. Next, I’d paint the walls—a neutral color. To ‘update’ the kitchen, you could put new knobs on the cupboards and drawers. If the carpet needs cleaning, clean it. If it is stained or worn out, you can think about replacing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim973 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I desperately, desperately, DESPERATELY need to declutter, but am completely overwhelmed by it. I'm afraid that if I simply rented a storage unit to hold the clutter until I could have a garage sale, I'd just be spending more money every month on my stuff, and never really get around to selling the stuff! You know... having a lot of stuff really creates more stress than it's worth. I wish I'd learned that bit of wisdom much earlier. I also need to declutter. I have gotten rid of many things, but I still have clutter. It seems to re-accumulate. I thought of a storage shed too, but then I realized I would probably fill up my house with more stuff anyway. The times in my life that have been clutter free have been so much easier and that's what I want again. I have lots of stuff to sell too, but I don't seem to have time to do that. I know the solution is to just get rid of things and relcaim my space. Perhaps we could support each other in decluttering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 No - but I love that idea. Dh and I are debating moving, but if we did that and stayed put, we'd be a lot happier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 That sounds like a neat idea! One other thing to remember though. Prices are down, AND you would have to disclose that the highway is slated to go right through where the house is (I believe that is what you said). Who would buy a home that is slated to be dozed for some highway? I think you guys are better off staying and waiting for a property to come open that you really love, then move. If your property truly is in the "right of way" for the new highway, they will have to pay you for your property. I would just wait for that, since you are comfortable where you are, and you said you don't even need the money from the sale of the current house to buy another one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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