Updating house for sale question

[clare]

That's $10K IF you don't run into other problems - and then the new buyer says " I LOVE the house, but that granite has to go - I want (whatever color yours isn't) quartz countertops" - and the granite doesn't get you as much as you expected. I'd sell the house basically "as is". Freshen up paint "if required". If the paint is in good condition and no damage to the walls, don't waste too much money on painting. Most buyers will want to paint their colors anyway - and a lot of buyers seeing fresh paint will wonder "what did it look like before they painted" - a coat of paint can hide a multitude of sins.

Being on a "larger lot than normal" may meen the new buyer will want to put on an addition or do major renos.

And there is always the option of saying new countertops are optional at whatever price you can negotiate. SOME people would be happy to pay a bit more not to have to deal with the contractor themselves.

[clare]

MOST buyers - around here anyway - expect a bargain when they buy private. They know you are saving the real estate fee. It is often beneficial to pay a good broker. Uding the guy that will shave half a percent off his fee isn't always the best idea.. You want a broker that will "bust his buns" for you and sell it as quickly as possible for as good a price as he can get for you - jusy like using a "buyer's agent" can often get you a bettewr house for a better price with less hassle than just going looking for houses yourself.

[clare]

If your house is bad enough it needs 25K of repairs you might have a terrible time selling it for 25K below market value for similar homes unless you are in a HOT real estate market.

Right now, is some areas around here, fixer-uppers are routinely selling for 10-50K over asking - with multiple bids. In another local area decent houses, requiring only a bit of upgrading but in perfect livable condition (not redecorated in 30 years or so - but not rough) are selling in the high 600K range to be knocked down to put up a bigger house - on half acre lots.

In other areas, even if the house is in better shape than the surrounding homes - which themselves are prettyu decent - you might have a hard time selling at what might be considered "market value".

Location, location, and location. The 3 most important factors that effect house pricing and sales.

[bob haller]

if anyone fixes up their home for sale you should pick neutral colors that most buyers will like

if you pick brite bold colors it can distract from a sale.

most people try to buy the most house they can afford, that leaves them little money to fix up the home.

i suggest watching flip or flop.......

they buy run down houses, invest big bucks, get back their investment plus lots more.

when i inherited my moms home it was in poor condition. real estate agent reported it as 85K at best and probably less. i sunk 10K in the home and sold it for 120K

[clare]

Some mortgage lenders are taking a VERY dim view of "rebates" on home sales. It means they are actually financing a higher percentage of the real sale price than they agree to.

[Mayayana]

| Hey, that's great, because that's exactly what I've got. Even I would | rather have fancier cabinets, but only a little.

I'm happy to have made your day. :) I remember in the 60s there was a big thing with ribbon stripe mahogany. In the 80s it was red oak. In the 90s it was maple, or cherry for high end. But now it seems like anything goes. HD seems to carry the dark stained junk wood, red oak and white. But painted cabinets of all colors seem to be in vogue. Even things like avocado.

[FrozenNorth]

Yep, we took possession of our house on a Friday, and pulled orange shag carpet off the living/dining area, moved in Saturday, had the floors sanded/refinished on the Tuesday absolutely beautiful oak hardwood. Then the painting started..... The housing market here in Toronto, Canada is absolutely crazy, Clare probably has an idea, after nearly 20 years, we have made a ton of money on it, and can't afford to move, it makes no sense, and we do not need anything bigger.

[CRNG]

On Fri, 3 Jun 2016 07:54:36 -0700 (PDT), [e-mail] wrote in

IMO, selling fast is always better than selling to squeeze out every penny.

[Stormin Mormon]

Car dealers used to do it all the time. So, it must be the right thing to do.

[Wade Garrett]

Had a similar experience many years ago selling my father's condo in Florida after he died.

Listed it with the highly recommended realtor who handled most of the sales in the huge retirement condo village where the property was. It was a nice unit and priced right but the useless agent brought me only one bottom-feeder offer in the six months he had the listing.

Subsequently, I went to Florida to inspect the property and bumped into the president of the building where the condo was. He said he could probably send me a buyer and I told him if he did, I'd slip him the same commission a sales agent would have received. Of course selling real estate without a license was illegal at the time-- but what the hey...

As things turned out, he did, I did, deal done. Five weeks start to finish!

[clare]

at retirement sell it and move to cambridge, guelph, or Fergus and you can live well off the profit. Move to Drayton or Listowel and have even more money available - or Wingham, Bluevale/ Lucknow area and even more - and be within 20 minutes or so of the lake.

[clare]

The dealer most often also did the financing in the case of the car deale ( either through GMAC, Ford Finance, or the bank of the dealer's choosing)r, so he knew what he was financing.

The risk on a $15,000 car is a lot different than on a $600,000 house too.