There’s a first time for everything
The photographers came yesterday to take pictures. Later today (Friday) our house will be officially listed on the MLS.
It’s been 6.5 years since we moved in. Our first house, our first home as man and wife. Now we are a family of four. So much has happened. So many memories here, good ones and bad ones. So many physical changes were made to the house - the list was one page long. We had thought we would live here for at least 10-15 years and many of the improvements were made based on that assumption..
Those of you who have moved / sold a house (some more than once), any suggestions or tips? What would you do differently if you had to do it again, knowing what you now know? We’re moving to a city 3.5 hours from here.
Let the fun begin.
vien Said,
March 9, 2007 @ 12:46 am
Moving is a big headache. I was lucky to move from my in-laws house to our very 1st home. We only had to worry about our bed..other than that, everything was pretty much new. What I would do differently is to have the new house painted. I didn’t bother to paint ‘cos the previous owner re-painted but all in white. Now I wish I hadn’t sat on my lazy butt..I could’ve put some colors on the walls. Now, with the baby, I just don’t have the time or energy to do it.
Denise Said,
March 9, 2007 @ 7:44 am
I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully you are in a better market than we are….because our is BEYOND horrible, horrible, horrible.
We have been trying to sell for a year. We have lived in our house for 6 years, and like you have made a page long list of improvements (huge deck, and workshop among them)…..right now we would be extremely LUCKY if we sell near the price we bought at 6 years ago. However the Detroit market is horrible, at one point there was a 2 year inventory of houses for sale……meaning if no other new houses were listed it would take 2 years to sell all the homes listed on the market.
OK now that I depressed you
To help a house sell….
Suggestions that I have heard:
Paint everything a neutral color or white: The previous commenter mentioned the previous owner of their house painted all white. That was probably not a choice of the owner, it was to attract buyers. It depends on how what you have up. I would do it again myself, but we had yellow walls.
Take down ALL personal items: OK we did this, and I WOULD NOT DO IT again. We took down EVERYTHING. I did not realize how much some things meant to me until they were down. Of course declutter the decoration. But leave some things up. I feel like I have been living in a stranger’s house for a year.
Keep the house clean: I do this one, and its no fun to try and keep the house perfectly tidy. Whenever we regress, there is a call to see the house. I don’t mean run of the mill, friends can come over picked up….I mean we keep it “Christmas with the in-laws” perfect. Its no fun after a C-Section, its no fun with a baby, its no fun with a toddler……..with 2 kids, I will keep you in my prayers;-)
Only let people see the home when YOU want to: I have been offered this as a suggestion to avoid the keeping the house “perfectly neat and clean at ALL times” drama. It may work for you, let your Realtor know that you only want the house shown on such and such days at such and such times. For us this would never work, this market is so competitive we might miss someone. I have had to turn down some showings because of my son just being put down for a nap. OH and no matter what your realtor told you, most of the time you will only get a couple hours notice at the most. We had someone outside our front door (they just looked at the house next door) wanting to come in. This was just after I got out of a shower, and my son just went #2 in his diaper and had to be changed.
Offer items upon closing/agent bonuses: We are offering 2 round-trip airline tickets to the buyers, a $500 Home Depot gift card to the buyers, and a $1000 dollar bonus to the buying agent. Most realtors told us that offering these were not worth it. I can tell you THEY ARE WRONG. We have had more people see this house in January and February than ALL of last summer. It helps increase traffic….even if it doesn’t lead to a sale, a realtor might bring one couple through, they don’t like it, but then he might remember it later with someone who would be a better fit. So if you are not getting traffic through INSIST on offering something.
Price: If your market is bad, don’t bother trying to make a huge amount off your house. Price it low. We didn’t do this originally….it was a fair price at the time, in line with the market but we could have been lower than the other similar houses by $8,000. We HAD to move but thought “hmm it would be nice to walk away with X amount”. However we should have went with the lowest amount first we may have had a chance.
Seriously my prayers are with you. It is NOT at all fun to sell your house, well at least in my experience. I truly hope you have a great experience and sell fast.
OH and for buying a home, make sure you get a realtor who will help with making an offer (if they exist). We have been with a couple of agents who refuse to do much research into area closing costs. We know the market is bad so we ask “do you think they would take X amount under” and they look at us like we have three heads and say “OH no I would just offer what they are listing at” So when that glorious day comes and we are ready to actually look at houses to buy (because we FINALLY got an offer)…..we will be asking agents some questions before we go with them to even look at a house.
OK sorry for the ramble……..I have been living this for a year now and have a lot to gripe about.
Again Good luck, my prayers are with you:-)
angela Said,
March 9, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
I have never moved out of a house before so I don’t have any advice. I will however wish you the best of luck in your move and I hope you post pictures of your new place.
Amie Said,
March 10, 2007 @ 8:07 am
Are you guys going to move before you sell? If so, than you don’t have to worry about keeping it ready to show. That would be nice. I do agree about neutral colors. The previous owners of this home had it painted neutral, something I liked as soon as I walked in.
I hope you got the email I sent thanking you for the package