Preparing house for sale

Despite this being a sellers market, I’m stressing a little bit about getting the house ready to (eventually) list for sale.

It seems like there is a lot that we could do, and every day a new issue seems to reveal itself to me. I guess I need to figure out what the priorities should be and the cost/benefit for each project. And probably not try to get it in perfect shape.

Things to stress and/or pray about:

We’ve had an issue with a little water in the basement after hard rains. It’s in what seems an odd place, on the wall below what is our poured cement front porch. The yard slopes away from the house and the porch is covered. I’m not entirely sure where this water could be coming from. Could it be one of the drainpipes from a downspout is routed under the front porch and is damaged? There is also a storm sewer that, from its location, I presume runs right between our property and our neighbors and into a catch basin in our back yard. That would still be quite some distance from where the leak is manifesting itself. I have nightmares that when the house was constructed the builder did something stupid. I hate to think about ripping up the porch to fix this, but don’t know that a lot could be done from the inside. I suppose it’s time to call in the professionals to evaluate.

In the fall we had a damaged downspout and some flashing replaced and thought it might have solved the problem, but it still happens (perhaps a little less so) with large rainfalls. The roof is in good shape. There don’t seem to be any foundation issues, at least yet, though there are a few minor cracks in the basement floor.

One day a couple of weeks ago, I discovered some of our duct work was hanging low from the ceiling in the basement. The nails in the hanging brackets had worked themselves loose over time. That was, at least, an easy fix.

Today I discovered that some ants decided one of our 2nd floor windows was a nice spot to take up residence. There seems to be quite a bit of damage to the window sash and a little to the sill. So, I’m thinking I need to replace this window, at least. Windows are original (30 years) so trying to decide if it makes sense to replace all of the windows, or maybe all of the second floor windows, or just the damaged one. I did spray the heck out of the affected area, but also thinking I need to call a pest control company. Wondering if they or other pests are hanging out elsewhere in the walls of the house.

Wondering how turned off a buyer might be by old worn carpeting. If I was sure what flooring buyers would most prefer, I’d not hesitate to replace the carpets or install hardwood or laminate flooring. But I’d also hate to put something in and have it torn up and replaced because it wasn’t what someone wanted.

Does it make sense to have an inspection soon, before we list the house so that we can get on top of anything else we haven’t discovered that might be a problem?

I’ve got a handyman with very reasonable rates doing some drywall repair and painting this week and last. Some of the previous color choices were probably not the best they could have been, so we’re trying to make it look a little more cohesive for showing. He’ll be back for some more painting next week and any other little fixes we come up with. At this stage of my life, it’s better that I pay someone else to do a lot of this stuff than to try to do it myself.

Kitchen, Master bath and most of the lighting was redone within the last 5 years. Also 2 skylights were replaced in the fall.

May do a mini-update on the other bathroom and a half. Nothing major, just repaint and replace a couple of fixtures. We already have lights ready to install, but it would make sense for the towel bars and vanity knobs to coordinate with the new lights. Shouldn’t be expensive.

Trying to decide how much to budget for landscaping. I’d like to at least reclaim some of the overgrown area of the back yard around our catch basin and make it look a little nicer.

Not necessarily looking for advise or answers, though I would entertain comments. I’m mostly just trying to get my thoughts in order and hoping I don’t have to spend megabucks to get the place in shape. Given the current housing market, it might sell quickly even with (some of) its flaws.

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Are you going to have a Realtor? They will know your local market and can advise you on what to do, what not to bother with. You should be working with them as you prep your home for sale, not just when the sign goes up in your yard.

IP

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We’re not working with a realtor on this end just yet.
Probably before long we will start looking, but it’s unlikely we will be listing it before late summer or early fall.

We do have a realtor in the area we intend to move to.

In overly general terms buyers are not sophisticated. They would not tend to notice ants taking up residence in the window, but could obsess over a small stain on the carpet.

I agree 100% with ip. Get connected with a realtor in your area and find out what they have to say about repairs and fixes.

It’s not unusual for them to recommend an inspection before listing. That will identify things a buyer’s inspector would be likely to report and allow you preemptively deal with them, whether by fixing or disclosing them.

But that all depends on your specific market. In a hot enough market, almost nothing about the condition of the house matters. In a slow enough market, every little thing can matter. So you need the advice of a knowledgeable agent in your area to help decide what things to fix before listing and what things to just leave alone for your specific situation.

–Peter

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We’re not working with a realtor on this end just yet.
Probably before long we will start looking, but it’s unlikely we will be listing it before late summer or early fall.

I would start looking for them now. They are the ones with the answer to your questions. Interview at least 3. When we sold our rental last month we had a range of $425K to $550K for a sales price. Sold for $535K. Google how to do comps or look back at some of the past threads on this board where it has been discussed. It’s a science that many don’t have down.

Good luck.

IP

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It’s not unusual for them to recommend an inspection before listing. That will identify things a buyer’s inspector would be likely to report and allow you preemptively deal with them, whether by fixing or disclosing them.

In certain states, getting a pre-sale inspection can be a negative. Some states like PA make you fill out a 20 page or so sellers disclosure, and if you are aware of a problem you will have to report it or face the possibility of a lawsuit. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

I’ve been surprised at how inspectors can miss quite a bit as well. What the pre-sale inspection picks up may not be the same as the buyer’s inspection. And our market is so hot, that inspection contingency is often waived. That’s why your Realtor can tell you what goes on in your area.

Our buyer had someone they know do the inspection. His report was just obscenely over priced wrt deficiencies, and we almost tried to cancel the sale. Instead we just said zero seller concessions. They bought anyway.

Fun times.

IP

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We’re not working with a realtor on this end just yet.

I will third the recommendation to get a realtor NOW to advise you on what to fix (or not) and what, if any, improvements should be made. If I don’t have a personal relationship with a realtor that I trust, I generally try to interview several agents who sell a lot in my neighborhood. I would also suggest that you need to ask them about what fixes and updates/improvements should be done in a buyer’s market, rather than a seller’s market. Because of that I would suggest looking for a realtor who’s been in the business since at least 2005 or so - so they will have gone through that downturn/buyer’s market.

I would point out that in Joel’s formerly very hot market, demand has cooled and inventory has increased. I can see that because his neighborhood of 85 homes, which sold 16 houses in the last 3 years, so 5 - 6 houses a year, and generally has between 0 and 2 houses listed for sale at any one time, currently has 3 houses listed for sale. The one that is pending (which also has the lowest list price) went under contract after 9 days, while the 2 active listings have been on the market for 15 and 23 days, both having gone well past their ‘offer review date’ (5 or 6 days after the listing date) which was when they planned to review the multiple offers they were expecting. One of the active listings is actually having an open house today - which Joel’s realtor recommended strongly against because of how hot the market was when he listed in March - she had done an open house a couple of weekends before he listed and had over 200 groups visit. As it was, without doing an open house, in 4 days, he had nearly 100 groups through and 26 offers, accepting an offer 36% over ask (we had hoped, dream case, to get an offer about 25% over ask) on the 5th day. That said, I will say that all of the houses currently for sale in his neighborhood all have list prices well over his listing price, and none of them have dropped their prices (one actually increased the list price).

Your neighborhood/market may be significantly different, but I point that out to suggest that with your planned timeframe of late summer/early fall, you may very well end up selling in a buyer’s market where everything that is/isn’t fixed is important, and your realtor can help you understand where to spend your repair/improvement dollars most effectively.

AJ

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Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
Much to do, with talking to realtors high on the list.
We will certainly finish up the projects we’ve started, as none of them are costly.

I agree with previous posters on their comments. I wouldn’t necessarily get caught up with all these repairs as no home is perfect. There has never been a house inspection that didn’t notate items that needed to be addressed. Depending on your area and house (is your buyer going to be a first time home buyer or home for empty nesters?), that will determine what repairs will appease that buyer profile.

I will however state that water in basement will freak out most buyers. I would definitely get that addressed as in IL (and assume most states), seller must declare any water leaks, foundation damage, etc.

Your neighborhood/market may be significantly different, but I point that out to suggest that with your planned timeframe of late summer/early fall, you may very well end up selling in a buyer’s market […].

Just curious why you think the market might be flipping from a seller’s to buyer’s?

Just curious why you think the market might be flipping from a seller’s to buyer’s?

As I explained, the demand vs. supply curves appear to be changing in Joel’s neighborhood, and, I suspect, in many neighborhoods across the country - at least from what I’ve been seeing based seeing “market slowdown” headlines from multiple places. On the demand side, the most recent guidance from the Fed https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/monetary… included this quote:

In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 3/4 to 1 percent and anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.

which means that the mortgage rates are likely to continue increasing, which will continue to drive the demand curve down, as buyers will be able to afford to pay less for a given income.

The supply curve appears to be increasing based on increases in new build permits https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PERMITNSA and units under construction https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNDCONTNSA What existing homeowners will do is still a question, but at least in the markets I’ve been watching, active inventory has at doubled or tripled from where it was in March, while pending inventory hasn’t increased significantly and the days on market has increased.

Now, all real estate is local, so things may be very different in the OP’s neighborhood, but I watch markets where I’ve previously lived as well as where I live now - and similar trends are occurring in multiple places. I’m not saying that there will be a crash - just that it’s likely to become a much more buyer-friendly market over the next few months. Even if it doesn’t completely flip into a buyer’s market, for a house to sell quickly in a balanced market, it needs to be prepared correctly and priced correctly. And a good realtor can be invaluable in providing feedback on those subjects to potential sellers.

AJ

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