AboutJessica Bryan Expertise buying and selling process such as: General questions from first time buyers How to market a home Why choose a REALTOR How do I find a REALTOR Should I consider buying or selling without a REALTOR--how much can I save Should I remodel or move How much can I expect to gain by fixing up my home before selling Helpful tips when selling Helpful tips when buying finding a good mortgage loan what is the difference between banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers Questions from the general public, people thinking about getting their real estate license, newly licensed. Fellow professionals who have interests in networking and how to get started What is a market evaluation and how does it differ from an appraisal what are the different loan programs services a REALTOR can perform when to use a lawyer when to use escrow what are the regional differences in the buying and selling process what is the MLS and how does it work how can the layman access information on the web--listings and other information These are just a few of the questions. I can suggest that if I am unable to answer a question I will refer the inquiry to a source that can.
Experience Anyone who is in this business and who dedicates oneself to professionalism has continued to take classes and along with it,additional credentials, awards and honors. I can list a host of them, but my greatest accomplishments happen to be those of getting first time buyers (who didn't think they could afford to buy a home)into a home of their dreams. The look on their faces when I hand over the keys is worth all of the hard work.
We're going to be putting our house on the market this spring and I would really appreciate some advice on which updates/improvements would be worth going ahead with before listing the home...
Here is a list of possible projects we're looking at (we are NOT handy, so I'm including quotes):
-Removing foundation plantings and re-landscaping parts of the yard (approx. $1500 done professionally). The current shrubs are large and shaped, and only cover the foundation and don't block the front porch - some of the plants are not in very good shape though - a couple of azaleas that don't bloom well. Removing just those would make it look funny!
- applying a fresh coat of paint to the trim and front door of the house, (still waiting on a quote for this one, but I think it will probably be around $1500?). The current color of the house is beige with burgandy trim, which is faded, but not in too bad of shape. I was thinking of possibly changing the trim color to white?
- Updating 2-3 light fixtures in the interior of the house (the current ones look a little "gothic" and outdated, but some (my husband!) may argue that they give the home character...)
- a new roof (approx. $5000). the old roof looks fine, but I know the home inspector will recommend a new one - we bought the house 3 years ago and our inspector told us that the roof would probably need to be replaced within about 5 years.
- our neighbor really wants to do this one, but I think it's a bad idea - we share a driveway, and he wants to expand the driveway so that there is pavement extending across the whole stretch between the two houses (doubling the width of the existing driveway) and eliminating part of the lawn and hydrangeas on the side of the house. So in his mind, we could market it as having a "private drive". I think it would just be a really wide, ugly, shared driveway, but maybe I'm wrong! There is currently space for 4 cars to be parked at the end of the driveway, two on each side, so I don't think our current drive would be a problem. Just curious to get someone else's opinion as maybe I'm passing judgement too quickly..
The housing market in our area is not bad. Several homes on our street have sold fairly quickly within the past 6 months. But based on what we estimate we could sell for, I think we may only have a net gain of about 20,000 to 30,000, most of which will be used for closing costs for our next home. So we want to be conservative with our improvements but want to do what will help the home sell as well.
Oh yeah, and the kitchen and bath are updated and in good shape and the interior of the house should show really well. Actually, the only thing about the kitchen is that we have one of those portable diswashers and it makes the kitchen look a little crowded (partially blocks the basement door). Do you think we should remove it completely or just leave it as is?
Thanks for any advice you can provide!!!
Maggie
Answer Dear Maggie;
Regardless of how your market may be, it is always a good idea to be competitive with the best listings since there is more supply than demand right now. I would say that 'curb appeal' is extremely important. Adding lots of color to the front of the house with flowering plants and potted assortments that you can take with you is a good way to gets lots of 'bang for your buck!' A fresh coat of trim paint and front door paint will also be important. Yes...get away from the burgundy. Talk to a painter to see what might look good and be inexpensive for a trim color. since you have a dark trim now, you might find that one coat of another dark trim will be easier and more cost-effective. Perhaps a deep almost-black green would look nice with beige. Drive around the neighborhood and see what looks good and copy it.
As for the driveway--hold off on that and also on the roof. If you think that the roof will need repair or perhaps total replacement then it might be something that would show up on an inspection too. Plan on that amount when you accept an offer. Don't accept something too low and then find out that after inspections they want these repairs that will cost you the additional amount. Know going in what your real costs might be and prepare for that during the negotiating process.
As for the dishwasher, it is best to keep it in the kitchen so a prospective buyer sees what their options are. Taking it out only illustrates that the home is lacking a dishwasher. Is there room to install one?
Updated light fixtures will give a fresh look to the home and probably won't cost too much.
