Money Matters
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So...we're under contract for a house.
I am REELING right now. We've been casually looking for a home and our realtor sent us a new listing this week. From the photos it looked perfect so we jumped all over it, had a showing and just knew that it was exactly what we were looking for. We were one of at least 6 other families viewing the house that day (its first day on the market) so we submitted a good offer, but we had zero expectations because it was already a multi-offer situation by the time we submitted. Plus our market is really nutty right now. Inventory, especially in the less than $350k range is very very low and there is a lot of competition. All the $600k homes are sitting, but anything between $200k and $350k is flying, most usually go under contract in a matter of days with higher than asking bids. So anyway, we definitely didn't expect an offer acceptance but they chose us! Sooooooooo now we need to sell our house and we've got about 65 days to do it. What do I need to prioritize and how can I do this in the most MM way possible??? I'm really fighting internally with wanting to do all the things to make our house show as wonderfully as possible...but we also need to limit expenses as much as possible between now and then to further buffer our savings. Luckily we're in a good spot and all major projects and renovations are done. Obviously I want to sell for as much as we can so we can walk away with a bunch of extra cash at the end of this to buy some new furniture and fund some landscaping and other minor improvements at the new place.
Things we HAVE to do before listing:
Finish painting the basement and basement stairwell. We already own the paint and supplies so this is basically no extra cost. Has to be done because DH did a bunch of drywall work down here and it's very patchy looking until we paint.
Deep clean everything.
Things I want to do:
Add mulch around the back of the house because the garden beds are currently bare. We're probably talking $80-$100 worth of mulch because we have a lot of areas to fill in.
Repaint the kitchen beadboard because it's a brick red currently and I think it would show better in a more neutral color (SW has a 40% off sale this weekend and I probably need half a gallon paint max). Max $40 for a full gallon of paint.
Buy some cheap annuals like petunias to fill out my potted plants since I haven't done this yet and refill my hanging baskets, plus plant some around the mailbox for curb appeal. $60???
Toss down some fast germinating grass seed to fill in the bare spots in our fescue zones. $5 for a bag of seed. We have starter fertilizer already.
Buy some fresh potpourri - $20
Raid the 50% off rack at Hobby Lobby for some cheap hanging decor to fill in spaces on the wall where I'll be taking down some large personal portraits. $75-$100
So I guess all in all we're talking around a $325 investment. I feel like I'm going crazy and my head is spinning trying to come up with an action items list for the next few days so we can get on the market. We've made a ton of improvements over the past four years so I'm thinking of typing up a list as well of all the updates we've done. The sellers of the house we bid on did this and I thought it was a really nice touch since many of those updates aren't going to be revealed on a basic disclosure.
Things we HAVE to do before listing:
Finish painting the basement and basement stairwell. We already own the paint and supplies so this is basically no extra cost. Has to be done because DH did a bunch of drywall work down here and it's very patchy looking until we paint.
Deep clean everything.
Things I want to do:
Add mulch around the back of the house because the garden beds are currently bare. We're probably talking $80-$100 worth of mulch because we have a lot of areas to fill in.
Repaint the kitchen beadboard because it's a brick red currently and I think it would show better in a more neutral color (SW has a 40% off sale this weekend and I probably need half a gallon paint max). Max $40 for a full gallon of paint.
Buy some cheap annuals like petunias to fill out my potted plants since I haven't done this yet and refill my hanging baskets, plus plant some around the mailbox for curb appeal. $60???
Toss down some fast germinating grass seed to fill in the bare spots in our fescue zones. $5 for a bag of seed. We have starter fertilizer already.
Buy some fresh potpourri - $20
Raid the 50% off rack at Hobby Lobby for some cheap hanging decor to fill in spaces on the wall where I'll be taking down some large personal portraits. $75-$100
So I guess all in all we're talking around a $325 investment. I feel like I'm going crazy and my head is spinning trying to come up with an action items list for the next few days so we can get on the market. We've made a ton of improvements over the past four years so I'm thinking of typing up a list as well of all the updates we've done. The sellers of the house we bid on did this and I thought it was a really nice touch since many of those updates aren't going to be revealed on a basic disclosure.
Re: So...we're under contract for a house.
I am not a stager but I think this is a good priority: 1, 4, 2.
#5 do you have a can of Lysol or something that doesn't need a purchase? Burn more candles when you are home to leave a nice smell for later?
I would skip 3 and 6 but again, I am not an expert.
And congrats!!
I also would buy cheaper paint. You can get a gallon at Home Depot for $25 and it's pretty good paint.
For big spaces to fill, I like to use wood frames with fabric stretched over it. Or you can do foam insulated boards (they're pink) and cover with fabric using tape or staples.
@LillibetteV @hoffse Thank you...I need to slow my roll. My realtor is very much 'don't worry about it' but I keep feeling like if it's not perfectly perfect then people won't want it. I need to remind myself that our house IS in good shape, there are no major defects that we're conscious of, we've fixed all the 'bad' things from when we bought the house and then some, now it's up to finding a buyer. This is just the first time I've been on the side of actually selling a house and it's scary.
@csuave I like that plan of prioritizing based on if we don't get a ton of activity right away.
The only thing you could probably skimp on is the wall decor. I like @smerka's ideas of just doing fabric on frames. I don't think you should spend a lot on decor "just because" to fill up space, especially if it's stuff you wouldn't hang in your next house.
I just helped my mom get ready to sell, and she has lots of blank walls because she just painted the house and took down all the family photos before that. So, we did buy a few new things, but they were item she said she would even use in her new house. She still had a lot of blank walls but it didn't matter. Her house sold in 3 days with 2 offers, 1 at asking and the other above asking.
Exciting! Congrats!
It's only a small savings, but I agree with @smerka. I'll use higher quality paints like SW, for exteriors. But for interiors, a decent quality paint like Behr is fine. Even with a good SW sale, you'll still come out cheaper. I have WAY too much experience with paint, lol.
Use a primer coat first and then a "one coat" quality paint. "One coat" is a LIE, especially for brick red, lol. But you might be able to get away with 3-4 coats instead of 10. I'm only a little bit joking. Red is the most difficult color to cover and you'll need multiple coats to do it. If it doesn't look too bad, I might just leave it.
I think you picked up a GREAT tip from the sellers on the house you are buying to have a convenient list of all the renos and upgrades that have been done since you all have owned the house. Where possible, have month/years, who did the work, any warranties that will carry over, etc. Any other helpful info for the next owner. For example, include the brand and paint color you're using in the basement.
Granted, I'm not the typical homebuyer, but I would be WOWED if I ever looked at a house and was handed a list of -roof replaced in '08 by ABC Roofers, -HVAC replaced in '11 by XYZ HVAC (two years left on transferable warranty), etc. I'm still waiting for that day, lol.
Overall, you're not talking about a lot of money to spruce things up a little. Just make sure none of it takes too much time either, though definitely paint the basement. Your agent has already told you not to worry about it. I'm sure that's good advice for your hot market.
The most important thing sellers can do to show their property in the best light is to keep it really clean, organized, and no clutter.
I hope you sell quickly and for top dollar! I'm sure it would be great to come away with some cash in your pocket. Good luck and keep us posted!
Surprisingly, that actually hasn't been our experience. SW does do a great job with coverage, but its not any better/worse than brands like Behr. I think SW excels in being a longer lasting paint. It really keeps it color and that's why I like to use it for exteriors. But, ugh, for rentals? I need cheaper, not longer lasting. Because they just need a fresh coat at least every few years anyway.
In fact, with our last rental renovation, we established our official "paint color". From here on out, all our rentals will be painted Dolphin Fin by Behr. So much simpler and easier to keep everything the same color.
Aside from all that, bailing altogether on repainting the beadboard sounds best!
I had a similar experience recently. A house about two blocks from mine was put on the market on a Saturday. It was under contract by Monday morning! And it was listed on the higher side for comps. There was nothing about it that was some "killer deal" to get scooped up so quick. Though it was super cute, had nice upgrades, and looked like it was in great condition.
I have no desire to sell my house but, man, stuff like that makes you stop and think for a sec!
Doing well though...under budget after spending $50 on annuals to fill out my pots on my front porch and grass seed at Home Depot! The grass seed is supposed to germinate in 3 days so it'll be sprouted JUST enough to hide the bare areas before we get pictures done! Score!
Last night I took down all of our personal photos and started removing some kitschy stuff from the shelves to add a bit more space. I ended up moving some existing paintings and art around and I think we're actually good on wall decor so I'll be able to save a bit there too. There's only one bare area that really needs something so I'm thinking of borrowing some wall sconces from my sister to fill it in since there are existing nail holes anyway.
Here in CO it's been nuts for a few years. I found out the house we sold in May of 2014 for $260,000 just resold for $340,000.
House went on the market officially last night. We had a showing at 1:30 and we've got 3 more (currently) scheduled at 4 pm and 7 pm and tomorrow at 11 am.
As far as total expenses have gone:
$100 at Home Depot on paint (because we ended up needing a bit more for the basement), trim pieces for the screened in porch, dirt, treated wood for the missing porch stair
$50 on annuals
$120 on 4 cubic yards of mulch to freshen up around the house and fill in some bare areas
Here's the ouchie...
$500 on a pallet of sod + installation and they tossed in some mulch for free. On Monday we came home to find the water company digging a massive hole in our front yard because of a leak between the meter and the water main for us and our neighbor's. It was a big enough fix that they were replacing the entire pipe piece so it was a pretty big mess and I was really upset because we were planning to list in one day. Water company said it would be 2 weeks minimum before they could come back and "seed" and screw that. The dirt was killing my curb appeal so our landscaper neighbors came over asap yesterday and made it look really really nice again. I think it was money well spent even though it was completely unexpected.
So overall I think we did well expense wise other than the oopsie. Hopefully this offer and maybe some potential others (FX!) will make it all worth while.