Buying A Home
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Photo album of improvements?

Our house has been on the market since late July.  We've had a lot of showings, but no offers.  When we get feedback from the showings, they always love the house.  They never have anything negative to say (which I sometimes wish they would so we would know what to fix/improve).  We've gotten word numerous times that our house is in "the top two", but we never get an offer.

We have a friend who's a realtor in another town that has given us some suggestions.  One of her suggestions was to create a small photo album showing before and after pictures of our home.  We have made some improvements (took up carpet and refinished hardwood floors, redid full bath, replaced carpet, painted, put on new deck, etc.) in the 8 years that we've lived in the house.

So, I need your opinion....  What would you think if you went to look at a house and there was a small photo album showing the improvements to the house?  I don't want to come off as "look what we did" but I want them to know that we have made improvements.

Re: Photo album of improvements?

  • My opinion of a house is based on its current condition. If you were to put out photos of a remodel in progress, showing that you redid the plumbing, or something else I can't see, that would be helpful. The improvements you mentioned are clearly visable and as long as they are in good shape now, what they looked like before doesn't matter.

    I know sellers don't like to hear this, but when a nice house has been on the market for a long time, the price is usually too high.

  • Like pp, I don't really care what the house "once" looked like.  I only  care what it looks like today.  If you redid plumbing, electrical, etc., I would rather have a sheet of paper that states "New plumbing installed 2010" or "new roof installed 2011." 

    I also have to agree with pp...if you are always the bridesmaid and never the bride, perhaps it is time to rethink your price point.

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  • A sheet with improvements makes more sense!  Thanks for your opinions!

    I agree that our price was too high.  We recently relisted it and dropped the price.  We're getting a lot more traffic and have our fingers crossed that it'll sell quickly!

  • imageJustinlove:

    Like pp, I don't really care what the house "once" looked like.  I only  care what it looks like today.  If you redid plumbing, electrical, etc., I would rather have a sheet of paper that states "New plumbing installed 2010" or "new roof installed 2011." 

    exactly. also, mls has areas to list the improvements right in the listing details. i sometimes use that to narrow houses down when searching since we're looking for something with modern plumbing & electrical in an area with aged inventory. the house we're considering offering on this weekend had the pretty color flyers but also an extra list in text only of all the improved/remodeled things that was very helpful.

  • I'm in the minority here, I think showing the history of a house will help someone get attached to it. We bought our home four months ago, and it's a house from 1926. It has a TON of history. Our sellers had done a ton of remodeling and improvements to the house and it makes me happy to know that we bought from people who loved the house just as much as we do. Maybe it's not a deciding factor, but it's something that wouldn't hurt IMO.
  • I would be worried that they hadn't been done professionally. If having hardwood floors isn't enough, I don't think showing people they used to be carpet will make a difference.
  • I don't think an album of improvements will improve your chances of selling. But, once you do sell, it would be a nice gesture to give the buyers an album of pictures of improvements, or maybe what the house looked like outside years ago.

    We own a 1925 home. I would absolutely LOVE it if I could locate any pictures of what my homeoriginally looked like... or even what it looked like in the 50's,60's, 70's, etc.... and I personally would have appreciated any albums, etc. any previous owners left with the house. Some people don't care about that sort of thing, and depending on the age of the home it might not even matter (for instance if it's a newer home) but I like that sort of thing. :)

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    ~L~
    Mommy to 2 boys, ages 7 and 5 and a little girl who is 1.5
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