Been through a selling of your house? I need moral support!

[talon]

I have two reltors coming to my house tomorrow to look over the house. I have two because my companies relocation company requires that I interview two and pick the one that I think will be best. My problem? I am a nervous wreck!!!!!! I have 3 cats and 11 birds (11 cages). My house is dusty, the inside walls need painting, the carpets need replaced or the very least a good cleaning. My birds have done "creative woodworking" in the house that I need to have repaired (I had two contractors come last Monday - but no quotes as of yet)

I am very worried that someone will not buy my house. I am cleaning cleaning cleaning this morning as well as getting rid of clutter and "junk" for the last few weeks.

I am a nervous wreck, this morning I am constantly on the verge of tears and I feel like I have a big knot in my chest. All of this, and I am the "strong" one of the family! Hubby has been nervous about the move and I have been the one saying "everything will be fine" while he worries. Now it is my turn big time!

I am on the verge of saying I won't move with the company. But this is a good paying job with a great company and it would be hard to find a job around here with those same quailifications.

I guess I just want some commiseration and some "I've been there", someone to talk with about this. I am so stressed that the cats don't want to be around me. I don't want to stay on my low carb diet... matter fact I want to be on a "see food" diet.

 

[deb25]

Talon:

I have never sold a house, just bought, but it is just a stressful time, period. You are suddenly looking at your home as a property and through the eyes of others. I would say that the parts you have learned to live with may become areas that a potential buyer would either a) want repaired, or b) will expect to be negotiating points in the ultimate selling price. Just see what the realtors think after looking at your house. Remember, they want to sell it for as much as possible, because that's money in their pockets!

 

[ttmom]

I'm going through the opposite end out here in Southern California. We're attempting to buy a house. The money we're qualified to spend would buy a small mansion in almost any other part of the country, but out here we've lost 3 houses already and we've been looking for 3 months. The biggest problem we're finding is houses with lots of damage and the owners still asking for big bucks. My best advice is this--hold out on repairs. If the buyer wants you to do the repairs you do them with your choice of contractor and in your choice of method and you get a higher selling price. If the buyer is willing to do the repairs then be willing to go for a lower selling price.

My husband and I are willing to buy a house that needs a lot of love, but we don't want to pay a fortune for it. We've already come to terms with paying $300K for a tiny house with problems. We're not going to go broke paying $300k for a tiny house that's unlivable. I don't think your house has that problem so you probably won't have a problem selling. I would LOVE to be out in your market.

 

[talon]

Thanks for the replies. I am still a bit "excited" about the situation but not as bad as I was. I have a quote to paint the inside of the house, replace the railing and fix the misc woodworking - a tad over $3100. Worse than I thought, not as bad as my husband thought. But we still have the carpeting to take care of.

TTom, my husband is from LA so I know how expensive it is out there! There are lots of jobs and companies here in Northern Kentucky / Cincinnati area (Toyota, Levi, GE to name a few) Sure I couldn't interest you in a bi-level, 3 bedroom 2.5 bath, 2 car garage with creek on property for $140,000? According to my friends who used to live in Southern Cal and this area is great - property taxes are cheaper and lots of fresh air? Sure I can't interest you?

Where we are moving the taxes are more expensive than here and the housing is a bit more, but still within limits.

 

[kumbulu]

Talon, I haven't bought or sold a house but I just wanted you to know that I'm thinking of you and sending good vibes.

I was wondering about the creek and if using 'brook' or 'stream' sounded better Lol. It does sound like a great place and I'm sure you'll sell soon.

 

[ttmom]

Oh, Talon, that sounds like HEAVEN!!!! And it's already used to kitties! I wish we could move but we're stuck here for 11 more years. We'll eventually move to Houston where a house with 5 bedrooms in a really posh neighborhood went for $85,000! The next $340K rundown loser I look at I'm gonna scream at.

Actually we saw a beautiful little house today, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 extra room, pool. They're asking $359, but the comps show we can easily offer $329. We're gonna try it. It's a pretty little place.

I still cringe at those pricetags though.

 

[talon]

Good luck on your next offer! And may be it kitty friendly.

My guys love to run up and down the carpeted steps, skid off into the dining room and skid to right under the Macaw's cage. SAFE! This is the safe zone for some reason - once a cat gets there all chases are off, until the "safe" cat comes out. Then the chase is good again, down the hall, up on the bed, to the window sill, off the wall, the heads down the hallway again (other direction) and goes off the living room chairs, or takes the chase down stairs to the linolium foyer (they slide into the door) the then pick up speed run down the hall and side to a stop in the laudry room (another safe place) -- then catch their breat an do it again, maybe this time with three chasers instead of the normal two. Who ever knows!?

I'm looking at more houses on Tuesday/Wednesday when I am up that way for a meeting. I hope to see something as good as the one I found last time - as least give me the feeling I had a choice. For an animal lover, having your very own pond with ducks and geese, well HEAVEN!

I am in the process of putting my house on the market, but already have a house I want to buy. Anyone reading this care to share their stories of buy/selling houses at the same time?? Pretty please with kitty fur on top?

 

[rosiemac]

I've sold twice and the house i bought and live in now is the third one.

The tip i can give when selling is to obviously keep it clean, and as 'clutter free' as possible, as it helps to give them a bit of an idea where they could put their furniture?!. I normally run through the whole house with a lavender air freshner, but i know a lot of people have said to have a pot of coffee on so the aroma of that drifts through the house.

You would'nt believe some of the houses i viewed before i eventually found the one i live in now. Some had'nt bothered making their beds, or to wipe down surfaces in the kitchen!!!. I know it's not a selling point, but first impressions?!.

Good luck in selling and viewing, i feel for you but it will be worth it!

 

[hissy]

One thing you can do to stay ahead of the game, is to find a reputable maid service and ask them to come out and clean your home for you. You will be amazed at the results!

Also, the day the realtors are going to arrive, get up really early in the a.m and stick a turkey in the oven. Pretend it is Thanksgiving, but have that sucker baking and the aroma filling your home by the time they ring your doorbell. Have cut fresh flowers on tables in vases, and don't make any excuses for anything. They will be able to sell your home, and most realtors are pretty hungry.


Good luck!

 

[momofmany]

I've been there! Moved 5 dogs and 7 cats from my home in the Houston area about 11 years ago. I had the same fears as you have.

When the realtors come, ask them what they think about what you will need to do with the cats and birds to get the house to sell. Frankly, mine told me to relocate most of the cats and keep the dogs out of the house until it sold, and replace all the carpet (the carpet was trashed when we bought it in the first place).

Don't worry so much about realtors as prospective buyers. Realtors are making money off the deal, so you just want one that will work for you and be honest with you. If you find out they are not helping you, fire them and hire another.

I relocated out of town and brought 4 of the cats with me. My brother in law took in 2 more cats. We had a large fenced yard for the dogs and we did have to leave them outside (with full access to the garage).

Interestingly, when we bought the house, the previous owners had birds all over the house and a lot of large dogs. It didn't stop us from buying it.

Keep venting - relocations are very stressful!!

 

[momofmany]

Other tips:

Remove a drawer or 2 in your kitchens and bathroom and paint the outside of the back of the drawer with latex paint. Even if you haven't just painted your house, your house will have that freshly painted smell.

Put a dab of vanilla extract on lightbulbs that will be on when your house is shown. The warmth of the bulb will emit the vanilla scent.

Bake bread, preferably cinammon bread when your house is being shown.

Get rid of all clutter, including excess furniture. Pack it up in boxes and stick them in closets or in storage if necessary. You want the house to look as big as possible.

 

[sweets]

How much painting can you do on your own? Its one of the easiest fixes and you can save alot of money. You can easily do a room yourself in 1 day while hubby works on a second room. But be sure to paint in neutral colors. This is not the time to play with bright reds or deep blues. White, cream, beige, grey.

 

[tigger]

I agree on the painting... it'll be a lot cheaper for you to do it yourself, unless you dont have the time to do it yourself. Have you ever watched Sell this House on A&E? It's on Sunday afternoons ...It's couples who are selling their house. They have a cam setup for the first walk-thru w/ potenial buyers before things have been done to the house, and then they see the remarks of the buyers. They bring in a team to help paint, etc, and then 2 days later bring in the same people. It's a neat little show ... they tell you to remove fake plants, box up personal items so the h/o can visualize in your house.

 

[ttmom]

As a buyer? Don't paint. No, no, no. Our hearts just sink when we see fresh paint because number one we think the seller is going to ask for more money (and not just the amount of the paint) and that we're going to have to wait longer than we want to, to do our own painting (hubby and I both like bright white gloss, something no one else EVER chooses) because you can't paint over just painted walls.

Well, we just made an offer on another house. This one was just painted. :-( And just carpeted, which we're going to have to take up because the sliding doors won't close. But it's cute, has good sized rooms, is clean (CLEAN IS A MUST!!!!!), no massive repairs (BIGGIE!), a pool, and a huge field behind it which will be ours too. That is, if we get it. But we also offered them $7K less than what they were asking for.

As a buyer, what I am looking for is something that can be mine with a little love (a little paint and maybe little extra like my own hardware on cabinetry, etc.), but it must be in pretty good condition (not being held together by termites and no major water damage where you'll fall through the floor and no major earthquake damage-or like what we saw in one house where the owners had ripped apart a load-bearing wall), and it should be clean. Sure I could clean it up myself, but you know what? Cleaning up someoneelse's muck is gross! I've done it enough in apartments (cleaned up stuff that I didn't even want to know what I was cleanin up) and I'm not wanting to do it in a house. Also, remove anything that really dates a place unless it's a good kind of dating (like craftsman, not 70s kitsch). Seeing a little scruffy paint is a good thing. Seeing lots of new paint is scary (especially out here, what cracks are they hiding).

 

[ttmom]

Oh, I've seen some of those realtor shows and the buyers do fall in love with the weirdest things (like one guy says, "I really LIKE how they decorated this room!"--uh excuse me? You aren't getting the decor!).

When I was a kid a family with my church sold their house in a buyer's market in 1 day. Why? Because it had a purple bedroom. Yes, the purple bedroom sold the house. Shouldn't have, but it did. The funny part is that the father's job fell through and they had to buy another house in the same area because they couldn't back out of the first sale.

 

[fuzzmom]

Having animals is also a concern for me. I live in a townhouse and want to buy a house...some day before I'm too old to enjoy it! But living in Massachusetts can be a nightmare trying to find something decent under $300K, especially when mine is the only income.

I have decided that there will be no lockboxes, buyers can only see the house when I'm home. First, I hate the thought of people going through my home when I'm not there, and second, my cats are indoor-only. Do you really think people are going to be as careful as I am in making sure they close a door immediately behind them and checking their feet to see if a furkid is right there?

I'd be a constant nervous wreck every time I knew my house was being shown. Nope, not gonna risk it. I'd rather it take alot longer to sell than risk my cats getting out.

So if anyone is interested in a pet-friendly 2-level (with full basement and attic) townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths and is an end unit with plenty of sun for the kitties, let me know!!

 

[ttmom]

Show by appointment only is perfectly normal. We've run into a lot of those. Just hide the kitties when they come by (in case a scaredy like my hubby comes by).

It's so frustrating on either end.

I'm just looking forward to getting out of a buggy, noisy apartment in a crime-infested neighborhood and having my kitty back.