We have an offer in on a house and if it goes through we will be putting our house on the market within a few days. YIKES!! I am not even close to being prepared to do that. I need your best tips to get the house ready to show in as short as time as possible. Thanks!

By Mommyathome on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 11:56 am:

Eliminate wall to wall stuff! If you have things lined on each wall (furniture, hutches, toy boxes etc.) it makes the rooms look so much smaller. Try to make it as open and airy as possible!
Also, make sure the windows are clean on the inside and outside. That makes a huge difference!
Good luck......I didn't even know you guys were looking at new houses! Is it close to where you live now?

By Kolbysmom on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 11:58 am:

The only advice I have is box up all your decorations and family pictures. People will want to visualize themselves living there.

By Texannie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 12:04 pm:

Change all your light bulbs to higher wattage, take everything off the kitchen and bathroom counters, clean out closets, take down all family pics, clean carpets, touch up paint. If necessary, rent a storage shed to store extra stuff in after you clean things out.

By Melanie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 12:07 pm:

Robin, we weren't looking. LOL. This has all just kind of happened. It's in the same city we live in, but it would cut about 20 minutes off of dh's commute each way. What makes me the most nervous is that the house is being built and will be ready around September 1. So if we sell our house quickly we will be in an apartment for a bit before moving into the new one. Not a fun thought with three kids! LOL.

Thanks for the tips. And please, keep them coming!!

By Eve on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 12:15 pm:

I was going to say get rid of any excess clutter or decoration too, and to pack up family photos. Our realtor said that most houses look larger with minimal furniture. (I always thought it was empty houses looked bigger) She said sparce furniture is always good. Of course, you still need to live there, but maybe you can clear out a little. Good luck

And remember to keep those counters really clean and clear.

By Debbie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 01:54 pm:

This is what we did when we moved. Cleaned windows, cleaned light fixtures, recaulked the bathrooms and cleared out all clutter. I had the boys help with their toys. They kept about half of their stuff and we packed up the rest. I removed all stuff from top of bathroom counters. I got some baskets to put our daily stuff in, when we were done in the morning we just put them under the sink. Also, touch up paint if you have time. As far as the outside, you want to make sure that your front door and the surrounding area is nice and clean. This is the first thing that someone looks at when they come to see your house. Dh power sprayed the outside of the house to get all the dirt off. Then I planeted flowers in a couple of containers and put them next to the front door.

That is all I can thing of for now. I don't know if you will have time to do it all, just do what you can. Good luck with selling your home. This is the best time to put a house on the market. I am sure you won't have any problems.

By Mommyathome on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 02:47 pm:

Sounds exciting Melanie....a brand new house!! I hope everything works out You'll definitely have to keep us posted!

By Kathy on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 03:32 pm:

Since my dh and I are in the process of buying our first house, we have been looking at sooo many. There was this one house that stands out. As soon as I walked in, I was turned off. The owners apparently were big nascar fans...nothing wrong with that, but when you're trying to sell your house, put away all the literally wall-to-wall nascar memorabilia. It was just nascar everywhere and I could NOT picture myself in that house. The house that we eventually put an offer in on was very clean with no clutter at all and I could see our family there. If you want to see pictures from the very first time we saw the house, let me know and I will put them online. I guess it can give you some idea of what a buyer (like myself) looks for in a house. BTW, We close in 2 weeks.

By Kate on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 03:36 pm:

I'm not Melanie, nor am I moving, but I love looking at houses, so Kathy, I'd love to see pics!!

By Emily7 on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 03:44 pm:

I was told to bake bread when some one is going to look at your house. I am not exactly sure why.

By Melanie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 03:48 pm:

How exciting, Kathy!! Yes, I would love to see the pics.

I've been working in my kitchen today getting the cupboards and drawers cleaned out. It's been long overdue for me to do that anyway, so even if it doesn't happen this is good. We don't have a lot of clutter as a rule in the house anyway...except for the closets. I just don't know that I can get to all of them before we would have to show the house. Dh has a lot of work to do outside as well because of the problems with the wild boar during the fall. We gave up repairing the lawn every time they came because they would just do it again the next night. They haven't been here for a while though, so hopefully they have just moved on and we can finally address all the damage they did. Ugh.

Okay, it's time for me to get back to work. Thanks again for all the tips. They are very helpful!

By Mommyathome on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 04:05 pm:

I love looking at houses too I'm obsessed with going to the Parade Of Homes every year to see all the beautiful homes.

I would say try to make it look like a model home. Like mentioned above, put away all the pictures and personal items (Nascar, teddy bear collections, etc.). Just keep it very basic!

By Amecmom on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 04:53 pm:

As per the baking bread comment and others, make sure the house is clean, neat and smells wonderful. Your house should look like you're going to do a photo shoot of it. Have potpourri that is fresh smelling around the house. Pier 1 makes a great cirtus one. Concentrate on kitchen and baths - people like these to look great.
I disagree with taking away personal or family photos and decoration (unless they're over the top as was mentioned in another post). I think they give a home warmth. I like warm homes, not ones that feel too antiseptic.

Also, try not to be home when the house is shown. Let the agent do the showing. I had to be home to show our house in Brooklyn because we had a huge dog and the agent just couldn't show it like I could (we ended up getting a record price for a one family in that neighborhood), so I guess I did ok, but I would have rathered not to have had to do all that showing.
Also, make sur to put anything valuable away! Jewelry and small items especially, but any art or antiques or collectables. You never know who is comming into your house and though the real estated pre screens them, you don't know who they know. Just make sure you don't look like a good target for theft.
Good Luck! This is so exciting!
Ame

By Kathy on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 07:18 pm:

Ok everyone...I will try to get the pictures up online either later tonite or tomorrow.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 07:36 pm:

I agree on keeping some family photos, but make sure they are "standard" and tasteful, and don't show a family joke. Potpourri is nice, and I have heard to boil some fragrant, spicy teabags - cinnamon or orange spice is good.

And clean, clean, clean. Think about hiring a professional cleaning service to do a real deep down cleaning, including carpets. Make sure windows are clean and fingerprints wiped off every day.

By Melanie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 08:15 pm:

Oh Ginny, with three kids (one of whom is always outside catching lizards and constantly very dirty!) that fingerprint thing is an all day event! LOL. We are going to have the carpets cleaned, but we are also going to be replacing them for whoever buys the house. I think I may do the cleaning service as well. Thanks for that thought. I am spending so much time doing all the stuff that doesn't normally get done that I am definitely behind on the basics.

We actually don't have many photos around the house. I think we may want to take out some of the furniture, though. I will let dh take care of that.

Ame, thank you for your thoughts on showing the house. I agree it is best that we not be here. Our realtor has said he already has a potential buyer lined up, so I know the second we put this on the market it is going to be shown. My fear is that it will be this weekend! LOL. That happened last time we sold a house. I seriously hadn't done a thing to prepare and all of a sudden it was on the market. (An offer came in the first day and it went right under contract, thank goodness!) It would be nice to be somewhat more prepared this time!

Thanks again for your tips. I will keep you posted as to whether or not we actually move forward in this process. We are fortunate that no matter what happens we are happy. So for now I will keep cleaning and just wait and see!

Kathy, I look forward to your pics!

By Texannie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 08:56 pm:

heck, if you can sell you house without having to do any prep, that's great!

By Truestori on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 09:19 pm:

(((Melanie))),

We are in the process of doing the same thing! We just found out last night that they accepted our offer and I think my heart sank! I want the house but I am so very attached to mine, now! LOL
My hubby has Friday and Monday off so that gives us 4 days to work on preparing our house for the MLS.
I wish you luck and definitly keep the counters and floors clean...

By Conni on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 09:44 pm:

Good luck to you all!!! How exciting.

By Melanie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 09:48 pm:

LOL Stori. You need to get up here so we can have a glass of wine as we go through the process together! Where are you buying? I know you would like to get back in the northern part...is that happening? Did you see my other post with my e-mail? You and I definitely need to chat!

Good luck and I will send ~~sell vibes~~ your way!

And Annie, I could only wish it would be so easy this time! Luckily when most people come to our house all they see is the view. LOL. No one really cares about the house after that. They all say the same thing, "You must sit out on this deck all day and not get a thing done!" LOL. I wish! So hopefully any potential buyer will stop on the deck and not inspect my closets.

(Just so you know what I mean, here is a morning shot. We are above the fog line, so you see the clouds below and the mountains in the distance),

By Texannie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 10:34 pm:

WOW!! how beautiful!

By Melanie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 10:43 pm:

LOL, Annie. Want to buy a house?

By Texannie on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 11:00 pm:

Gosh, and leave my concrete palace?? LOL
What part of CA are you in? My brother and his wife live in Fresno and are looking.

By Clair~moderator on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 07:43 am:

Melanie,

I am sure your house will sell in a day or two;) are things still selling so quickly out there? I am sure your dh will be glad to shave off some of that drive - it always made me nervous driving over that way.

By Kaye on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 08:46 am:

Melanie, I want more pics of the house. The view is beautiful! Hmmm...I just moved, but boy is that tempting! As for other ideas. Get your list of too do's done before you list. You typically get a lot of traffic the first week or two. If priced right you should get an offer in 12 shows. Clean up your front door and entry, people will stand there up to 5 minutes waiting to get in while the realtor is opening the door. This gives them a big first impression, if it is drab and dingy it is hard to get past that. We bought lots of those plug in air freshners so you walked in and got that vanilla smell.

By Trisa on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 08:56 am:

Good luck! I hope is sells fast.
I clean homes and I just cleaned for a lady
yesterday who is showing her house and yes
get rid of clutter. I had to clean her windows
and if you are leaving things like stove, fridge
ect make sure they are clean. They also planted some realy nice flowers in front.

By Melanie on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 09:41 am:

Claire, the market is very hot right now. Another realtor friend (not the one we are using) says it's '99 all over again with multiple bids coming in over the asking price. So if we want to sell, now is a great time to do it. Dh will still have all of 17 to deal with, unfortunately. But this house is just 3 min. off the highway, as opposed to the 20 minutes we are now. It also puts us much closer to all the kids activities. Right now it takes me 25 minutes to get the kids to their baseball games. This house is 10 minutes from the field. Alec will be playing football down at that same field this fall. His practices are 5 days each week in August for two hours a day. It would be nice to have a shorter drive for all of that!

Trisa, the fridge and oven are on my list for today. I managed to get about half the kitchen done yesterday, so today I want to finish that room. I will be sure to hit the windows as well. Thank you for that.

Kaye, I will definitely put the front door and entry up on the priority list. You make a great point about that being the first impression. And if you do want to see more pics, I could scan some and send them to you.

Annie, we are in Santa Cruz. Nestled in the redwoods and close to the beach. It's a great area if your brother wants to come this way!

By Eve on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 09:51 am:

+~+~+~+ SELL VIBES +~+~+~+

By Kathy on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 10:17 am:

Here are my pictures:

Kathy's House


It's not a big impressive house, but it is certainly better than the one I currently have...which is nothing! ;) We signed the contract in early February, so it seems as if we have been waiting forever. The closing is May 7, but we won't be fully moved until the end of June or so. I wanted the girls to finish out this year of school.

By Texannie on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 11:07 am:

Very pretty!! I can't imagine all that acreage!

By Kate on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 11:33 am:

The house is beautiful!! Is it a colonial or a raised ranch?? In other words, are the bedrooms on the VERY top, of is that top part an attic? Is there a basement? Or is the very bottom part the first floor living area?

The bathrooms are beautiful! The master bedroom is huuuuuge and the floor is lovely!! I hope you'll be very happy there! And the kitchen is beautiful, too! I've never seen that type of tile countertop arrangement before! Very unique and pretty!

By Melanie on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 12:00 pm:

What a great house!!! Thank you so much for sharing those. I can just picture that first room with hardwood. It will be beautiful!

By Kathy on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 01:19 pm:

I wouldn't call the house a colonial, but it is definitely not a ranch. The very bottom is the basement. The main floor (kitchen, livingroom, 1 bedroom, 1 bath) is where the outside step lead. The next floor has the other 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. There is also an attic at the very top. This is our very first house and we are so excited. Plus we are moving to a new state (VT) so that will be an adventure in itself.