I agree with Steve, wtg, Jodi, and Cindy.

+ another 1

Declutter and flee.

Clean and declutter. Nothing else will matter. What will sell your house is location and the quality of your condo owners' association.

But when I say declutter, I mean extreme decluttering..get everything you possibly can out of the house other than what is needed for staging.

Just re-read your last post. No re-painting either. Whatever you do, it won’t be what the buyers want. It’s not worth the effort. Just make it look spacious and clean.

If I were thinking about selling a house soon (in your 2 to 3 year range) that needs some maintenance and updating, I'd be looking at how to minimize my expenses until it's sold.

Furnace breaks? Hot water heater needs replacing? You do those repairs because you need them in order to live in the house. Wall color out of date? I'm with jodi. Leave it be.

For your immediate problem, I wouldn't worry about the style, size, or color of the refrigerator. pj and Steve's idea of picking up an inexpensive used unit that fits in the space and that will keep your food cold is the way I would go. If what's available is white and has a top freezer and it's cheap and working, that's what I'd be buying.

Also sounds like you've been sans dishwasher for a while. If that's the case, I wouldn't bother to replace it unless you feel that you really need one.

quote:

There ARE flippers making repeated inquiries, but I can't afford to lose the $100K+ I can make my house sell for, by indispensable repairs and basic up-to-snuffishness.

There's a corollary to "I could get $100K more if I fixed or updated X....". You have to reduce that $100K by the amount it will cost you to have the repair work done. You'd be paying retail because you're hiring people to do the work, and that will eat into that $100K big time.

If you try to get to the move-in ready level, you'd be in even deeper, quite possibly into negative territory.

quote:

(Not a few that need doing, would be immediately flagged as code violations and/or by an even halfway competent house inspector). Prospective buyers with their reps, would just deduct from the price, everything they'd claim (rightly) needs doing - and perhaps at even above cost.

Offer the house as-is and all of that goes away.

I don't know how real estate is handled in your state, but if you were to sell directly to a flipper, I wonder if you could save on commissions if you don't have real estate agents involved. Commissions around here for full service real estate agents are in the 5 to 6 percent range; that's a good chunk of change. I'm sure there are folks here who could comment on this idea.

Taking away all the planning and management of major repair and renovation projects also gives you time and energy to focus on decluttering and organizing your belongings. As Mik points out, that brings real dollar value when it comes time to sell. Your house will be staged so that people can imagine what it would be like for *them* to live there rather than being distracted by your possessions. Plus, if you're downsizing, you'll have to do it anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:Plus, if you're downsizing, you'll have to do it anyway.

And the time to start is now. It takes a remarkable amount of time.

Ask me how I know...

We’ve done it with each of our moves. We still haven’t gotten it right.

Tell me about it. I sold my Mom's condo three years ago and am just now getting rid of the last few remaining items I don't want to keep. Specifically, a lamp that I've had up on craigslist forever that no one asked about buying. But they came out of the woodwork when I put it up for free.

Inertia. The force is strong.

Yes to everyone's advice - declutter, make it obsessively clean, but do not drop a lot of $$ into the house, especially to try to appeal to a potential buyer. As wtg said above, you are likely to spend at least half of your $100K "profit" addressing the issues you've described. Unless you are going to be a flipper yourself, you simply won't get the return you're hoping for and you won't get contractors to work in a timely manner (because they're all working for flippers who give them continuous work).

Another thing to keep in mind. Not only will there be cost overruns (and there will be) there will also be schedule delays. You'll be living in the house with contractors meandering around for potentially months at a time.

Bottom line: it sounds like whoever buys your house will buy it because of location and it's "bones," and not because of its fabulous finishes and decor. They will want to add their own fabulous finishes and decor.

When I moved out of Southern California three years ago, I was living in my parents old house which was in desperate need of re-modeling. Lovely, 45 year old green shag carpeting in the den. Stunningly dated torn wallpaper in one of the bedrooms. Old, closed off kitchen that was the opposite of everything you see in the DIY shows. Cracks in the plaster from various small earthquakes over the years. Truly antique kitchen appliances.

I went for a quick sale to a flipper, at a reduced commission. They had a plan for 3 to 5 month remodel, and were looking to make a sizable profit.

Nice people. I followed their project for about a year, and by my calculation they lost about $50,000. The house looked great though.

If I did the remodel myself, it would’ve cost me a lot more because the husband of this couple was a contractor and they did a lot of the work themselves.

Between agreeing to the deal, and having my cash in hand was about three weeks. I’m happy with the outcome.

One other plus of having sold my house “as is.” ‘As is” meant I did not pay for any of the other million things they would’ve found needing repair when they did the inspection. And I do know they found several things they were not expecting.

I got in cash exactly what the offer was without any repairs being deducted. I know of at least $20,000 worth of repairs I would’ve made a regular sale.

Just a warning.

I am doing a bathroom renovation. We cannot start until the white Koehler toilet arrives. It will arrive in 12 weeks. Unless it is delayed.

Supply lines are awful now and may be until this COVID nightmare ends. No way would I try to do a bunch of repairs rather than selling as is.

12 week lead time and you’re willing to wait?

That must be one hell of a toilet.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:Plus, if you're downsizing, you'll have to do it anyway.

And the time to start is now. It takes a remarkable amount of time.

Ask me how I know...

We are in that process as we speak. Been working in the basement all week to get ready for the junk guys today to haul away furniture, etc. Throwing out some beautiful solid mahogany furniture I inherited. Tried to sell it cheap, no takers. Now its just in the way.

You have to be willing to cut the emotional strings and the nagging feeling that it is worth something. Just get it out of your way.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Just a warning.

I am doing a bathroom renovation. We cannot start until the white Koehler toilet arrives. It will arrive in 12 weeks. Unless it is delayed.

Supply lines are awful now and may be until this COVID nightmare ends. No way would I try to do a bunch of repairs rather than selling as is.

Toto is the way to…go. We’re all Toto over here (3).