This Series will focus on the steps we took to prepare our house to put on the market, the staging that we’ve done (and continue to do), and the feedback we are receiving from potential buyers. The focus is on our experience selling our home in suburban Ohio.
As of this writing, our house has been on the market for 96 days. Less than two weeks after we first listed it, we had a contract! Alas, within another two weeks that contract fell through: our buyers were also selling a house, and their contract fell through when their house appraisal came in way under the sale price, effectively canceling their buyers’ financing. (No bank will approve a mortgage for more than a house is worth.)
So we released our buyers from our contract. Unfortunately for us, they depended on the sale of their home to secure the financing to buy another home. We were back to square one.
Selling a house can get pretty sticky with all the parties involved.
The Stats:
We own a 1970′s tri-level in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. It has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms in approximately 3200 square feet of living space. The finished basement includes a (small) office with a built-in desk that stays with the house. A large storage room connects to the two-car garage. The yard is plenty large and completely level (not always the case in these rolling Ohio hills). The list price is $231,850.
Pros:
- Lovely, safe, established neighborhood in an excellent school district. The age of the home has allowed time for some major updates to be done.
Cons:
- The house is 35 years old, and various appliances, etc., are in varying stages of not-so-newness. Many buyers simply prefer brand-new homes.
Some of the categories I will focus on in this Series (not necessarily in this order):
- Home Improvements
- Before You Call a Realtor
- Meeting with the Realtor
- Staging a Kitchen
- Should You De-Personalize Your Home?
- Professional Photos
- Preparing for Showings and Open Houses
- Curb Appeal
- Anything else I come up with along the way.
I am not professing to be an expert (although I have been addicted to HGTv and TLC at various stages in my life). In fact, this is our first experience selling a home! (Although it’s the second home we have owned.) I’m hoping you will join me on this series and find ideas that may help you in your own home selling experience. I also hope you will throw out any more ideas that you have — I’m all about helping each other!
I’m crossing my fingers that by the time this series is done, we will have another offer… And who knows — you may come up with something during this series that I haven’t noticed to help *clinch* it for our future buyer! (I thank you in advance!)
Anyone else out there in the process of selling their home? Please, do share in the comments below. With as many details as you would like to include. 
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Hi Jolyn!
This series is going to be very interesting. We may be putting a house on the market too within the next year and I look forward to hearing about your experiences.
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We bought our house in 2007 and aren’t planning on selling for at least another 8-10 years. Buying our foreclosure was a stressful process. Even though we ended up with a great deal and a fantastic home for us, I now hate the whole moving and house buying process. I will appreciate a fresh point of view.
I will say that as buyers, the most important thing for us was simply having it in close-to-move-in shape. I didn’t care how old stuff was unless it is about to break or was broken. We got lucky by finding a foreclosure that was built in 2004, but the other houses we were looking at were all circa the 70′s and 80′s. New paint and clean-looking pretty much sold it on every house we were interested in…
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jolyn Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
New paint and clean-looking — we got it! Now we just need the right buyer…
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Budgeting in the Fun Stuff Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I forgot to mention that we only looked at really affordable homes as well. Is $230,000 a low, mid, or high price in your area? $230,000 in a Houston suburb could buy me something close to my dream house, but I assume you’re priced well for your area?
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We sold our house last fall, late fall, it was built in 1973. We did upgrade the appliances, because we had redone the kitchen from its original state. New floors, cabinets, counters. The only thing we contracted out was the counters. When we started the kitchen reno we did not have plans to sell, it was just time to get it done. We finished with the thought that with the market where it is maybe now would be a good time for us to sell and buy something bigger. It was. We fell into the first time home buyers market for selling, and bought in the foreclosure, got an as is, but at an incredible price and interest rate. We sold our house in 7 weeks. We spent 3 months getting it ready. We took out 1/3 of the furniture, half the clothing in the closets, repainted. Also redid the bathroom, the only in the house. The cost of the bathroom, the tub and toilet stayed, floor, cabinet, counter and sink was less than $850. Well worth it. The kitchen cost was under 9k including the appliances-we bought close outs on some. The kitchen SOLD the house without a doubt. We made a very good profit on the house (after all the reno costs) and bought a great house that I get to redo another kitchen, this time the cabinets stay, we bought a stove and fridge. Since there was no fridge, and the stove door did not close. Eventually we will change the microwave and dishwasher, but they work so they stay. Granite has already been installed. The counters where in horrible shape. Our realtor told us the kitchen in the bank owned turned most people off.
When we looked at houses, all included appliances except the fridge in the bank owned one. Its an automatic thought, of oh I have to buy appliances too. Most people struggle to visualize what they can do with a house. I wish you the best of luck! Glad its behind me, and hopefully I do not have to do it again for some time. Looking forward to hearing how it turns out!
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jolyn Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Yea, we just missed the first-time home buyers market. By a hair. We’ve tried to focus on the important things like the kitchen when it came to cosmetic updates, even before we got the (military) orders to move. I’ll be posting more about what specifically we’ve done to the house since we bought it.
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We’re selling a condo in a four building complex in downtown Chicago. It’s not going anywhere – we’ve had to rent it out. If you’re looking for guest posters on the subject, I’d be interested as our road has been an interesting one that’s seen most sides of this market.
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jolyn Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I would be very interested in a guest post. Email me- jolyn at budgetsarethenewblack.com
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We are military and will be moving to California ourselves! We are already reluctant landlords of a house in Vegas; we’re not interested in owning another rental…
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Sounds like a wonderful home! I’m sorry the first contract fell through.
Man, it would be great to buy such a massive house for under $250,000 here in SF!
Why are you selling?
I am a strong buyer of the housing market now and wouldn’t be selling unless something happened.
Best,
Sam
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