The Joys of Selling

So Kirby got inside my now-vacant home. He tells me the good news is the tenants left it in reasonable condition. The bad news is they didn't leave it the way they found it. Then he sent me a bunch of pictures to prove what he was talking about.

I hate it when tenants think the home they used to live in is their own personal dumpster. Now I am responsible for hauling off their junk--including a mattress. This means I have to find someone who is willing and able to haul off the junk and doesn't charge me crazy prices.

There is a bit of wood rot that also needs to be addressed. Kirby says this won't be too costly. The deck needs to be stained and the home needs a good cleaning. This is in addition to painting the exterior--which will happen once it stops raining over there.

Kirby also thinks I should replace the counter tops because they aren't granite (I am not a fan of granite, but that is for a different blog post). But that was just real estate speak for "the house is outdated," which is fine when it is a rental. It is not fine when it is for sale. I am either going to lower the price $10k--which I really can't do or I am going to have to do more work than I budgeted.

As someone who is in the business, I have a tough time with other's versions of "outdated." I am currently showing homes to a buyer who mentioned a home was outdated because whomever had lived in the home had decorated it about five years ago. I would like to point out, when this buyer moves in and redecorates to make the home "modern," five years from now it will be outdated again. It happens. It is called "time."

Additionally, as a seller, I am not very excited about paying for a buyer's dream. I am selling a home right now, not what the buyer wants the home to look like by next Christmas. If they want wood floors, they should put them in, not the person who is leaving the home. Buyers blow me away when they want to offer less because they want to change things around, "Our price is because we will need to paint the kitchen chartreuse and add a sun porch. I can't believe the seller overlooked this."

This is a voice of experience. I convinced a seller once to change the counter tops and flooring. The home sold immediately. I drove by this home two weeks later to find the new buyer had taken out the flooring and counter tops. (Though it has been a couple of years, I have not told this seller--who happens to be related to me--about this yet. Maybe it will come up at Sunday's family Easter brunch.) I understand every buyer's taste is different. What is considered "needing work" by one buyer could be a palace to another. I am not sure I want to roll the dice, put in new everything and then find out the buyer didn't want my renovations anyway.

As it stands now, Kirby is taking care of the wood rot and painting the exterior. Carolsue is cleaning the interior. I asked Kirby to get me a quote on a few other items, just in case I decide I need to do more. I also have James the Hell's Angels carpet installer on stand-by, just in case I need to put in new flooring as well. But I hope I won't need to.