Sweat Equity Instead
After many talks between hubby and I, we decided to not sell our house and move into a travel trailer. Instead, we plan on staying in our little cottage for at least another year and using this year to build equity in the house where we can and making it more appealing for buyers. Let's face it. The market for 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses under 1000 square feet is limited. For now, I'm purging what I can to make the house appear more spacious. Having a family of 6 in such a small house can appear to be a turn off to buyers as the clutter of daily living overwhelms.
There are other factors to consider, too. My outdated kitchen, for one. No dishwasher and an apartment-sized stove aren't very appealing to many modern buyers. The original 1950's countertops and white enamel cabinets has limited appeal. I've made lemonade out of my lemon of a kitchen by playing up the retro look and while it is cute for me, I would understand if a buyer gags at the kitchy sight of it. I'm living it as is, but I think to make it a bit more appealing, I would have to continue with the retro theme rather than just hinting at it....and keep the kitchen spotless.
The bathroom is in need of a facelift, too. 6 people using 1 bathroom equals a redo. While we most likely won't be able to afford to change out major fixtures, all new paint, some new accessories and a good grout bleaching should bring it back to attractive.
The dining room walls need some new paint. Since the dining room is in the dead center of the house and every room is off of it, it gets a LOT of traffic and the walls show the bumps, dings, chips and stains of small children running through.
The living room would benefit from getting rid of hubby's old, worn recliner. While for now, it adds seating, really, it's an eyesore and lowers the property value of the living room, so to speak. Vacating baby toys will help.
The children's room needs painting and new curtains. I wanted to do a Lorax theme on the walls, but since we're looking at selling, I think a buttery cream color on the walls will do. Themed curtains are charming for a house that's being lived in, but for selling, I think basics will have to do. I'd like organized consistency in their furnishings, but that's not a top priority.
Hubby and I's room, which used to be the children's room, is VERY small and still painted in the farm scene. We plan on giving it a facelift and I'd like to remove clutter and open it up. Granted a buyer would use the children's current room as the master bedroom, it certainly doesn't benefit our selling efforts to have the master bedroom look like an after thought.
I'm wondering if I should eliminate the homeschool room, which is actually our 3 seasons porch. It's a great selling point and cluttering it up with homeschool stuff isn't conducive to selling. Perhaps when we put the house on the market I will convert it to a comfy porch once again.
The exterior could use some paint touch-ups and I'd love to paint the foundation a sandy brown rather than the dingy gray it is right now. If we can afford it, we'd like to replace some windows. The breezeway deck needs redoing and I the stairs to the kitchen need a good coat of paint.
Landscaping went untouched last year what with pregnancy bedrest and a new baby, so I'm looking forward to tackling that. Just cutting back overgrowth and eliminating weeds will help a LOT.
We've decided to not have ducks again this year. Turning the duck pond back into an ornamental pond will be a bigger equity builder than having a fenced in duck area. Brush piles will be eliminated. The garage and shed will need cleaning out.
We're praying the Lord provides what we need to do these projects.
There are other factors to consider, too. My outdated kitchen, for one. No dishwasher and an apartment-sized stove aren't very appealing to many modern buyers. The original 1950's countertops and white enamel cabinets has limited appeal. I've made lemonade out of my lemon of a kitchen by playing up the retro look and while it is cute for me, I would understand if a buyer gags at the kitchy sight of it. I'm living it as is, but I think to make it a bit more appealing, I would have to continue with the retro theme rather than just hinting at it....and keep the kitchen spotless.
The bathroom is in need of a facelift, too. 6 people using 1 bathroom equals a redo. While we most likely won't be able to afford to change out major fixtures, all new paint, some new accessories and a good grout bleaching should bring it back to attractive.
The dining room walls need some new paint. Since the dining room is in the dead center of the house and every room is off of it, it gets a LOT of traffic and the walls show the bumps, dings, chips and stains of small children running through.
The living room would benefit from getting rid of hubby's old, worn recliner. While for now, it adds seating, really, it's an eyesore and lowers the property value of the living room, so to speak. Vacating baby toys will help.
The children's room needs painting and new curtains. I wanted to do a Lorax theme on the walls, but since we're looking at selling, I think a buttery cream color on the walls will do. Themed curtains are charming for a house that's being lived in, but for selling, I think basics will have to do. I'd like organized consistency in their furnishings, but that's not a top priority.
Hubby and I's room, which used to be the children's room, is VERY small and still painted in the farm scene. We plan on giving it a facelift and I'd like to remove clutter and open it up. Granted a buyer would use the children's current room as the master bedroom, it certainly doesn't benefit our selling efforts to have the master bedroom look like an after thought.
I'm wondering if I should eliminate the homeschool room, which is actually our 3 seasons porch. It's a great selling point and cluttering it up with homeschool stuff isn't conducive to selling. Perhaps when we put the house on the market I will convert it to a comfy porch once again.
The exterior could use some paint touch-ups and I'd love to paint the foundation a sandy brown rather than the dingy gray it is right now. If we can afford it, we'd like to replace some windows. The breezeway deck needs redoing and I the stairs to the kitchen need a good coat of paint.
Landscaping went untouched last year what with pregnancy bedrest and a new baby, so I'm looking forward to tackling that. Just cutting back overgrowth and eliminating weeds will help a LOT.
We've decided to not have ducks again this year. Turning the duck pond back into an ornamental pond will be a bigger equity builder than having a fenced in duck area. Brush piles will be eliminated. The garage and shed will need cleaning out.
We're praying the Lord provides what we need to do these projects.
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